Elk Grove Pillar Wrap Christmas Lights

The front door is where people actually stand, and on most houses it’s the darkest spot in the display. Elk Grove pillar wrap Christmas lights fix that with very little: a strand wound up each post or column by the entry, evenly, base to cap. It’s the smallest job we do and often what makes a house look finished.

Not every pillar is the same animal. Laguna West was laid out with front porches facing the street, so plenty of houses there have a row of porch posts. Slim square ones look best with every post wrapped, or only the pair beside the steps. Skipping around looks like the strand ran out.

Craftsman elevations turn up in both Glenbrooke and Madeira. Where one has a tapered column on a masonry base, we wrap the wood and stop at the masonry, because a strand over rough stone never lies flat and the base looks fine dark. Big square stucco columns, the kind framing a tall entry on newer two-story houses, take a wider spiral so the wrap doesn’t look crowded on all that surface. Round columns are the easiest. Turned posts, where an older porch in Old Town Elk Grove has them, are the fussiest, since the strand has to follow the profile without bunching in the narrow parts.

An uneven wrap shows from the street. So we start at the bottom, set the angle on the first turn, and hold that angle the whole way up. On a pair of columns the second is wound as a mirror of the first, so both spirals lean toward the door together. Both finish level with each other, right under the cap or the beam.

We wind by hand and step back to the sidewalk to check before tying off. If a turn has drifted, it gets redone then and there. Columns that run two stories get wrapped from a ladder with somebody footing it, as you’d expect.

Top and bottom are where a sloppy job gives itself away. Our strand ends tuck behind the column, not down the front of it, and the cord to the outlet follows the joint where the porch slab meets the wall.

A wrap mostly holds itself. Tension keeps it on a square post, and the corners give it something to grip. Smooth round columns are slippery, so those get a soft tie at the top and another at the bottom, both of which come off without a trace. No staples, no tacks, no screws into wood or stucco. Staple holes in a painted post swell and peel by spring. If the porch was painted recently, say so, since fresh paint stays soft for a while and we’ll go gentler on it.

December fog leaves everything on a porch damp by morning. Plug connections stay up off the concrete, and the timer sits somewhere sheltered. It lights the columns at sundown and shuts them off later that night, along with whatever else is lit.

A quote takes a call or a picture. One straight-on shot of the entry is enough, with the columns in frame top to bottom. Count them for us and say whether the porch has an outlet. Start with (916) 823-8394. We supply the lights.

Columns go best with lit garland over the doorway and a wreath on the door, which together make a full entry. Add the roofline and that’s the whole front. If you live in Stonelake, our Stonelake page talks about working inside that master association. Questions are welcome at (916) 823-8394.

We’re back in January to unwind each column, pull the ties and carry the lot away. Nothing to store, nothing stuck to the paint. A wrap that quits mid-season gets fixed when you phone (916) 823-8394, or you can leave a note on the contact page.

Can you wrap just two columns and nothing else?

Yes. A pair of wrapped entry columns is a complete small job, and plenty of people start there before adding a roofline another year.

Will a column wrap mark the paint?

No. The wrap holds by tension and soft ties, with no staples or tacks, and it’s unwound in January.

There’s no outlet on my porch. Is that a problem?

Usually not. We can run a cord from the nearest outdoor outlet, kept low against the wall. Tell us where that outlet is when you call.

Do you wrap columns at businesses?

Yes. Storefront posts, office entry columns and church porticos are wrapped by the same method, and the timer can be set around your hours.