Christmas lights on Troy brownstones and rowhouses
Most downtown Troy rowhouses don't have a peaked roofline to outline. The roof sits low behind a cornice, so the cornice becomes the roofline. One clean run of C9s along it, plus garland and mini lights on the stoop railing, reads from the sidewalk and from across the street. Front windows are the other easy win: a wreath centered in each window on a three-story facade lines up the whole building.
Height is what drives the job here. A cornice three or four stories up is past comfortable ladder reach, so the installer may bring a taller ladder or a lift, and that shows up in the quote. Ask how they plan to fasten to the cornice. Nobody should be driving nails into 19th-century trim.
One opinion: if the neighbors on both sides light their cornices too, the block looks planned instead of patchy. Worth a knock on their doors before you book. Wreaths, garland and railing work are covered on our Christmas decorating service page.
Street parking and power on narrow Troy lots
The install truck parks on the street like everyone else. If your block is hard to park on or has parking rules on certain days, say so in your request so the installer can plan the visit.
Power is the bigger question. Plenty of older city houses have no outdoor outlet in front. The options:
- An outdoor GFCI outlet added by an electrician, the cleanest fix
- A run from an outlet in the back or side yard
- A cord through a window, which works but lets in a draft all season
Whatever the source, put it on a timer. December sunsets come early, and nobody wants to lean out a window to plug in the stoop every evening. Side yards between rowhouses are often a few feet wide, so tell the installer if the only path to the back goes through the house.
Holiday lighting in Lansingburgh, Sycaway and the hill near RPI
Troy changes fast once you leave downtown, and so does the lighting plan.
Lansingburgh. The numbered streets at the north end of the city are lined with older wood-frame houses, many with front porches and real peaked rooflines. Here the classic C9 roofline outline works, with the porch columns and railing wrapped below it. On a two-family, light both porches so the house reads as one.
Sycaway and the east side. More single-family houses with front yards, which means room for a lit tree or a row of shrubs along the walk.
The hill toward RPI. Steep streets put houses above or below the sidewalk, and that changes ladder footing and how the house looks from the street. A roofline you see from down the hill can carry farther than the same lights on flat ground. Send a photo taken from the street, not the porch, so the installer sees what your neighbors see.
Downtown Troy storefront and restaurant lighting
Shops and restaurants on River Street, Broadway and the blocks around Monument Square get foot traffic all December, and a lit storefront does more than any sandwich board. Typical work: garland and lights framing the door, wreaths in the display windows, and a line of lights along the cornice above. In mixed-use buildings with apartments upstairs, sort out with the building owner what goes on the upper floors before the installer shows up. Our commercial Christmas decorating page covers scheduling around business hours.
Christmas light takedown in Troy after the holidays
Takedown usually happens in January, and in Troy the snowbanks along the curb are part of the plan. A stoop buried in plowed snow is harder to reach, so ask when the installer schedules removal and whether they come back after a storm. More on that on the Christmas light removal page.
If you're out past the city line, see Brunswick or Wynantskill. Inside Troy, the free quote form is the fastest start.