- Do I have to buy the lights?
- No. We supply the commercial-grade LEDs, custom-cut them to your roofline, install them, service them mid-season, take them down in January, and store them off-site. You never buy, own, or store the strings — the price you're quoted covers the whole season. Landscape lighting is different: those fixtures are permanent and become yours.
- Can I get colored lights instead of white?
- Yes. Warm white, cool white, or multicolor — pick at design time, same package price.
- I have a two-story house. Does the roofline mean both levels?
- Basic covers one roofline run on the main story. Moderate adds a side elevation. Premium covers full roofline across multiple elevations, upper peaks included. If you want the upper roofline on a smaller package we'll price it as an add-on at the assessment.
- How many trees does Premium include? What counts as railings?
- Premium typically covers three to five wrapped trees, plus columns, railings, and walkways on the front and street-facing sides. Corner lots and backyard runs are easy to add — we confirm the exact count on-site so nobody guesses.
- How much of the job is the deposit?
- Roughly 10–25% of a typical project in that package's range, and 100% of it comes off your final invoice. It buys your date in the install calendar, which is the part that actually runs out. The assessment and the written quote themselves are never billed.
- What if you come out and the job can't be done, or I don't like the number?
- You are never out the money. If we can't do the work, or you decline the firm quote, the full deposit stays on your account as service credit toward any Carolina Core Services work — lawn, beds, debris, repairs, or lighting next season.
- With landscape lighting, are the fixtures mine to keep?
- Yes. Landscape lighting is permanent — the fixtures, transformer and wiring stay on the property and become yours. That's the opposite of Christmas lighting, where we own the LEDs and take them down in January.
- Will solar lights actually work under my trees?
- Sometimes yes, sometimes no — it depends on how many hours of direct sun the fixture location gets. We check sun exposure spot by spot at the on-site assessment — which costs nothing — and tell you honestly where solar will disappoint. Where it won't hold up, the hybrid package puts low-voltage in that spot and solar everywhere it works.
- Will you trench through my yard? Do I need an electrician?
- Low-voltage wire is buried shallow along bed lines and walkway edges — narrow slits, not open trenches — and the turf closes back over in a week or two. If a run can't be buried cleanly we say so and use solar there instead. Most installs need no electrician — Christmas runs and low-voltage landscape systems plug into an existing exterior outlet. When a job does touch your house wiring — a new dedicated circuit, panel or breaker work, or a new permanent exterior outlet — we bring in our licensed electrician rather than improvise, and that scope is priced separately on your firm quote.
- How many landscape fixtures does each package include?
- Basic is typically a walkway run plus two or three front accents. Hybrid adds uplights on key architecture and specimen trees with path lighting on primary walkways. Premium is a full-property design with zones, moonlighting, wall wash, and step/patio lighting. Exact fixture counts get confirmed on-site — we never guess at your house from a satellite photo.
- What happens after year one with landscape lighting?
- Premium includes a first-season adjustment visit — plants grow, aim drifts, and we re-aim and re-level. After that, bulb swaps, re-aiming and fixture repairs are ordinary service visits under our normal labor rates. No maintenance contract is required.
- Are the images on this page my house?
- No — they're illustrations of what each package covers, so you can compare scope at a glance. Your actual design is confirmed on your property at the on-site assessment, which costs nothing, and every install we complete gets photographed after dark that same evening.
