Everybody plans the install. Nobody plans the takedown
Holiday lighting conversations happen in October and November and stop at the install date. Which makes sense, because that is the part you are excited about. But the season ends, and then there is a second job nobody scheduled. The people who thought about that in October are the ones not on a ladder in the cold.Which is a shame, because it is the half that separates one company from another. Anybody can hang lights in November. The real question is what happens after. That question belongs in the first conversation, not after the season ends.
Doing it yourself, honestly
Taking lights down is the harder of the two jobs, and almost nobody expects that. The weather is colder. The motivation is nonexistent. And at the end of it you own a pile of cable. Then the strands go into a bin, and the bin goes into the attic, and something in there stops working before you see it again.
Takedown as part of the job
On a properly structured holiday lighting service, January is already covered. At the end of the season somebody returns and removes the display. Everything gets labeled and put away properly, rather than crushed into a bin in your garage. You never store a single strand.
Why storage is not a small detail
Three things happen when the lights do not live at your house. Your attic gets its space back, which is worth something in most houses. Condition is preserved, which is most of why strands fail. Labeling means the display repeats accurately.
If you would rather not repeat this
There is a version of this where January stops being a thing at all. Permanent lighting
https://evercrestlighting.com/contact/ does not have a takedown. It is a bigger first step, and it is not right for everybody. But if the takedown conversation is the part you dread, it is a fair question to raise.
What happens if something quits in the middle of December
A display runs for a month or more, and something occasionally acts up. The question is who you call. Some companies include service through the season. Others handle it as separate work. Ask before you book, not on the twenty second of December.
Year two is a phone call
The first season takes real work. After that, everything is on record. Next season is a call, a date and the same display back on the house. If you want it expanded or trimmed back, that is a conversation, not a redesign.
Nail this down first
Get it in writing: does this quote cover removal. Ask where the lights are stored between seasons. Ask when it happens so you are not chasing anybody in February. EverCrest Lighting handles takedown and off season storage on holiday lighting, and installs permanent LED systems for anyone finished with the yearly cycle, for homes and businesses across Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina, from Greenville. The consultation is free. Call (864) 252-1732 or email
[email protected].