Professional Installation vs. DIY Christmas Lights.

Most homeowners do not start this decision with a strong opinion. They start with a ladder already in the garage, a bin of lights from a few seasons back, and a sense that this might be the year to do it differently. The choice between doing it yourself and hiring it out comes down to a handful of concrete tradeoffs, worth walking through honestly.

The time commitment, start to finish

The visible part of DIY installation — actually hanging the lights — is only part of the job. Before that comes measuring rooflines, deciding on a layout, and a trip or two to replace strands that no longer reach or no longer match. Every strand should really be tested before it goes up, since finding the one dead bulb after everything is already on the roof is its own frustrating tradition. A professional installation folds all of that into a single scheduled visit — our own Christmas light installation service handles design and installation as one continuous process, so the time cost sits with the crew instead of your weekend.

What ladder and roof work actually involves

Setting up an extension ladder on a lawn instead of a driveway, working along a second-story eave, running cords through wet grass, reaching just a little farther instead of climbing down to move the ladder — none of this is unique to holiday lighting. It is ordinary exterior-ladder work, and the general precautions are well established: keep three points of contact, move the ladder instead of overreaching, set up on firm and level ground, avoid wet or icy conditions, and have someone else around so you are never working at height alone. What makes Christmas lights different is frequency — for a lot of homeowners, it is the one task each year that puts them on a ladder more than anything else on the maintenance list. A professional crew takes that exposure on as routine work. Our guide to holiday light safety goes through the electrical side in more detail.

A consistent look versus a mixed one

Lights bought incrementally over several seasons tend to mix bulb sizes, warm and cool white temperatures, and spacing that gets wider wherever a strand runs short. Individually, none of that is very noticeable. Strung along an entire roofline at night, it reads as gaps and inconsistency. A layout planned against the actual facade — its rooflines, valleys, and trim — avoids those awkward stopping points. Our installations use warm white C9 bulbs at 15-inch spacing on every job, so the line reads as continuous from end to end. Our C9 bulb and roofline design guide goes further into why that spacing matters.

Who fixes it when a strand goes out mid-season

If a strand fails in the middle of December, DIY means getting back on the ladder in colder, often wetter conditions than the original install to track down the fault. With Coastline Lights, in-season maintenance is included in the installation at no extra cost — if something goes out partway through the season, that is ours to handle, not yours.

Takedown, and where everything goes afterward

Removal reverses the same ladder work, usually in worse January weather, and then there is the separate job of coiling, labeling, and finding somewhere to store strands for eleven months without them tangling or the bulbs cracking. Removal is included in our installation price, and we store your materials between seasons ourselves — there is nothing left for you to pack up or find space for in the garage.

None of this makes DIY the wrong choice — it is a completely reasonable one for a homeowner who enjoys the process and has the time and equipment for it. The honest version of this decision is really just: which of these tasks would you rather not do yourself? If the answer is most of them, request a design consultation and we will take it from there.

Frequently asked questions

Does doing it myself actually save money?

It depends on how much you count your own time as worth. Materials alone add up once you factor in how much roofline you are covering and how often strands need replacing. Every home is different, so we quote each one individually — tell us about yours and we’ll take it from there.

What happens if a strand goes out in the middle of the season?

If you are a Coastline Lights customer, that is included — in-season maintenance is part of the installation, not billed separately. There is no need to get back on a ladder yourself to chase down the fault.

Do I need to store anything after the holidays?

Not with a professional installation from us. Removal is included in the price, and we store your materials between seasons, so nothing ends up taking up space in your garage.