What Delta houses ask of Christmas lights
Delta is not one kind of house. North Delta is mostly 1960s to 1980s split-levels and basement-entry homes on hillside lots. The rooflines step up and down, and the ladder work is awkward on a slope. Tall trees add shade and moss, which makes roofs and gutters slick in winter.
Ladner and Tsawwassen have a lot of ranchers and low two-storey homes on flatter land. Those rooflines are long and fairly easy to light, but they take a lot of strand. There are also newer townhouses, though Delta has fewer stratas than most Metro cities.
If you have bins of lights in the garage and nobody who wants to be up there, this is the job we do. Tell us the house and we will say what it usually involves.
Wind, wet yards and long cord runs
Tsawwassen is one of the windiest parts of the region, and Ladner is open to wind off the water too. Winter wind loosens strands that were clipped poorly. We use plastic clips that hook onto the gutter edge or slip under the shingle edge, and we take extra care with how cord runs are secured.
Flat yards in Ladner and Tsawwassen hold water. We keep connections up off the ground so they stay out of the wet. Homes near Boundary Bay, Beach Grove and English Bluff also deal with salt air, which is another reason to use outdoor-rated lights.
Farm properties in East Ladner can have a long distance between the plug and what you want lit. Tell us about it up front, because the cord run changes the plan.
Light rain does not stop ground-level work. Roof work moves to another day when the roof is slick or the wind is up.
How booking works and what the price depends on
We check your lights first. If they are rated for outdoor use and working, we hang them. If a strand is not worth hanging again, we say so plainly. You can also have us supply lights. Either way, the lights are clipped on and run to a timer.
Most houses take a few hours in one visit. Large or steep houses can take longer.
The price depends on four things.
- The length of your roofline
- The height and pitch of the roof
- How much is lit besides the roof, such as railings, pillars, pathways, wreaths and garland
- Whether you use your own lights or want ours
Book as early in the fall as you can. Lights can go up in October or November and stay off until you want them on. We take them down in January if you add removal. Repair and removal can be booked alone, even on lights someone else hung. We also do stratas, low-rise condos and storefronts.
