How Much to Charge for Christmas Light Installation?

Measure every run you will light in linear feet: the gutter line, the ridges, and the peaks. A typical 1,500 sq ft home has 125 to 175 feet of roofline. Count the stories, note steep or hard-to-reach sections, and find the outlets - power decides where every run starts.

With your lights (lease, install, takedown, storage): one-story $3 to $6, two-story $4 to $8, three-story or steep $6 to $10 per linear foot. Labor only on the customer’s lights: one-story $1.50 to $3, two-story $2 to $4, three-story $3 to $5. Custom designs with multiple zones run $8 to $15 per foot.

Line-item every tree, bush, wreath, and pathway run. Add timers and any outlet work, then check the total against your job minimum. Quote one clean number with the install date and the takedown window written out, and take a deposit to hold the date - the calendar fills by Thanksgiving.

Price trees by height and how densely you wrap them: $75 to $125 for a small tree up to 6 feet, $125 to $250 for 12 to 18 feet, and $300 to $1,500 for a large tree with a full canopy wrap. A tree that needs a lift adds $400 to $700 a day for the rental - put it on the quote, not in your margin.

• Bushes and shrubs: $10 to $20 each, more with net lights on large hedges
• Wreaths and lawn ornaments: about $35 each to hang or place
• Pathway or driveway outline: $60 to $180 with stakes
• Window and door outlines: price per foot like the roofline

Every run needs a safe power source. Include outdoor timers ($12 to $50 each) and extension runs in the price. A new exterior outlet is electrician work at $120 to $200 each - refer it or sub it out, and never overload a single circuit to save a trip.

Takedown takes about a third of the install time, and most installers include it. Priced on its own it runs $0.50 to $0.65 per foot or $125 to $350 a job. Storage is $50 to $250 a season, and on a lease it is built into the price. Lease packages also cover replacing dead bulbs during the season - plan a 5 to 10 percent allowance for broken bulbs and waste.

• Sell it to the customers you already have. Your fall cleanup and gutter list is the warmest lead list you own.
• Offer an early-booking discount. 10 to 20 percent off for an install before Thanksgiving fills October and early November.
• Take a deposit with every booking. It holds the date and stops the no-shows. See how much deposit to ask for.
• Put the takedown on the same estimate. One accepted quote covers the install, the January visit, and the invoice.

• Renew last year’s customers in late August or early September, with the deposit collected before the new-customer push.
• Lease, do not sell. Reused lights over several seasons are what turn a short season into real margin.
• Time your installs on a one-story, a two-story, and a tree, and price from those numbers, not a guess.
• Route by neighborhood so a crew does several houses on one street instead of driving across town.

Takedown is a second truck roll and about a third of the install hours. Price it into the install or list it, and write the takedown window on the estimate.

A 40-foot porch at $4 is $160 for two trips, a ladder setup, and a power check. Set a $200 to $400 floor and quote it without apology.

Every ladder move above the first story is slower and riskier, and steep sections may need a harness or a lift. Charge the height: two-story and steep roofs earn their higher per-foot rate.

A medium tree is an hour or more of wrapping and $125 to $250 of value. Each tree is its own line, priced by height.

The season is six weeks of install dates. A verbal yes that cancels in December cost you a date you cannot sell again. Send the estimate in writing and take the deposit when they accept.