The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that about 14,900 people went to the emergency room for holiday decorating injuries between November 1, 2022 and January 31, 2023. The agency counts about 160 decorating injuries a day during the holiday season, and it says nearly half of them involve falls.

Those figures cover every kind of decorating, from the tree in your living room to the gutter over your garage. Whether your own roofline is a problem depends on your house, your ladder and your weather.

What makes a roofline harder than a tree

  • Height. A second-story gutter is a different job from a first-story one.
  • Ladder moves. Every peak, corner and dormer means climbing down, moving the ladder and climbing back up.
  • Cold and early dark. The Des Moines metro starts lighting up in the third week of November. By then the ground can be frozen, and the sun sets before 5pm.
  • Nobody holding the ladder. Tate spent his childhood holding the ladder for his dad, who hated hanging lights. Plenty of people decorate alone.

When doing it yourself makes sense

If you have a single-story ranch with a low front gutter and one straight roofline, you can do it from a step ladder in an afternoon. You will spend less than you would with us, and the house will look fine. Our DIY vs. hiring page walks through that trade in more detail.

If you hang them yourself

A few choices take some of the work out of it. Light the front of the house and leave the sides dark. Skip any peak you would have to stretch for. Pick a dry, mild afternoon in late October or early November rather than Thanksgiving weekend: Polk County averages its first 32 degree freeze on October 10, according to Iowa State University Extension, and every week after that is colder on the ladder. Ask someone to be home while you work, even if they never touch the ladder.

When to hire it out

Think about hiring someone if:

  • the front of your house is two stories
  • the peaks sit out of reach
  • the roofline turns several times or has dormers
  • you would be up there alone
  • you would rather spend November evenings inside

We won't tell you that hiring us makes a roof safe. Nobody can promise that about a roof they haven't seen, and we don't promise it about the roofs we have. We can promise you won't be the one on the ladder. If Tate looks at your roofline and decides it's one we won't work on, he tells you up front.

Before you climb

The CPSC publishes holiday safety guidance each year. Read its latest holiday release before you start, and follow the instructions that came with your ladder.

Get a price before you get the ladder out

Send your address on the estimate form. Tate measures your roofline from satellite imagery and texts you a ballpark, usually the same day. Then you can decide with a real number in front of you.

Common questions

How many people get hurt decorating for the holidays?

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that about 14,900 people were treated in emergency rooms for holiday decorating injuries between November 1, 2022 and January 31, 2023, and it says nearly half of decorating injuries involve falls.

Is it cheaper to hang my own lights?

For a small, easy run it usually is. A single-story ranch with a low front gutter and one straight roofline is a job most people can do in an afternoon. What you pay us covers more than the hanging, though: lights cut to your house, fixes all season, takedown and storage. And we would rather you stayed off the roof, so get a free estimate before you get the ladder out.

What does it cost to have someone else do it?

Shimmer & Shine charges by the foot of roofline. The rate steps up on set dates through the season, and the current rate is on our pricing page. That one price covers the lights cut to your house, the install, fixes all season, takedown in January and storage until next October.

Do you light two-story houses?

Yes. A two-story front is a normal job. It takes longer to reach and work on, which is one of the things that moves the price. If a roofline is one we will not work on, Tate will tell you up front.