The reason homeowners call
The job looks easy from the ground, then it eats a whole weekend. Add the steep pitch, gutters you would rather not lean on, and the fact that December in the Upstate can be wet, and a lot of people decide it is worth hiring out.
What a real installation service includes
A proper Christmas light installation is more than a crew showing up with your old strands. It starts with a plan: what gets outlined, which trees get wrapped, how it looks from the road. Then the install, handled by people who do this all season. Then maintenance through the season, because a strand will eventually act up. And then takedown, then off season storage, which is the part that keeps your attic empty.
What happens in January
Everybody thinks about the install. Almost nobody plans for taking them down. Takedown and off season storage are part of how they work, which means nothing lives in your attic between seasons.
Both sides of the work
Home installs usually cover the roofline, the entry and a tree or two. Commercial holiday lighting has a different point: a business wants to look open and be noticed in December. The install schedule is usually the negotiation, because the work has to fit around open hours.
What to agree on before you book
Agree on the scope specifically: the roof edge, the porch, the trees, the walk. Agree on who owns the lights, because it changes what happens in January. And agree on takedown and storage before anything goes up.
What should be on the page
A quote with one number and no detail is not enough to compare. Scope should be written down: which rooflines, which trees, which entryways. Material ownership belongs on the page. It should say who takes them down and where they are stored between seasons. And it should say what happens if something quits in the middle of December.The realistic version is short. You come home and it is done, having spent the afternoon somewhere else. After the season they come back and take it down, and the boxes do not come back to your garage.
The other option: lights that stay up
For anyone who repeats this every season, a permanent system is a
https://evercrestlighting.com/contact/ fair question to raise. A permanent LED system is installed once and left in place, does the holiday colors from your phone, and doubles as everyday lighting the other eleven months. EverCrest Lighting installs both. The consultation is free. Based in Greenville, they cover Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina. Call (864) 252-1732 or email
[email protected].