Questions People Actually Ask
Straight answers, including the ones we cannot give yet.
Cost and booking
What does it actually cost?
Quotes start at $800 for lighting install/teardown.
That covers design, professional installation, service through the season, takedown, and off-season storage. It is a floor, not an average — the number moves with the house.
We publish it here rather than after a site visit because you should be able to decide whether this is worth a conversation before you give anybody your phone number.
What makes a quote go up?
Height and complexity, mostly. Two storeys and steep pitches take longer and need more care than a single-storey ranch. Peaks, dormers and many angles add line. Wrapped trees, columns, posts and walkway lighting are all separate work from the roofline.
The quote builder asks about each of those, which is why it can usually get you a real number without a visit first.
When should I get in touch for this season?
Whenever you are ready. We are not going to invent a deadline or tell you spots are running out — we would have to make the number up.
What we can tell you is that Joel will say which install dates are genuinely open when he calls you back, and you can decide from there.
Can you use lights I already own?
Tell us on the form — there is a question for it. Whether we can use them depends on what they are and what condition they are in, and Joel will give you a straight answer rather than quietly working around them.
What we install as standard is commercial-grade LED on custom-cut lines, which is a different thing from a retail box of lights.
The Christmas service
What is actually included?
Five things: design, installation, season-long maintenance, takedown, organized off-season storage.
So the display is designed for your house rather than pulled off a shelf, it goes up, it is looked after while it is up, it comes down, and it is stored labelled so next year is faster than this one.
What do you install, physically?
Commercial-grade LEDs, Weather-tested clips, Custom-cut lines.
Lines are cut to your rooflines rather than run in stock lengths, which is what stops a display looking like it was borrowed from a different house.
What happens if something goes out in the middle of December?
Service through the season is part of what you are buying, not an extra. Call the number on this site and you get Joel rather than a ticket queue.
The number is (231) 769-2729.
When do the lights come down?
Takedown is included, and so is organized off-season storage. You do not have to find somewhere in the garage for a box of tangled line, and you do not have to be the person on the ladder in January.
Permanent lighting
What is permanent lighting, exactly?
Low-profile LED modules installed once and left in place, run from your phone. Warm white most of the year, color for the holidays if you want it, and nothing to put up or take down.
It is a different product from seasonal Christmas lighting and it is priced differently — as a one-time system rather than a season of service.
Is it just Christmas lights that stay up all year?
No, and that is the most common thing people get wrong about it. Most of the year it is architectural white — the kind of lighting that makes a roofline and a set of gables read properly after dark.
The holiday color is a mode you switch on, not what the house looks like in June.
Do you have a preferred system? What about Govee?
The quote builder asks whether you already have something in mind, Govee included, and it is completely fine to say you have no idea what is out there.
Joel will come back with what he would actually put on your house and why, rather than selling you the system he happens to have in the van.
Will it survive a Michigan winter?
These are exterior systems intended for year-round use, and this is a Lakeshore company installing them on Lakeshore houses.
We would rather talk you through the specific product going on your specific soffit than publish a blanket promise here that we cannot stand behind for every house and every system.
Access and the property
What do you fasten the lights to?
Weather-tested clips, on commercial-grade LED lines cut to your rooflines. The lines are held by the clips rather than fixed through the roof.
If Joel looks at your roof and sees something he is not willing to fasten to, you will hear it before the job rather than after it.
Do I need to be home?
Joel will confirm what access he needs when he calls you — it depends on the property and on what is being lit. If it is roofline and trees at the front of the house, there is usually not much for you to do.
Do I have to send a photo of my house?
No. It is optional everywhere it appears on this site, and the quote builder does not ask for one at all.
It is offered because a photo often lets Joel price the job without scheduling a visit. If you do send one, it is emailed to him, it is not published anywhere, it is not given a public link, and the location data is stripped out of the file first.
Where we work
Which towns do you serve?
Muskegon, Norton Shores, Grand Haven, Spring Lake, Holland, Roosevelt Park, Fruitport, Ferrysburg, Coopersville, Zeeland, West Olive, Whitehall, Montague — the West Michigan Lakeshore, from Whitehall down to Zeeland.
My town is not on that list. Is that a no?
Not necessarily. Send the request anyway and say where you are. Joel will tell you straight away whether he can reach you, which is a five-second answer rather than a week of wondering.
Do you do businesses, HOAs and multi-building properties?
There is a commercial path in the quote builder. Tell us the property, how many sites are involved and what your procurement needs, and Joel will come back on whether it is work he can take on and what a site walk would look like.
Commercial work is scoped and quoted in writing. We never put a price band on it from a form.
Still wondering something?
Ask Joel directly. The quote builder takes about two minutes and gets him enough to answer properly, or you can just call.
Or read what it costs, in detail: Christmas lighting costs · permanent lighting costs.