Everybody plans the install. Nobody plans the takedown
Holiday lighting conversations are almost entirely about putting them up. Which makes sense, because that is the visible part. Then it is January, and the lights are still on the house. The people who asked the question up front have a much better January than the people who did not.Which is a shame, because January is where the difference between companies actually shows. 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.
What a January ladder day actually looks like
Taking lights down is the harder of the two jobs, and almost nobody expects that. Cold, no enthusiasm, and a mess at the end. Whatever goes into that box comes out worse eleven months later.
How it should work instead
On a properly structured
https://jsbin.com/hiyefadame holiday lighting service, takedown is not an add on. When the season ends, the same company returns and takes it all down. Everything gets catalogued and stored off site, instead of living in your attic. You never store a single strand.
Why storage is not a small detail
Three things come out of somebody else storing it. Your attic stays empty, which is worth something in most houses. Condition holds, which is why so many strands die between seasons. And because they are labeled by where they go on your house, next season looks like this season.
The permanent alternative removes the question
The other option makes January irrelevant. A permanent LED system goes up once and stays, so there is nothing to take down and nothing to store, ever. It is a bigger first step, and it is not right for everybody. But if the takedown conversation is what is bothering you, it is a fair question to raise.
The other question worth asking
A display runs for a month or more, and things mounted outside in December occasionally stop working. The question is who you call. Service during the season belongs on the quote, and you should know before December. Ask while you are still comparing companies, not on the twenty second of December.
Year two is a phone call
Year one is the effort. Once a display is designed and stored, repeating it is administrative. Booking the second year is confirming a date and saying whether anything changed. If you want it expanded or scaled down, it adjusts from what already exists.
Questions for the quote
Get it in writing: does this quote cover removal. Ask where the lights are stored between seasons. Ask roughly when in January the crew comes. EverCrest Lighting handles takedown and off season storage on holiday lighting, and installs permanent lighting for people who would rather stop repeating it, for residential and commercial properties throughout Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina, based in Greenville. Consultations are free. Reach them at (864) 252-1732 or
[email protected].