The short answer
If you have a single-storey home, a sturdy ladder, a free weekend and lights that still work, doing it yourself is very doable. If your roofline is two storeys or steep, you'd rather not be on a ladder in the cold, or you want the lights taken down and stored for you, hiring someone to put up your Christmas lights is usually worth it.
The rest of this guide walks through what a DIY install really involves, the safety basics, and what to ask before you hire anyone.
What a DIY install really involves
Hanging the lights is only one part of the job. Doing it yourself usually means:
- Measuring your roofline so you buy the right length of lights and enough clips.
- Buying outdoor-rated lights, roofline clips, outdoor-rated extension cords and a timer, and checking last year's strands before they go up.
- Working out where the power comes from. Outdoor connections should be on a GFCI-protected outlet.
- Moving the ladder every few feet along the roofline, clipping as you go, and keeping the lines straight and the spacing even.
- Testing everything, then fixing any strand that fails during the season.
- Climbing back up in January to take it all down, then untangling and storing the lights until next year.
None of this is hard on a low, simple house. It gets slower and riskier as the roofline gets higher, steeper or more broken up by peaks and corners.
The safety side
Most of the risk in a DIY install comes from the ladder and the electrical connections. The Electrical Safety Authority's holiday tips cover the electrical basics:
- Use lights rated for outdoor use that carry a recognized Canadian approval mark, such as CSA or cUL (see ESA's list of recognized marks).
- Use GFCI protection for outdoor connections.
- Follow the manufacturer's instructions and connect no more than three light strings together.
- Hang lights with proper clips, not staples or nails, which can damage the cord.
- Keep connections off the ground and away from puddles, driveways and walkways.
- Check for overhead power lines before you set up a ladder, and stay at least 3 metres away from them.
For the ladder, the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety recommends setting the base 1 foot out from the wall for every 4 feet of height, placing it on firm, level footing, keeping three points of contact, and not working from the top three rungs.
Extension cords are meant to be temporary. Ontario's fire safety guidance says not to link extension cords together and to have additional outlets installed by a licensed electrician. If there's no outdoor outlet where you need one, that's a job for an electrician, not a longer cord.
When hiring a pro makes sense
Hiring someone is usually the better call if any of these sound like your home:
- Two-storey rooflines, steep pitches or high peaks that are hard to reach safely with a household ladder.
- You don't have a free dry day in the fall, or you don't want to be on a ladder in the cold.
- You want clean, even lines from the street without the trial and error.
- You'd rather not deal with dead strands mid-season, January takedown or storing the lights.
- You want colour-changing RGB lights you can control with a remote.
When DIY makes sense
Doing it yourself is a reasonable choice when:
- A bungalow or low roofline you can reach comfortably from a ladder on level ground.
- You already own outdoor-rated lights in good condition and have the clips and timer.
- You enjoy the job and have a spare weekend before the cold weather sets in.
- You're happy to do the takedown and storage yourself in January.
If you go the DIY route, do it early. Our guide on when to put up Christmas lights explains why a dry fall day makes the job easier.
What to ask before you hire someone
Quotes for Christmas light installation can cover very different things. Before you book, ask:
- Who owns the lights? With some services you rent them every year; with others you buy them once and keep them.
- Is the price per linear foot or a flat price per house, and is it confirmed after measuring?
- Are takedown and off-season storage included, or extra?
- If a strand goes out during the season, will they come back to fix it?
- Is there a warranty on the lights?
- Can they show proof of liability insurance?
- How soon do install dates fill up?
What it costs with Home Guardians
Seasonal installs start at $8 per linear foot in year one for warm or cool white ($11 for RGB colour), with the lights included and yours to keep. That covers installation, mid-season fixes, January takedown, off-season storage and a lifetime warranty on the lights. Every year after is half the year-one price ($4 per foot for white, $5.50 for RGB, $200 minimum), since you already own the lights. The cost guide shows example homes and what affects the price.
Want a number now? Our instant price tool measures your roofline on the map from your address and shows an estimate right away. The final price is confirmed with a free measurement before any work starts.
Install slots fill up by mid-November, so the earlier you book, the more choice you have on dates. We install across Vaughan, Maple, Woodbridge, Kleinburg, Concord and Thornhill, plus Richmond Hill, King City and nearby areas. See our Christmas light installation page for the full service, or permanent lights if you never want to hang lights again.