When Christmas light takedown happens in the Capital Region
Takedown here runs through January. Most installers start right after New Year's and work through their list as the weather allows, and a big storm can push a scheduled date by days. If you'd like your lights off by a certain date, say so when you book.
Leaving lights up into February isn't a disaster, but it isn't free either. Strands sitting in ice for weeks take a beating, and plastic clips get brittle in the cold. Turn them off after the holidays even if they stay up a while.
Why ice and snow make DIY Christmas light removal risky
Putting lights up in November is one job. Taking them down in January is a harder one. The ground under the ladder is frozen or icy, the gutter is packed with ice, and the shingles may have snow on them. Daylight is short, so most of the work happens in the cold middle of the day.
The common DIY mistake is pulling. A strand frozen into a gutter doesn't let go, so people tug, and the clip snaps, the strand tears or the gutter bends. If you're doing it yourself, wait for a thaw, work one section at a time, and leave anything stuck until it melts out. On a two-story house, think hard about whether it's worth it. The second-story eave in January is exactly the job people hire out. And don't walk a roof with snow or ice on it to reach a dormer or a ridge line. Leave those runs until spring if you have to, or leave them to someone with the right gear.
Labeling, packing and the clips after removal
How the lights come down decides how easily they go back up next year. A careful takedown:
- Unclips each run by hand instead of pulling the whole strand
- Labels each run by where it hung: front roofline, garage, left tree
- Coils strands loosely or onto reels so they don't tangle
- Packs everything in marked bins with the timers and extension cords
Ask what happens to the clips. Some installers reuse them and some replace them every season, since cold-weather plastic cracks. If your lights are leased, everything goes back with the installer. If you own them, ask where they end up: boxed in your garage, or stored somewhere else. Storage varies by installer, so don't assume it.
Removal of lights you hung yourself or a previous owner left
You don't need to have hired the installer to book takedown. Many people put their own lights up in a warm November weekend and want help getting them down in January. Choose takedown only on the quote form, say roughly how many feet of roofline and which trees, and attach a photo if you can.
Houses bought with old lights still on them are their own job. Previous owners sometimes used nails or staples instead of clips, and old incandescent strings left up for years are often brittle and dead. Ask the installer whether they'll pull the fasteners too, and whether holes in the trim are something they patch or something to plan for.
Book Christmas light takedown with the install
The easiest takedown is the one you booked in October. When removal is part of the install, the installer already knows your house, the strands are labeled from day one, and you aren't hunting for help in the first week of January when everyone else is too. Ask whether takedown is included or quoted separately so you can compare quotes fairly.
If you never want to deal with takedown again, permanent Christmas lights stay up all year in a track under the eaves. For the seasonal route, see roofline Christmas lights and our guide on when to put up Christmas lights, which also covers when to take them down. Requests from Schenectady and Clifton Park come through the same form.