What Richmond's wind and damp ground do to lights
Richmond sits on flat delta land close to the water. That means open lots, wind coming off the Strait of Georgia and ground that stays damp through the wet season. All three show up in repair calls.
Wind works at clips along exposed rooflines, so a section sags or ends up on the lawn. The damp ground is the other problem. Flat yards hold water, and a plug or cord join lying on wet grass or concrete is a common reason an outdoor outlet keeps tripping.
Winter storms here bring wind more often than snow. When we repair a run, we keep connections up off the wet ground and add extra clips on the exposed side of the roofline. If your lights worked in early December and failed after a blow, this is usually why.
Faults we track down and fix
Most calls fall into a few patterns. Here is what each one usually means.
- Half a strand out. On older strands, a bulb or fuse is often the cause. On sealed LED strands, the bad section may not be repairable.
- Plug trips when it rains. Water is getting into a connection somewhere on the run. We trace it section by section.
- One section of roofline dark. Often a failed join, a loose plug or a damaged strand.
- Timer not switching on. We test the timer and the circuit it feeds.
- Lights pulled down. Wind or a falling branch. We re-hang them on clips.
- Corroded plugs where strands join. Moisture gets in at the connection and wears it out.
Many repairs take under an hour. Finding a fault across a whole house can take longer, especially on the large newer homes in Steveston and Terra Nova with long rooflines and several gables.
Repair or replace, and what the price depends on
If a few spots are out on a strand in good shape, repairing it makes sense. If the wire is cracked or the strands have several faults, replacing them costs less over time. We will tell you which one applies before we do the work.
The price depends on how long the fault takes to find, how much of the house we have to trace, how much roof work is involved and whether the strands are worth saving. A single dead section on a ranch house is a different job from a long roofline with several gables.
If the lights are in a poor state, we can supply new outdoor-rated strands. If you have bins of working lights in the garage, we can hang those instead. Either way, you book only the job you need. There is no program or yearly plan to join.
Townhouses, condos and lights someone else hung
Townhouse complexes are common across Richmond, and in many of them the strata decides what goes on the exterior. We also work with stratas, low-rise condos and storefronts. If your complex has rules, check them before we re-hang anything new.
You do not need to have hired us for the install. Tell us who put the lights up if you know, and send a photo of the part that is out. That helps us bring the right parts.
Repair, install and removal can each be booked alone. If you are done with the ladder, we can also take the lights down in January once the repair is finished. Where roof work is needed and the shingles are slick or the wind is up, we move it to a safer day.
