Birmingham Outdoor Lighting FAQ

Earlier than feels necessary. Installs run in the order they are booked, and once October arrives the calendar is fixed, so the good dates belong to whoever called first. The over-the-mountain properties — steep lots under heavy tree canopy in Mountain Brook, Homewood and Vestavia Hills — need dry days and daylight more than anything else we do, so those go first. Permanent lighting can be fitted outside the season, weather permitting.

It is the wet, not the cold. December here averages a high near 55°F and a low near 36°F, and winter is the wettest part of the year, so a display gets soaked, drops below freezing overnight and thaws again by mid-morning for weeks. That cycle works cheap clips loose and finds any connection that was not sealed, and the ice event that turns up every few winters finishes them. We use commercial-grade product and fix to the real edge of the roof.

Yes, and it is planned differently from a new build. Those houses carry slate or tile, steep pitches and deep decorative eaves, so there is often very little uniform fascia to clip to. The run goes on fascia and drip edge and is designed around the trim rather than through it, and nothing is fastened through roofing material. We measure on site because two houses on one street rarely present the same edge.

Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills, Homewood, Hoover, Trussville and Chelsea each have their own page on this site, and we work well beyond that list across Jefferson and Shelby County from our downtown Birmingham office. If you are not sure about your street, call (205) 382-8991 — we would rather answer it now than discover it on install day.

It changes it rather than complicating it. Mountain Brook and Homewood have mature hardwoods over most streets, and branches across a roofline affect both what the display looks like from the kerb and, more practically, where a lift can safely stand. We settle the access on the site visit, and sometimes the design shifts to suit the sightline you actually have rather than the one on the aerial photo.

Yes. Chelsea and the subdivisions spreading down 280 and out through Shelby County are well inside our range. Those are newer houses with straight fascia, which suits permanent lighting, and they tend to sit on sloping lots — so the rear roofline is often a storey further off the ground than the front suggests.

Regularly. In a historic district the daytime appearance carries as much weight as the lit result, so the fixture has to disappear when it is off rather than merely look good on. Bring any rules your district or association applies to the consult and we design inside them from the start instead of asking forgiveness afterwards.

In-season service is part of a seasonal install here, not an add-on. Being based downtown puts most of the metro within a short drive rather than a scheduling problem, whether that is over the mountain or out toward Trussville. If a section goes dark, call (205) 382-8991 and we will tell you the soonest we can genuinely be there.

Both are permanent tracks fitted under the roofline and controlled from an app with a very large colour range. They use different fixtures and control systems, so which one we would fit depends on your fascia profile, drip edge and gutter type, and on the look you want. We bring both to the consult and say which suits the house rather than which we would rather sell.

No. Clips are matched to your specific edge — shingle, gutter or fascia — and nothing is nailed, stapled or screwed through roofing material. A permanent track fastens along the fascia or drip edge, the same surface your gutters already hang from. On the slate and tile roofs common over the mountain we work off the fascia line entirely.

Yes. Removal after the holidays and storage until the next season are part of a seasonal package, so nothing lives in your garage and nothing gets crushed between years. When you rebook, the same set comes back out and the install runs faster because your measurements are already on file.

It depends on linear footage, roof height and access, and which product you choose, which is why we measure before quoting rather than after. The design consult and the quote are both free, and the quote is the number, not an opening position. If something on site would change it, you hear that at the consult rather than on the invoice.