The holidays are over, and somewhere in the back of your mind you know what's coming: a cold January Saturday, an extension ladder, and a few hours of pulling clips and rolling strands that have somehow become more tangled since you put them up in November.

Or you call Twinkle Bros and we handle it.

Professional holiday light takedown is one of the least glamorous parts of the holiday lighting experience — and one of the most valuable services we offer Elmhurst homeowners.

What Takedown Actually Involves

Most people think of takedown as the reverse of installation. It's not quite that simple.

Properly removing a professional holiday display requires care at every step:

Clip and fastener removal. Professional clips — shingle clips, gutter clips, soffit mounts — need to come off cleanly. Pulled in the wrong direction, they can crack shingles, crimp gutters, or leave mounting hardware behind. We remove every clip correctly, inspecting as we go.

Strand coiling and organization. Lights that are rolled haphazardly are the ones that tangle completely by next November. We coil every strand correctly — not wrapped around a fist, not stuffed into a box — so they come out easily when they're needed again.

Damage inspection. The post-season takedown is the right time to inspect your roofline and gutters for any issues that developed over the winter. We walk the exterior during takedown and flag anything worth your attention — a loose gutter section, a shingle that shifted, a fascia board that took some ice damage.

Site cleanup. When we're done, your property looks exactly as it did before installation — no clips left on the roof, no wire remnants, no damage to shrubs or trees where we worked.

The Case for Professional Takedown

Even homeowners who install their own lights often hire a professional for takedown. The reasons are practical:

January timing. January is cold in Elmhurst. It's also when most homeowners have the least motivation to spend weekend time on a ladder. Professional takedown means the decision is made in November when you book — and in January, someone else shows up.

Ladder risk. The same ladder risks that apply in November apply in January, compounded by the fact that winter conditions in Elmhurst — ice on gutters, frozen ground, cold hands — make ladder work more dangerous than it is in fall. Our crew is equipped for winter conditions.

Proper storage. Most DIY takedowns end with lights in a tangled ball in a cardboard box that degrades over the season. By next November, you're replacing half of what you put away. Professional takedown includes proper coiling and packing, so the lights you stored in January work in November.

Storage: What We Offer

After takedown, we offer full storage service. We pack your lights professionally, store them in our climate-controlled facility, and have them ready when installation season begins next year.

This means you have zero holiday lighting to manage in your garage or attic. No boxes taking up space. No annual hunt for where you put everything. When November comes, we bring your lights to your home and install them — the full-service cycle begins again.

What's Included in Every Takedown Service

  • Full removal of all roofline, tree, and shrub lighting
  • Proper strand coiling and organization
  • Clip and fastener removal without damage to gutters or shingles
  • Site cleanup and damage inspection
  • Haul-away of any materials you don't want kept
  • Optional storage for next season

Booking Takedown: When and How

If you booked your installation with Twinkle Bros, takedown is included and already scheduled. We contact you after the holiday season to confirm your preferred removal date.

If you had lights installed by another company — or installed them yourself — we offer standalone takedown services. We assess the installation during a brief site visit and quote based on what's involved.

Frequently Asked Questions

When do you typically schedule takedown?
We begin scheduling takedowns in early January. Most clients are taken down by mid-January.

Do you take down lights that you didn't install?
In most cases, yes. We assess the installation during a brief site visit and quote based on scope.

What if I want to keep the lights but not store them with you?
No problem. We remove everything, coil the strands properly, pack them for you, and leave them at your home for your own storage. We just ask that there's a place to leave them — garage, mudroom, etc.

Serving Elmhurst and the Western DuPage Suburbs

We serve all of Elmhurst and the surrounding area including Villa Park, Lombard, Addison, Itasca, Berkley, Melrose Park, Bellwood, Hillside, and Westchester.

Start the new year clean. #contact and let's schedule your Elmhurst takedown. Twinkle Bros Lighting — Sit Back. Relax. Shine.