First Christmas in a New Home? Start Here

The first December in a new house is a strange one. You do not know where the outlets are yet. You have not seen how the roofline looks from the street at night. You may not even own a ladder tall enough for the gutters. This post is about what is worth planning for in year one, and what you can safely skip until you know the house better.

Start with the house, not the lights

Before you buy anything, walk the outside of the house in daylight and again after dark. You are looking for three things.

• Outdoor outlets. Find every one. Note which ones are on a GFCI and which ones share a circuit with something inside, like a garage freezer or a sump pump. A tripped breaker on a cold night is a common way for a first display to go dark.
• The roof edge. Is there a gutter along the front? Is the fascia wood, vinyl or aluminum wrapped? Are there steep gables or a second story over the entry? That tells you what can be clipped, where, and whether you can reach it safely.
• What people actually see. Stand at the end of the driveway and across the street. On a lot of Middle Tennessee homes, the part of the house that faces the road is only one or two rooflines. That is where lights earn their keep.

Do this walk before Thanksgiving week. Once the weather turns, you will not want to be learning your house in the rain.

What to plan for in year one

One clean roofline

If you only do one thing, outline the front roofline. A single straight run of warm white along the gutter reads well from the street and makes the house look finished. It does not need to be the whole house. Most first-year homeowners overestimate how much they need to light to make a difference.

A power plan

Figure out which outlet feeds which section before anything goes up. Long extension runs across a lawn, through a door that will not quite close, or pinched under a garage door are the usual problems. Plan short runs, use outdoor rated cords, and keep connections off the ground where water collects. Nashville winters are more wet than frozen, so plan for rain and standing water, not snow.

How it attaches

This is the one to get right on a house you just bought. Clips that fit the gutter lip or the roof edge hold the lights and come off clean. Staples, nails and screws into fascia or trim leave holes that let water in. On a new home, that is damage you would be doing to yourself. Red Nose Lites uses clips sized to the roof edge or gutter lip and never fastens into fascia, trim or shingles, and that is the standard you should hold yourself to if you do it yourself.

Where the lights go in January

Nobody thinks about this in November. New homes often have less storage than the old place, or the garage is still full of boxes from the move. Tangled strands in a bin are a good reason to give up after year one. If you are doing it yourself, label each strand by where it went on the house before you take it down.

What to skip in year one

Some things are worth waiting on until you have lived in the house for a season.

• Every roofline on a two-story house. The back and sides are rarely seen. Light the front first and see how it looks.
• Lighting every tree in the yard. Wait until you know which trees you like, and which ones the neighbors can actually see. One well wrapped tree near the walk does more than six half done ones.
• Animated displays and music setups. Fun, but they need power planning you have not done yet on this house. Year two.
• Buying a big stock of lights on sale. Retail strands come in fixed lengths that rarely match a real roofline. You end up with extra slack bunched in corners or runs that stop short of the peak. Measure first.

DIY or hire it out?

Plenty of first-year homeowners should do it themselves. If the house is a single story ranch with a gutter along the front and you already own a sturdy ladder, a roofline and a couple of bushes is a weekend afternoon job. That is a fine way to learn the house.

It stops being a good DIY project in a few situations:

• Second story rooflines or steep gables over the entry. Working a ladder on a slope in cold wind is the part of this job that hurts people.
• You do not own the ladder, the clips, the cords or the lights yet. Buying all of it for one season on a house you do not know adds up quickly.
• You are still unpacking, or you are hosting family for the first holiday in the new place and do not want to spend two weekends on a roof.
• You have nowhere to store everything afterward.

A professional install covers that whole list. With Red Nose Lites residential installation, every job includes the design, custom cut commercial grade LED strands, installation by insured crews, in season maintenance, takedown after the holidays and off season storage. The company keeps the lights, so they are not taking up room in a garage that is still full of moving boxes. If a strand goes out during the season, there is a 24 hour service guarantee. There are no contracts and no long term commitments, which matters when you are not sure yet what you want the house to look like.

How to get a price without waiting

You do not need to schedule anyone to come out. Red Nose Lites quotes over the phone. Call (615) 595-9686, describe the house and what you want lit, and you can get a price on that call. It helps to have a few things ready:

• Whether the house is one story or two.
• Which rooflines you want lit, usually just the front to start.
• Whether there is a gutter along those edges.
• Any trees, bushes or walkways you would like included.

If the property is large or unusual, or you would simply rather someone look at it in person, a site visit is available. It is an option, not a requirement. You can also use the quote form if you would rather write it down. The how it works page lays out the steps from first call to takedown.

Timing for a first season

If you are hiring it out, call early. A new homeowner is often the last person to think about lights because there is so much else going on, and calling well before you want them up gives you more choice of dates.

If you are doing it yourself, pick a dry, calm day before the holiday rush. Doing the roofline in a cold rain the week of Thanksgiving is how first-year projects end up half finished.

A simple year one plan

• Walk the house in daylight and after dark. Find the outlets.
• Decide on the front roofline, and maybe one tree or the entry.
• Choose clips, not fasteners, for anything on the roof edge.
• Decide who is putting it up, and who is storing it after.
• Book or buy early.

That is enough for the first year. Next season you will know how the house looks at night, which neighbors go big, and what you actually want to add. If you are in Nashville, Franklin, Brentwood or Hendersonville and want it handled, Red Nose Lites is a family owned company that has been lighting homes around Middle Tennessee since 2006. One phone call gets you a price.