The method, step by step
- Each section of roofline is measured
- The run is cut to that measured length
- Clips hook the gutter lip or the shingle edge
- The cord runs to an outlet you already have outside
- Everything comes back off in January
How It Attaches
How The Lights Attach To Your Roof And Gutters
This page describes the method and why it is used. It does not make a promise about your house, because nobody here has seen your house yet.
Questions about your own roofline? Start with the free estimate.
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Seasonal C9
Clips, Not Nails And Not Screws
A seasonal install uses all-purpose light clips. Each clip either hooks over the lip of the gutter or slides under the edge of a shingle. The clip holds the bulb socket, and the wire follows the line the clips make.
Nothing is nailed and nothing is screwed, wherever the roofline allows it. That is the whole reason the clip exists.
At takedown the clips come off with the lights. Nothing was nailed and nothing was screwed in to put them up, so there is nothing to unfasten and nothing of ours stays up there.
When The Roofline Says No
Not Every Section Takes A Clip
No gutter on that run
Plenty of houses have a stretch with no gutter at all. There is nothing for a clip to hook over, so that section needs a different answer.
Wrapped or capped fascia
Some fascia is wrapped or capped in a way a shingle clip cannot get behind. Where Tate finds that, he works out another way to hold the run on that section and tells you what it is before he starts.
Peaks, stone and flat edges
A stone face, a flat parapet or a peak with no reachable edge all fall in the same bucket. The answer is decided in person, on your house.
When a section does not take a clip, Tate tells you what he would do there and you agree it before he starts. That is not a courtesy, it is in the service agreement: where the roofline does not allow a clip, the installer agrees the method with the client before proceeding. You will not find out afterwards.
The measurement visit is where your roofline gets looked at properly.
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Permanent Lighting
Track Is Fixed To The House. We Will Say That Out Loud.
Permanent roofline lighting is a different product and it deserves a different answer. The track is a channel that either tucks under the shingle course or mounts along the fascia. It is meant to stay there, so it is fastened.
Which of those two your house gets is decided at the measurement visit, standing in your yard, not from a satellite photo and not on this page.
If the idea of something fastened to the house is the part you do not like, that is a good reason to choose the seasonal install instead. It hangs on clips and it comes back off with them. You can read how each option looks in daylight before you decide.
Two products, two answers
- Seasonal C9: clips, no nails or screws where the roofline allows
- Seasonal C9: the clips come off with the lights in January
- Permanent track: a fastened channel, meant to stay
- Permanent track: method decided in person at the measurement
Being Straight With You
What This Page Will Not Tell You
Four things we are not going to say
We will not promise nothing on your house will be affected. No company that has not stood on your roof can honestly promise that, and we are not going to be the one that does it anyway.
We will not tell you your gutters will hold. We have not seen your gutters. Anybody who tells you over the phone that your gutters are fine is guessing about your house.
We will not grade your roof from a photo. The satellite estimate measures a roofline so you can get a real ballpark. It is not an inspection and we will not describe it as one.
We will not touch your electrical. The install runs from the exterior outlets your house already has. We do not do electrical work, and Tate will say so rather than work on a circuit.
The part that is actually in writing
Old, loose or rotten gutters and fascia are the real question behind this objection, and the service agreement answers it in plain words before you sign anything. It says the installer is not liable for the failure of gutters, fascia or shingles that were already damaged, rotten or improperly secured before the work began.
So the useful thing you can do is tell Tate what you already know. A section that sags, a gutter that pulled away last spring, a soffit somebody has been meaning to fix. He would much rather hear it in October than find it in the dark in November.
Anything else you want to ask before you book, ask him directly. He is the owner, he is the one who will be on the roofline, and he would rather answer it himself than have a web page answer it for him. Call or text 515-585-9079.
Common Questions
Clips, Track And Gutters
Do you use nails or screws?
For a seasonal C9 install, no. Clips hook over the gutter lip or slide under the edge of the shingle, without nails or screws wherever the roofline allows it. Where a section does not allow it, Tate agrees the method with you before he starts on that section.
How is permanent track attached?
Track is a fixed product. The channel tucks under the shingle course or mounts along the fascia, and which one your house gets is decided at the measurement visit. If you do not want anything fastened to the house, the seasonal install hangs on clips instead, with nothing nailed and nothing screwed in wherever the roofline allows.
What if my gutters or fascia are already damaged?
Tell Tate before the install, because it changes how that section is done. The service agreement states that the installer is not liable for the failure of gutters, fascia or shingles that were already damaged, rotten or improperly secured before the work began.
Keep Reading
The Other Questions People Ask
Will permanent lights look bad in the daytime?
Track hides the wiring. Puck rows are visible up close, and we say so plainly.
What if a bulb burns out in December?
Text Tate. It is fixed within 48 hours, at no extra cost, all season.
Do I have to store all this in my garage?
No. Your set is labeled for your address and kept in climate-controlled storage.
Roofline length, peaks, stories and access. What the number is built from.
Get A Free Satellite Estimate
Tate pulls satellite imagery of your roofline, measures the run, and texts you back a real ballpark. Usually the same day. No appointment, and nobody comes to your house for this part.
Get my free satellite estimate Call or text 515-585-9079
Waukee, Urbandale, West Des Moines, Clive, Johnston, Ankeny, Grimes, Norwalk, Adel, Dallas Center and Windsor Heights.