ArcaMax

Welcome visitors to your home at night with a lamppost casting light on a driveway or walkway leading to the front door. It’s a distinct feature for a home as well as a safety measure that assures safe footing and easy passage.

If you’re a qualified and licensed electrician you can do this project yourself; but don’t think about tackling it if you’re not. The job involves installing new wiring, which must meet the local building codes and often requires trenching to run the line to its location.

To install a lamppost no more than 30 feet away from the house you’ll pay an electrical contractor $798, which includes labor and material. The job becomes more expensive the farther away from the house the lamppost is located, particularly if trenching below a sidewalk or driveway is necessary.

To buy the unit and install it yourself costs $325 with 59% savings. No matter what you save, it’s a job best left to a professional, who has the license, expertise, tools and knowledge of building codes.

It’s an involved project beginning with drilling a hole in the house near the power source — either at a junction, an outlet or a light fixture box — so a new cable can exit the house and run to the post. The cable runs under the ground to the location of the lamppost, where a cement base is poured. Next, sod is removed and a trench is dug for the cable, then you’re laying the cable, pouring a cement base and running the cable through the base. After the lamppost is wired and assembled, the sod is replaced.

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To find more DIY project costs and to post comments and questions, visit www.diyornot.com and m.diyornot.com on smartphones.

Pro Cost — DIY Cost — Pro time — DIY Time — DIY Savings — Percent Saved

$798 — $325 — 11.5 — 16.0 — $473 — 59%

©2026 Gene and Katie Hamilton. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.