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Lead Story · SEP 30

Permanent LED Lighting Installation, The Process in Plain English|What Goes Into a Permanent Lighting Installation: A Homeowner's Walkthrough

Step one is a free consultation Nothing gets installed until the design is settled. That visit covers the roofline, the gables, the porch and anything else worth lighting. The consultation is free and it does not commit you to anything. The design is drawn for your house Your house has its own lines, so the plan gets drawn around it. A good design follows the architecture that is already there: the main roofline, the gables, the dormers, the porch. On commercial work the s

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Analysis · SEP 28

Hiring an Outdoor Lighting Company Without Regretting It|What a Good Outdoor Lighting Company Does Differently: A Plain Guide

Where homeowners go wrong Outdoor lighting gets quoted fast and understood slowly. A template plan and a custom design often quote close together, and look nothing alike at night. Ask whether the design comes first The first question is simple: what does the plan for my house look like? If somebody can walk you through why each run is where it is, that is a good sign. A company that cannot is selling you a package. Ask what happens after the install Lighting lives outside

Dispatch · SEP 28

Permanent LED Light Systems: Inside the Channel, Plainly Explained|What Permanent LED Lights Are Made Of|Should You Know What Is on Your Roof? Yes, and Here Is Why

Why it has to be LED Hardware that never comes down has to handle weather that seasonal strands never see. That rules out most of what people picture when they hear Christmas lights. The case for LED is that it runs cool, sips power and has no filament, in that order.None of this is a reason to become an expert. It is a reason to ask what is actually going on your house, and to expect a specific answer rather than a brochure line. The people who can walk you through it are

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Holiday Light Takedown and Storage, What Happens in January|What Happens to Holiday Lights in January? Ask Before You Book|Christmas Light Takedown Explained

Everybody plans the install. Almost nobody plans January The whole discussion is about getting them lit. That is understandable. But the season ends, and then there is a second job nobody scheduled. The people who thought about that in October are the ones not on a ladder in the cold.And that is unfortunate, because the second half is the one that costs you if it is not covered. Anybody can hang lights in November. The real question is about February. That question is worth

SEP 26

Event and Party Lighting, How to Light an Outdoor Event|Planning Event Lighting? What You Need to Know|Outdoor Party Lighting That Works: The Honest Checklist

Event lighting is a different product entirely Most outdoor lighting is built to stay. Event lighting is built to come down. A wedding, a milestone birthday, a company event, an anniversary: these are one night jobs. That changes the whole approach, starting with the fact that there is no second chance at it.That single fact drives the rest of it. An installation has time to be adjusted. An event is judged in about four hours. So the planning front loads, the contingencies

SEP 26

Custom Outdoor Lighting Plans, The Difference You Pay For|What Makes a Lighting Design Custom? Here Is How to Check|Why Custom Design Matters in Outdoor Lighting: A Buyer's Guide

Every quote calls itself custom Nobody advertises a generic plan. It costs nothing to say so it has stopped carrying information. The test is not what they say. It is whether anything was drawn before the number appeared.Keep that in mind while you are comparing companies. A package starts with a number and works backward. A design starts from the property. Both can be perfectly honest pieces of business. Only one of them is designed for you, and you deserve to know which y

SEP 26

Eave and Soffit Lighting: The Detail That Decides How It Looks|Why Permanent Lights Mount at the Eave: The Practical Reasons|Soffit, Eave, Fascia: A Homeowner's Glossary

First, which part is which Three words come up constantly and most homeowners have never needed them before. The fascia is the flat board facing you at the edge of the roof. The soffit is the horizontal surface tucked beneath the overhang. The eave is the whole overhang, where the roof extends past the wall.You will not need this vocabulary often, but it appears in every estimate, and it is easier to compare two quotes when both are describing the same part of the building.

SEP 24

Permanent Christmas Lights: What to Know Before You Buy

Why December looks the same every year A week or so after Thanksgiving, the box of holiday lights comes out of the garage. The strands are tangled, one section refuses to light, and the ladder is already leaning on the gutter. You do it because you want the house to look good, but nobody enjoys the setup. Then in January you take it all down again. Permanent Christmas lights, explained plainly Permanent holiday lighting is a different approach. Rather than putting strands

SEP 24