Permanent Track Lighting (subbed wiring)
Handis permanent track lighting installs year-round programmable LED systems on residential soffits — Handis mounts the low-profile track and channel, installs the individually-addressable LED segments, pairs the controller and the homeowner phone app, and the hardwired circuit from the panel to the soffit is sub-contracted to a licensed Washington L&I electrician — from $2,500 for a single elevation up to $6,000 for a full multi-elevation home. Holiday colors in December, soft accent lighting the rest of the year, never comes down. The system itself is a one-time install; the seasonal labor for plug-in strands goes away. The hardwired-circuit portion routes to a licensed electrician by Washington L&I rules — we coordinate the schedule and stand for the install quality on our portion.
Service
What Does Permanent Track Lighting Installation Include?
Permanent track lighting installation is the year-round LED system that mounts a low-profile track on the soffit and runs individually-addressable LEDs along the entire roofline — controlled from a phone app, producing holiday colors in December and accent lighting the rest of the year, never taken down. Handis covers two scopes from $2,500. Each install has two parts that happen on coordinated visits — the track mounting and controller setup (handyman scope, Handis) and the hardwired circuit from the panel to the soffit (electrical scope, a licensed Washington L&I electrician we sub-contract). The two parts get scheduled in the same week with a single point of contact on the customer side.
Site Walk and Brand Selection
Tech walks the elevations being lit, measures linear footage of every soffit run, identifies the panel location and the planned circuit route, and confirms the brand the customer wants — Trimlight, EverLights, Govee, JellyFish, or another compatible system. Each brand has its own track profile, LED density, and controller — we install the brand specified and tell you upfront whether the wiring path the brand requires fits this house cleanly.
Electrician Coordination for the Hardwired Circuit
The hardwired circuit from the panel to the soffit is electrical work under Washington L&I rules and routes to a licensed Washington L&I electrician — not handyman scope. We coordinate the schedule directly with the electrician, present the customer with a combined estimate that breaks out the Handis portion and the electrician portion clearly, and put both crews on site in the same week. The customer signs a single agreement covering both portions of work.
Track and Channel Mounted to the Soffit
Handis mounts the low-profile aluminum or PVC track to the soffit with the right anchor for your soffit material (wood soffit takes wood screws, vinyl soffit takes a specific channel anchor). The track is set tight to the fascia edge so the LEDs face down and outward rather than up. Channel covers go on after the LED segments to hide the strand.
LED Segments Installed and Tested
Individually-addressable LED segments (each LED has its own color and brightness controlled by the system) installed in the channel at the spacing the brand specifies, plugged into the hardwired junction box the electrician set, and tested across full color range — holiday red-and-green, white, soft accent — before the channel cover goes on. Bad LEDs in the run get traced and replaced before the cover seats.
Controller Paired and Phone App Loaded
The system controller paired with the homeowner's home Wi-Fi, the brand app installed on the homeowner's phone, and a walk-through covering the holiday-color schedule, the year-round accent mode, and any seasonal presets the system supports. Most permanent systems offer Christmas, Halloween, Fourth of July, birthday, and team-color presets out of the box; we configure whichever ones the homeowner wants ready.
How a Permanent Track Lighting Install Works
Five steps every Handis permanent track lighting install runs through — site walk and brand selection, hardwired circuit by a licensed Washington L&I electrician, track and channel mounted to the soffit, LED segments installed and tested, and controller pairing with the homeowner phone app.
Site Walk and Brand Selection
Tech walks the elevations being lit, measures linear footage of every soffit run, identifies the panel location and the planned circuit route, and confirms the brand the customer wants — Trimlight, EverLights, Govee, JellyFish, or another compatible system. Combined estimate (Handis portion plus electrician portion) presented before any work scheduled.
Hardwired Circuit by a Licensed Washington L&I Electrician
The hardwired circuit from the panel to the soffit is electrical work under Washington L&I rules — performed by a licensed WA L&I electrician we sub-contract. Junction box set at the gable end or under the soffit at the planned track entry point, circuit pulled clean from the panel, permit and inspection where the AHJ requires.
Track and Channel Mounted by Handis
Low-profile aluminum or PVC track mounted tight to the fascia edge with the right anchor for the soffit material (wood, vinyl, fiber-cement). LEDs face down and outward rather than up. Track sections joined at the corners with the brand's miter connectors so the line reads continuous across the elevation.
LED Segments Installed and Full-Range Tested
Individually-addressable LED segments installed in the channel at the brand's spacing, plugged into the electrician's junction box, and tested across the full color range — holiday red-and-green, white, soft accent — before the channel cover goes on. Bad LEDs traced and replaced from the truck before the cover seats.
Controller Paired and Phone App Walk-Through
System controller paired with the homeowner's home Wi-Fi, brand app installed on the homeowner's phone, walk-through covering holiday-color schedule, year-round accent mode, and seasonal presets (Christmas, Halloween, Fourth of July, birthday, team colors). Schedule programmed dusk-to-eleven or to homeowner preference.
Permanent Track Lighting Pricing
Pricing breaks out the Handis portion (track mount, LED install, controller pairing) and the licensed Washington L&I electrician portion (hardwired circuit from the panel) on a single combined estimate. Pricing depends on linear footage, elevations covered, brand selected, panel location, and whether a new circuit or an existing circuit can be used. A $400 credit applies on any tier when an existing dedicated 15-amp exterior circuit can serve the system (no new panel work needed). Request a free estimate for an accurate quote.
Property elevations, panel location, and the brand you want — we will quote both crews on a single estimate.
Why Seattle Homeowners Book Handis for Permanent Track Lighting
Permanent track lighting is the right answer when the calculus tilts away from seasonal labor — a homeowner tired of December installs, an HOA owner planning the next ten years, a property where the roofline pitch makes annual ladder work expensive. The math depends on the install cost amortized over years of saved seasonal labor. The handyman-electrician split confuses people on the first call — Handis does the track and the controller, a licensed Washington L&I electrician does the hardwired circuit, both crews scheduled in the same week, single combined estimate from Handis as the general point of contact. We have run this coordination across enough installs to make it boring; the customer's only job is picking the brand.
Single combined estimate covering both crews
One estimate from Handis covers both portions of the work — the Handis track-mounting and controller-pairing scope, and the licensed Washington L&I electrician's hardwired circuit scope. Customer signs one agreement, deals with one point of contact, gets one invoice. We coordinate the electrician schedule directly.
Honest scope on the handyman-electrician split
Plug-in is handyman scope; hardwired electrical is not. By Washington L&I rules, anything inside a wall on a circuit from the panel is performed by a licensed electrical contractor. Handis does the track mount, channel install, LED segments, controller pairing, and app setup. The licensed Washington L&I electrician does the circuit from the panel to the soffit junction box. The split is real and we name it on the first call rather than at the install.
Brand-agnostic install
We install Trimlight, EverLights, Govee, JellyFish, and other compatible track systems — the customer picks the brand based on price, app, addressable density, and warranty preference. Each brand has its own track profile and controller; the truck carries the right anchors and connectors for the popular systems. We will tell you upfront which brand fits this house cleanly and which one would force compromises in the run.
Permit and inspection handled
Most Seattle-area Authorities Having Jurisdiction require a permit on a new exterior circuit. The licensed Washington L&I electrician pulls the permit, presents the work for inspection, and signs off — we coordinate the inspector schedule. Permit cost ($300 typical) appears as its own line on the combined estimate.
Workmanship guarantee on the Handis portion; electrician carries their own warranty
The 30-day workmanship guarantee covers the Handis install — track seating, LED segment install, channel cover, controller pairing. The licensed Washington L&I electrician carries their own workmanship warranty on the circuit portion (typically one year on labor, manufacturer warranty on hardware). Brand manufacturer warranties on the system itself run two to ten years depending on the brand.
Estimate
Tell us the property — elevations you want lit, approximate linear footage, panel location if you know it (interior or exterior, ground floor or basement), the brand you are leaning toward (Trimlight, EverLights, Govee, JellyFish, or open to recommendation), and whether you have an existing exterior circuit you would like the install to use. We send a combined Handis-plus-electrician estimate.
Customer Reviews
Permanent track lighting reviews from real Handis customers.
Permanent track on the front and side elevations of a Lake Washington two-story. Handis did the track mounting, their electrician handled the circuit from the panel. Both crews on site the same week, single point of contact at Handis, single combined estimate. System runs holiday colors in December, soft white the rest of the year, controlled from my phone. Better than anything I priced in the Lake Washington corridor.
We host the family Christmas every other year and the seasonal labor was eating my December. Booked the permanent system in October, install across two weeks. Holiday colors for December, Halloween orange in October, July fourth red-white-blue, Husky purple on game days. Has paid for itself in two years of saved install labor.
HOA installed Govee permanent track on the entrance gates and the clubhouse. Handis coordinated the install with an electrician they vetted, pulled the permit, handled the inspector visit, and trained two board members on the controller app. Three holidays in, no failures, no complaints.
1960s rambler with a wood soffit. The tech showed up with the right wood-screw anchors for the soffit material, dropped the JellyFish track tight to the fascia edge, ran the corners clean with the brand's miter connectors. Looks like the soffit always had it.
I had already gotten three quotes from companies that wanted to do the wiring themselves — none of them licensed in Washington for electrical. Handis was upfront that they do not touch hardwired circuits and brought in a licensed Washington L&I electrician they had worked with before. Total price was actually lower than two of the others. Did not have to argue about scope.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Handis permanent track lighting — the handyman-electrician split, pricing, brand selection, scheduling, and warranty.