Light Fixture Cleaning

Exterior Light Fixture Cleaning in Brunswick, GA – Coach Lights, Lanterns and Post Lamps

The lights by the front door are the last thing a visitor sees before they knock, and on a coastal home they are usually full of bugs, dulled by salt and going green at the seams.

Call (912) 571-0639 for a Free Quote

Veteran ownedBrunswick & the Golden IslesFree quotes

Atlantic Coastal Cleaning cleans exterior light fixtures by hand across Brunswick, St. Simons Island and Sea Island: coach lights beside the garage, lanterns at the entry, post lamps at the end of the drive, and the flood and soffit lights nobody can reach. It is a small job that changes how the whole front of the house reads, and we usually do it with the windows. Call (912) 571-0639 for a free quote.

Salt, bugs and oxidation on coastal fixtures

Three things happen to an outdoor fixture in Glynn County, and they happen faster within a mile of the water.

Salt

The same film that dulls your windows settles on the glass of every fixture and holds moisture against the metal. On the islands, an entry lantern can go cloudy in a season.

Bugs and webs

Warm light in a humid climate is a bug magnet. The glass fills with dead insects, the webs build up in the corners, and the fixture throws half the light it should. On a post lamp at the street the problem is worse because nobody looks inside it.

Oxidation

Brass tarnishes and goes brown. Copper turns green, which some people want and some do not. Powder coated aluminum chalks and fades on the sun side. Salt air speeds all of it up, and cheap fixtures pit and flake where the finish has broken down.

A pressure washer makes every one of these worse. Water gets into the socket, the finish gets stripped, and the glass panels crack. This is a hand job, and it is one we do a lot of.

Glass, brass, copper and powder coat: what is safe

The rule is simple: match the cleaner to the finish and never use anything abrasive.

Glass panelscome out or open, and are cleaned with the same solution we use on windows. Seeded and frosted glass is cleaned in place. Bugs and webs are cleared from inside before the glass goes back.
Brassgets a gentle cleaner and a soft cloth. Lacquered brass is wiped, not polished; polishing lacquered brass strips the coating and the tarnish comes back faster. Unlacquered brass can be brightened if you want it bright, or left to its patina if you do not.
Copperis wiped clean. Whether the green patina stays is your call, and we ask before we touch it, because once it is polished off it takes years to come back.
Powder coated and painted aluminumis washed with a mild solution and rinsed. No solvents, because they dull the coating.
Gas lanterns, common on the older streets of St. Simons and on Sea Island, are cleaned with the flame off. We clean the glass and the body and we do not touch the gas fitting.

Before any of this, the switch or breaker is off. Bulbs are wiped and put back, and we will tell you if one is out.

What a fixture cleaning includes

Every fixture on the outside of the house: entry lanterns, coach lights at the garage, post lamps, wall sconces on the porch and lanai, and the flood and soffit lights up high, reached from a ladder or a pole. The glass, the body, the mounting plate and the wall around it. If the fixture is under a soffit full of webs, the soffit gets brushed as well, because a clean lantern under a dirty soffit does not look clean for long.

Done with the windows

We almost always do fixtures as an add on to our window cleaning service, because the ladders are already up, the cleaning solution is the same, and the two jobs finish the front of the house together. If the walls need washing, fixtures are cleaned after soft washing the walls around the fixtures, never before, so the house wash does not undo the work.

On the islands the salt is heavier and fixtures need it more often. The entry lanterns on the ocean side of St. Simons and on the coastal homes on Sea Island cloud over in a single season. Our guide on what salt air does to a coastal home explains why.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you clean the light fixtures without taking them down?

Yes. Almost every fixture is cleaned in place. Glass panels that are designed to come out are removed, cleaned and put back; everything else is cleaned where it hangs.

Will cleaning strip the finish off my brass or copper fixtures?

Not the way we do it. Lacquered brass is wiped, not polished. Copper is cleaned but the patina is left unless you ask us to brighten it. Nothing abrasive touches any finish.

Do you pressure wash light fixtures?

No. Pressure forces water into the socket and cracks the glass. Fixtures are cleaned by hand with a soft cloth and the same solution we use on windows.

How often should exterior fixtures be cleaned on the coast?

Once a year with the windows keeps most fixtures clear. On the ocean side of the islands, twice a year is closer to right.

Can you replace bulbs while you are there?

We will wipe the bulbs and tell you if any are out. If you leave replacements with us, we will put them in.

Get a free quote for your fixtures

(912) 571-0639

Call or text (912) 571-0639, or send a message through the site. Tell us roughly how many fixtures you have and whether any are up high, and we will give you a written price, usually as part of a window cleaning quote. There is no charge for the visit.

Call (912) 571-0639 for a Free Quote

Veteran ownedLicensed & insuredFree written quotesBrunswick · St. Simons · Sea Island