American River Canyon North Christmas Light Installation

Shake, shingle and tile. The association in the Canyon approves all three, so on one stretch of American River Canyon Drive we might clip to each of them before lunch. American River Canyon North Christmas light installation is not a one-clip-fits-all job, and that’s the fun of it. This is custom-home Folsom, and no two roofs up here agree on anything.

Shake. Old wood shakes are brittle and they don’t forgive boots. So nobody walks it. Every clip goes on from a ladder, onto the gutter lip or the fascia board.

Composition shingle. The easy one. A clip slides under the shingle tab or onto the gutter lip and comes off in January without a mark.

Tile. Tile clips grab the lip of the tile itself. We don’t walk the tiles any more than we have to, because a cracked one is nobody’s idea of a Christmas present.

On all three: no nails, no staples, no screws into stucco or trim. Ever.

There are 762 custom lots in American River Canyon North, spread over 11 villages on the loop north of Oak Avenue Parkway. Custom means no two rooflines match. It also means size. Some of these houses run past 5,000 square feet, and a roofline that long takes planning.

So we plan before we climb, the way we would for any American River Canyon North Christmas light installation. Which gables face the road? Where do the outlets sit? On a house this size the roofline lights usually need to be split across more than one circuit, and we’d rather settle that over the phone at (916) 659-6549 than at 5 p.m. with a tripped breaker.

The east-side villages date to the late 1980s and 1990s, and their street trees have had time to get tall. Tall trees wrap well. The tree wraps circle the trunk and run out the main limbs, tied so the bark can breathe. The west-side villages are newer, built from the 1990s into the late 2000s, and the trees there are catching up.

It’s canyon ground, and plenty of lots sit higher or lower than the street. A house perched uphill gets seen from underneath. Eaves and columns matter most. A house below the road gets seen from above, so the roof peaks do the work. We’ll ask which one you are.

The rest of what we hang:

• Pillar and column wraps, if your entry has posts or columns worth dressing.
• Stake lighting up long driveways and along front walks, kept clear of irrigation.
• Lit wreaths on gables, gates and above garage doors.
• Lit garland on entry arches, balcony railings and stair rails.

We bring all of it, plus timers so the display runs itself. See the installer page for more on how our crew works, and our Folsom page for everything else in town.

We’re a Folsom family crew, and we’re over this way all season, between the Canyon, Lexington Hills and Orangevale just across the line.

Your association is the American River Canyon North Homeowners Association, a volunteer board that handles architectural review and throws a holiday party every December. Its CC&Rs sit behind the member login and they differ by unit, so we haven’t read a holiday lighting window and we won’t make one up. Log in, check what your unit’s copy says, then call (916) 659-6549 and we’ll plan the install and the takedown to fit.

Two more things worth knowing. The association says roads and landscaping are the City of Folsom’s job, not its own. Either way the waterfall entrance at Oak Avenue Parkway and the parkway plantings aren’t on anybody’s lot, so they stay off our list. And Canyon Falls Village and The Cascades are gated, with their own associations and their own rules. If you’re in either, ask there too, and plan on getting our truck through the gate.

Call (916) 659-6549, or put a few pictures of the house front on our contact page. We ask about stories, roof material and what you’d like lit, and the quote comes from that. No appointment, no walk-through.

Come January we’re back to strip everything off. Clips, cords, timers, all of it leaves on our truck. Shake, shingle or tile, the roof gets its winter back.

Can you hang lights on a wood shake roof without damaging it?

Yes. Shake gets the gentle treatment: ladders only, with clips on the gutter lip or fascia board and no boots on the wood. Not one nail or staple goes into the shakes.

Does the American River Canyon North HOA limit when lights can be up?

We couldn’t read a holiday lighting rule because the CC&Rs are behind the member login and vary by unit. Look up your unit’s copy and pass along the dates. Our install and our January takedown both get set to match.

I’m in Canyon Falls Village behind the gate. Do you work there?

We do. Canyon Falls Village has its own association, so confirm its decoration rules, and arrange gate access for our truck on install day.

Can you decorate the waterfall entrance?

Not for a homeowner. The entrance isn’t part of any lot, and the association says roads and landscaping here belong to the City of Folsom. We light what’s yours.

My house is huge. Will the lights trip a breaker?

Large rooflines often need the lights split across more than one outlet or circuit. We ask about outlets when we quote and plan the layout so it doesn’t overload.