Every November we hang C9 LED lights on rooflines from Bohemia to Massapequa. Not one of them goes up with a staple or a nail. That is not a style choice. A hole in a shingle is a way in for water, and we are not going to make one in yours.
What a staple does to a shingle
A staple is two holes. A nail is one bigger hole. Either way you have punched through the top of a shingle, and a shingle has one job, which is to keep water out. Water can find that hole, get under the shingle and start a leak that does not show up until spring, long after the lights are gone.
Gutters are no better. A staple into an aluminum gutter leaves a hole in the one part of the house that is supposed to carry water away, not let it through.
The lights come down in January. The holes stay.
How a clip holds a strand
We clip every strand. The clip grips the edge of the shingle or the lip of the gutter. Nothing goes through anything. When we take the lights down in January, the clip comes off and the roof looks the way it did in October.
Clips also hold the strand where we put it. A stapled line sags between staples. A draped line moves every time the wind blows. A clipped line sits tight to the roofline, and the bulbs stay in a straight row, which is the whole point of putting lights on a roof.
That is why we measure and cut strands to the roofline before we go up. Bulb spacing stays even from one end to the other, and there is no extra length to flap or bunch at a corner. On a cedar shake house in Sayville or a two-story colonial in Garden City, the run reads as one clean line.
The timer
Every install runs on a timer that comes on at dusk. You do not go outside in the cold to plug anything in. You do not have to remember. It gets dark, the lights come on. That is it.
What happens in a nor'easter
Long Island gets nor'easters. It gets wind off the water in Bay Shore and Babylon and wind across the flats in Levittown. Any lights on a roof are going to get hit at some point between November and January.
Clipped lines hold better than stapled or draped ones. A draped strand catches wind like a sail. A stapled strand pulls on the staple until the staple lets go. A clipped strand cut to fit has no slack to catch. The clip grips, the strand stays put.
Ice and wind can also move an install date. If it is not safe to be on a roof, we do not go on the roof. We call you and reschedule.
When a strand comes down anyway
Sometimes a strand comes down. A storm is a storm. Here is what happens:
- You call us.
- We come out and put it back up. No charge during the season.
- Same for a bulb out. We fix it, no charge.
- No ladder for you. No trip to the store for a replacement strand. We supply the lights, so you buy nothing.
We service faults through December, then take everything down in January. We label every strand by section and store it. The next year the strands are already cut for your roof, so the install is same-day.
The short version
Staples and nails put holes in a roof. Clips do not. We use clips on every job, from Patchogue to Syosset. Never staples, never nails. One crew, one point of contact, no subcontractors.
If you want a quote, call 516-434-1726 or use the quote form on the site. We come out, measure, and give you a flat price in writing. No deposit just to get a number.
