Lakeside Christmas Light Hanging in Elk Grove

Lakeside’s written rule on holiday lights says nothing about when they can go up. It only says when they have to be gone. That makes Lakeside Christmas light hanging a takedown-planning job with a ladder attached, and that suits us fine. Elk Grove Christmas Light Hanging hangs the lights, programs the timer, and shows up again in January to strip every strand before the clock runs out. Call (916) 823-8394 and we’ll quote your house over the phone.

The Lakeside Community Owners’ Association covers 1,693 homes around Lake Heron. Its Subdivision Rules, in the Lighting section, say holiday lighting must be removed within two weeks of the specific holiday. For Christmas lights that lands around January 8. No start date is written down.

The CC&Rs also limit visible exterior lighting to ordinary white or yellow bulbs unless the Board signs off, but they make an exception for holiday decorations that are temporary and promptly removed. So a colored roofline in December isn’t the problem. A roofline still lit in February is.

One caution. Boards revise their documents, and we read the copy the association posts publicly. Check the current version, or ask at the Lakeside Clubhouse on Maritime Drive, before you plan around a date. Either way, your takedown goes on our calendar the day your install does.

The association’s Winter Market at the clubhouse each November is a decent reminder to get it booked. Quotes happen by phone at (916) 823-8394. If describing gables isn’t your thing, a couple of street-side photos do the job, and a first note can go through the contact page. Every strand is ours. You don’t shop for them and you don’t store them afterward. We also work inside the gates at Heritage Lakeside and in nearby Stonelake, so the crew is in this corner of town most weeks of the season.

Several Lakeside villages sit behind privacy gates, so tell us on the call how yours works. And since Lakeside doesn’t allow street parking (guests use driveways or permits), our truck needs your driveway for the job. Mention it when you book and we’ll time the install for when a car can be moved. Small thing, but it beats a note from the office.

These are late 1990s and 2000s production homes, a mix of one and two stories, and the CC&Rs call for roofs of tile, shake, cement or similar materials. Tile is the one that takes patience. Our roofline lights go up on clips, one kind for the gutter lip and another for the edge of a tile. No nail or staple goes into the fascia, and we keep our boots off the middle of a tile roof, where the cracking happens.

The rest of the job depends on what your front has to work with:

• Tree wraps. Every lot keeps its designated street tree, and corner lots carry two. A trunk wrap on that tree is the easiest way to pull the display out to the sidewalk.
• Pillar wraps. Porch posts and entry columns get wound evenly from base to cap, with the cord run hidden down the back side.
• Stake lighting. Front yards here are modest, so a short line of stakes along the walk does plenty. Each one goes in clear of the sprinkler heads.
• Wreath and garland, both lit. The wreath goes above the garage or on a second-story gable, the garland around the front door. Both hang from hooks and ties that come off clean.

If your lot backs to Lake Heron, the rear roofline is the one the neighbors across the water see. We can light that side too. Just add it to the list when you call (916) 823-8394.

The Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge is right next door, which means open ground and not much to slow a Delta wind before it reaches your eaves. We clip tight and close together on the windward runs so nothing sags or slaps the gutter at two in the morning. Fog is the other December regular. Connections get kept up off wet ground and tucked where drip won’t find them, and the timer shuts everything off late at night. If a run works loose anyway, (916) 823-8394 brings us back.

Homes that face Johnson Park, Caterino Park or Perez Park get looked at from across the grass, not only from the sidewalk. From that distance a straight, even roofline reads better than a yard full of extras, so that’s where we’d put the effort.

What’s the Lakeside deadline for getting Christmas lights down?

The association’s posted Subdivision Rules say holiday lighting must be removed within two weeks of the specific holiday, which works out to about January 8 for Christmas. Rules get updated, so confirm against the current copy. We book your takedown inside that period.

How early can lights go up in Lakeside?

The rules we read don’t state a start date. What’s written is the removal deadline, plus the point that holiday decorations must be temporary. If you want certainty, ask the association office before a very early install.

Where will your truck park if Lakeside doesn’t allow street parking?

In your driveway. Guests in Lakeside use driveways or permits, so we ask for an open driveway twice: once in the fall and once on removal day in January.

Can you put lights on the common-area trees or the village entry?

Not on a homeowner’s say-so. Those belong to the association. We stick to your own house, yard and designated street tree unless the association itself hires us for the common areas.