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. Then it is January, and something has to happen. The people who asked the question up front are the ones not on a ladder in the cold.Which is a shame, because January is where the difference between companies actually shows. Anybody can put a display up. The
https://evercrestlighting.com/about/ question is what the arrangement looks like when the season is over. That question belongs in the first conversation, not after the season ends.
What a January ladder day involves
Taking lights down is the harder of the two jobs, and almost nobody expects that. Cold, dark by five, and nothing to look forward to. Then the strands go into a bin, and the bin goes into the attic, where they tangle, get crushed, and lose a section by next November.
How it should work instead
On a properly structured holiday lighting service, takedown is not an add on. At the end of the season somebody returns and it comes off the house. Everything gets labeled and put away properly, rather than crushed into a bin in your garage. You never store a single strand.
Why storage matters more than it sounds
Off site storage does more than free up a shelf. Space comes back. The lights stay in the condition they were in, because they are stored properly rather than compressed under something heavy. Labeling is why year two looks like year one.
The other route
The other option makes January irrelevant. Permanent lighting does not have a takedown. It is a different purchase with different math, and it does not suit every household. But if the takedown conversation is the part you dread, it is worth asking about once.
What happens if something goes dark on the twentieth
A display is up for weeks, and things mounted outside in December occasionally stop working. What matters is whether anybody comes out. Some companies treat mid season repairs as part of the job. Others charge for the return trip. Ask while you are still comparing companies, not on the twenty second of December.
The second year
The first season involves a design conversation, decisions and a plan. Once a display is designed and stored, repeating it is administrative. Booking the second year is a short conversation. If you want it expanded or trimmed back, that is a conversation, not a redesign.
Questions for the quote
Get it in writing: is the takedown part of this number. Ask who keeps them until next year. Ask how removal gets scheduled so it is not a surprise. 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].