Holiday lighting installation
Holiday light installation is a ladder job in November weather, which is exactly why people stop doing it themselves somewhere around their fiftieth birthday or their first slip on a frozen gutter. We hang lights on rooflines, gables, porches and trees, run them to a safe power source on a timer, then come back in January and take them down. It sits inside our exterior repair service as a seasonal booking.
Service family Exterior repair
Scheduling Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Service area Six counties across Southeast Michigan
Phone (734) 540-0347
What the service includes
A site visit to measure the runs and find the power, the lights hung on proper clips with the spacing even and the lines straight, connections kept off the ground and out of standing water, a timer set to a schedule you choose, and a takedown visit after the season. Lights and clips can be yours or ours, and we will tell you which is cheaper over three years.
Install, takedown and storage
Most customers buy the pair: install in November, takedown in January. Storage is worth thinking about, because the fastest way to shorten the life of a set is to pull it down in a tangle and put it in a bin. We coil runs onto reels, label them by elevation and box them, which makes the next November install faster and cheaper.
Where our work stops and a licensed electrician starts
Hanging lights and plugging them into receptacles and circuits that already exist is ours. The list below belongs to a licensed electrical contractor.
- Adding an exterior receptacle or a new circuit
- Converting a receptacle to a protected or switched one
- Panel work, breaker changes and service upgrades
- Any permanent wiring to soffit, eave or roof
- Anything needing a municipal permit and an inspection
Clips, and why we do not use staples or nails
Every light gets hung on a clip made for the surface it is on: shingle tab clips at the roof edge, gutter clips on the lip, and small hooks under a soffit or on a fascia. Nothing is stapled, nailed or screwed into your house. Staples through a wire are a fire risk and a hole in a shingle is a leak in three years, which is a poor trade for a month of lights.
Rooflines, gables and the reach that sets the price
A single storey ranch roofline is straightforward ladder work. A two storey gable end, a steep pitch or a second storey peak over a conservatory needs longer ladders, roof anchors and sometimes two people, and it is priced that way. We measure the runs and note the access before quoting, so the number does not move on the day.
What gets checked first
- Total run length by elevation, measured rather than estimated
- Access to every run, and what it takes to reach safely
- Available exterior receptacles and their protection
- Gutter and shingle condition, since clips load both
- Where the timer will live and whether it is weather rated
Power, and the circuit you are plugging into
Holiday lighting fails on power more often than on lights. Several long runs of incandescent lights on one exterior receptacle will trip it, and the trip usually happens on the coldest wet night of the year. We total the load before we plug anything in and spread it across circuits, or move you to LED, rather than hoping the breaker holds.
Outdoor receptacles, covers and protection
Every exterior receptacle in use needs a cover that closes over the plug rather than a flat flap propped open by a cord, and it should be on a protected circuit. Water in a box is the usual reason lights die mid December. Where the receptacle you need is missing a cover or protection, that is GFCI outlet installation and outlet and switch replacement work.
Timers and the schedule people forget
A weather rated outdoor timer, or a smart plug where there is a signal at the receptacle, means the lights come on at dusk and go off when you are asleep. That halves the run hours and it doubles the life of the set. It also stops the one house on the street with the lights on at three in the morning, which is usually the house that forgot.
LED versus incandescent
LED sets draw roughly a tenth of the power, run cool, survive being dropped and let you run four times the length on one circuit. Incandescent has a warmer, softer light that some people prefer and it will always be cheaper to buy. For any house running long roofline runs, LED is the practical answer and the difference shows on a December bill.
Ladders, ice and the reason to book early
The work gets harder and more dangerous every week after Thanksgiving. Early November is dry, the gutters are clear and the ladder feet are on solid ground. Late December is ice on the eaves and snow on the ladder. We book installs from late October and we fill up, so the useful thing you can do is call before the clocks change.
Trees, shrubs and wrapping
Wrapping trunks and branches is slower per foot than a roofline and it has the biggest visual effect on a front garden. Mini lights wound tight on a trunk, or net lights over shaped shrubs, both work. One caution: anything wrapped tight on a growing branch has to come off in January rather than being left on for a second season.
Commercial and storefront work
We do this for commercial clients as well, and the considerations change: the season starts earlier, the runs are longer, the power needs planning and takedown has to happen without closing the shop. Where a property needs year round exterior lighting rather than a seasonal set, that is outdoor lighting as a design and build project.
Takedown, and the January question
Lights left up past February look forgotten, and clips left on a gutter through a summer get brittle and stain. Takedown is part of the booking, scheduled for the first half of January, with everything coiled, labelled and boxed. Where the weather is against us we come the moment the ice clears rather than leaving it until spring.
What we will not promise
We will not walk a steep or iced roof, we will not fasten anything through your roofing, and we will not guarantee a set of lights that was already several seasons old when we hung it. Where a run fails mid season we will come back and find it, and where the cause is a tired set we will say so rather than replacing bulbs forever.
The rest of the house in November
The same visit is a good moment for the seasonal list: fall winterization, draft sealing, downspout extension and drainage before the freeze, deck railing repair and exterior hardware. Houses standing empty for the winter get snowbird home watch.
How long the work takes
A single storey roofline with two elevations is a half day. A two storey house with gables, porch and two wrapped trees is a full day. Takedown is roughly half the install time. Booking both at once in October is the cheapest way to buy it, alongside guest ready work before visitors arrive.
Book holiday lighting installation with our crew
Call in October and you get the date you want and a dry install. Call in December and we will do our best. We cover Northville and the surrounding counties, and an annual home check is a good moment to sort the receptacles before the season. View our Portfolio, then contact us now for a free quote.
