Laguna West Christmas Light Hanging

Most Elk Grove houses show the street a garage door. A lot of Laguna West shows it a front porch, because the garage is around back on an alley. That one design choice changes nearly everything about Laguna West Christmas light hanging: where the lights go, where they plug in, and where the ladder stands. Elk Grove Christmas Light Hanging plans these blocks porch first. For a phone quote, dial (916) 823-8394.

Laguna West was laid out on New Urbanist ideas and people started moving in during 1991. Modest front yards, wide sidewalks, narrow streets, porches close to the walk. With sidewalks that wide and Town Square Park a walk away, your house gets looked at from a few steps off, not from a passing car. Sloppy work shows at that range.

So we start at the porch, not the peak. Pillar wraps on the porch posts, wound evenly so the turns look deliberate. Lit garland along the railing and around the door, tied on, never tacked. A lit wreath at the door or centered on the gable above it. Then the roofline lights, clipped along the eave and up the rakes so the outline of the house is finished from the sidewalk.

With no driveway out front on the alley blocks, stake lighting follows the front walk instead. It’s a short run, which is good, because short runs stay straight.

Each house here was planned with two trees, and the concrete tree wells in the street double as parking dividers. Thirty-odd years later those trees are mature and they stand close to the curb and the rooflines. Two consequences for lights.

First, branches. Where a limb hangs over the eave we route the roofline strand so it isn’t rubbing bark every time the wind picks up. Second, tree wraps. A mature trunk takes a wrap well and carries the display right to the sidewalk. A tree sitting in a street well may not be yours to decorate, though. If you aren’t sure, ask the association before we wrap it. A tree inside your own yard is simpler.

The neighborhood is governed by the Laguna West Association, which also maintains the 73-acre private lake. Its decoration rules aren’t posted anywhere the public can read them, and we won’t guess at them. Send us whatever your current rules say and we’ll pick an install day and a January removal day that sit inside them. What we can promise on our end is the careful part: clips only, nothing driven into stucco or trim, cords kept tidy, a timer that turns the lights off late at night, and no decorating common-area trees or entry features that belong to the association.

To get a number for your house, phone (916) 823-8394 or send a note through the contact form. Photos of the front help. We also work in Lakeside and Laguna Lake, plus the rest of Elk Grove.

The streets were built narrow on purpose. We take one parking bay between tree wells, keep ladders on your side of the sidewalk, and leave the alley open so your neighbors can still get to their garages. If your power is easier to reach from the alley side, tell us on the call to (916) 823-8394, and the cord path gets worked out before anyone climbs anything.

Waterfront lots get one more question from us: do you want the lake side lit? The rear is what the far shore looks at, and what you see from Bartholomew Park. It’s easier to plan with the front than to add afterward.

Fog matters more here than people expect, with the lake this close. Everything is wet by morning, so plugs stay off the ground and connections get tucked under cover. If a section quits in a wet week, (916) 823-8394 gets someone back out. We bring every strand, and when January arrives the same crew unclips the lot and drives away with it.

The music-synced show on Lake Terrace Drive is in the published light guides, and the houses around it decorate too. The Kiwanis Club of Laguna-Elk Grove also puts out a free Holiday Home Tour map of decorated homes each December. If your street lands on that map, people are driving by slowly whether you planned on it or not.

Does the Laguna West Association limit when holiday lights can be up?

We couldn’t find its decoration rules posted publicly, so we won’t quote a date. Check your current rules or ask the association, tell us what they say, and both ends of the job get scheduled to match.

My garage is on the alley. Where do the lights plug in?

Usually wherever your nearest outdoor outlet is, front or back. Tell us where yours are when you call and cords get routed so they never lie across a walkway or the alley.

Can you wrap the street tree in front of my Laguna West house?

If it’s in your yard, yes. If it sits in one of the concrete wells in the street, check with the association first, since that tree may not be yours to decorate.

Is the light show on Lake Terrace Drive something you installed?

No. The music-synced display on Lake Terrace Drive is that homeowner’s own show. We mention it because it’s listed in the published light guides, so December visitors drive in to find it.