Hang Them Yourself or Hire It Out? An Honest Look at Christmas Lights for Delta & Surrey Homes
Every October the same conversation happens in a lot of Delta and Surrey driveways. Someone looks up at the roofline and says, "We could just do it ourselves this year." Sometimes that is exactly right. Sometimes it turns into two wet Saturdays, a dead section halfway along the garage, and a box of tangled strings that comes back out of the crawlspace in January looking worse than it went in.
Every October the same conversation happens in a lot of Delta and Surrey driveways. Someone looks up at the roofline and says, "We could just do it ourselves this year." Sometimes that is exactly right. Sometimes it turns into two wet Saturdays, a dead section halfway along the garage, and a box of tangled strings that comes back out of the crawlspace in January looking worse than it went in.
This is an honest comparison, written by a crew that installs lights for a living. We will tell you where DIY makes sense, where it usually falls apart, and what you are really paying for when you hire it out.
The bulbs are the cheap part
When people compare DIY with a professional install, they usually compare the price of a few boxes of lights with a quote. That leaves out most of the work:
- Measuring the rooflines so the strings actually fit, instead of ending a metre short of the corner or bunching up at the peak
- Choosing clips that suit your gutters, shingles, and fascia, so nothing gets nailed, stapled, or pried loose
- Planning power, so runs reach an outlet without extension cords across the walkway
- Getting up there safely, usually in November, usually in the rain
- Fixing what fails partway through December
- Taking it all down in January and finding somewhere dry to keep it
None of that shows up on the box. All of it shows up on the calendar.
Where DIY works well
DIY is a perfectly good choice when:
- The home is a single-storey rancher or townhome with a short, simple front roofline you can reach comfortably
- You want a small, low-key display, like the entry, a railing, or a couple of shrubs
- You enjoy the project and have a dry weekend, a sturdy ladder, and a second person to hold it
- You already own decent lights and a place to store them
If that is you, the best advice we can give is to start early, hang on a dry day, clip to the gutter lip or shingle edge rather than nailing into anything, and clean the gutters first. A trough full of leaves is a bad place for clips, and December storms will push water over the same edge you just lit. Our post on cleaning the house before the lights go up walks through that prep.
Where DIY usually falls apart
The trouble starts with height, roof shape, and weather.
Two-storey homes and steep pitches. Much of the housing in Surrey and North Delta has upper rooflines, peaks over the garage, and gables that are simply not ladder-friendly for most homeowners. Those are the lines that make a display look finished, and they are the ones people end up skipping.
November rain. Here, the dry window for hanging lights closes fast. Wet rungs, slick shingles, and gutters full of soggy leaves are a bad combination, and waiting for a dry Saturday can push the job into December.
Box-store strings on a custom house. Pre-made strings come in fixed lengths. Rooflines do not. That is where the gaps at corners, doubled-back sections, and cords hanging off the eaves come from.
Mid-season failures. A section goes dark, and now you need to find the bad bulb or connector, get back on the ladder, and hope the weather cooperates.
January. Taking lights down in the cold and rain is nobody's favourite job, and lights packed away wet and tangled are the ones that fail next year.
What a professional install actually includes
Our Christmas light installation is a full-season service, not just a hanging day. Each season includes:
- A lighting design, kept on file so next year starts from the same plan
- Commercial-grade C9 LED, custom-cut to your home, so runs fit your actual rooflines
- All clips, cord, and connectors
- A timer set to your chosen start date
- Installation any day from October 1
- Unlimited service calls, backed by our 48-hour service guarantee
- January takedown
- Off-season storage, testing, and repair
Early installation is a big part of the value. We can hang your lights in October, when the weather is still workable, and set the timer so nothing turns on until the night you choose.
Who owns the lights?
This is the part that surprises most people. With our service, we own the lights. We buy commercial-grade LED, cut it to your roofline before we arrive, and then maintain, store, and replace anything that fails. You never store a box in the garage or replace a dead string yourself.
A few other questions come up a lot:
- Is it a long contract? No. The agreement is one season and renews automatically. You can cancel any time with 30 days' notice, and your price is locked for three seasons either way.
- Will you damage my roof? We do not drill. Lights hang on drill-less clips on your fascia, eaves, and gutters. In the rare case an install needs a fastener that leaves a hole, we tell you first and fill and touch up every hole at takedown. We are fully insured.
- What about big trees? Tall conifers are uplit from the ground, and full wraps are available on request.
- What if we sell the house? You can cancel and we remove everything at no charge, or transfer the agreement to the new owner.
- Why is there a deposit? It covers the lights we buy and cut for your home before install day.
A side-by-side look
| Doing it yourself | Luxe Bros installation | |
|---|---|---|
| Lights | You buy, own, and replace them | We supply, own, and replace them |
| Fit | Fixed-length strings | C9 LED custom-cut to your rooflines |
| Getting up high | You, a ladder, and the weather | Our crew, any day from October 1 |
| Roof and gutters | Depends on the clips you choose | Drill-less clips on fascia, eaves, and gutters |
| A section goes dark | Back up the ladder | Unlimited service calls, 48-hour service guarantee |
| January | Your takedown | Our takedown |
| Storage | Your garage or crawlspace | Off-season storage, testing, and repair |
How to decide
A few honest questions usually settle it:
- Can you reach every line you want lit from a ladder you trust, on a dry day? If the answer is "only the front porch," a full roofline display is probably not a DIY job.
- How much is a November weekend worth to you? Count setup, fixes, and takedown, not just hanging day.
- Do you want the same look every year without storing anything? That is where a service with a design on file pays off.
- Are your gutters ready? Either way, lights belong on clean, clear gutter lips. If yours need attention, book gutter cleaning first. If you have guards, they still need a check before clips go on.
Timing matters either way
Whichever way you go, earlier is easier. Installs run from October 1, booking by mid-November is how you get a guaranteed install date, and December 10 is the last day to book this season. Our post on why Delta and Surrey homes book Christmas lights early covers how the calendar fills.
Get a look at your home before you decide
If you are on the fence, the easiest next step is to see what your house would need. Our Christmas lights page has a quick estimator based on your home style, size, and roof, or you can tell us about your home and we will put together a written quote. If the gutters or fascia need attention first, we can line that up on the same plan.