Does Curbstead know my HOA's rules?

No. Curbstead has no access to any association's governing documents and no relationship with any HOA. Everything on this page is a prompt to confirm something with your own board or manager — we record that you confirmed it, never what it says.

Does requesting a quote get my project approved?

No. A quote request goes to an installer, not to your association. Approval is a separate process run entirely by your board, committee or manager, and it has to happen on their timeline regardless of what an installer says.

Does every association require approval?

We cannot say. Associations differ enormously, and some address exterior decorating in detail while others do not mention it. The only reliable answer is the one in your own governing documents or from your manager.

Are any installers pre-approved by my association?

Not by us. Approval is something an association grants, and a marketplace cannot confer it. Curbstead vets installers for insurance, licensing and territory — a different thing, and we describe it plainly rather than dressing it up as association approval.

Can an installer deal with the association for me?

Some will supply documents an association asks for, such as an insurance certificate. Whether they will handle the submission itself is a question for the installer, and it is worth asking early rather than assuming.

What if I have not confirmed anything yet?

Ask for a quote anyway. Items you have not reviewed travel as unknown rather than as cleared, so the installer knows what is still open instead of assuming it is settled.

HOA & community holiday lighting

Find out what your association needs before you book.

For homeowners, board members, committees and property managers planning holiday lighting in a community with rules. Work through what to confirm with your association, then send an installer a request that already answers their questions.

Curbstead is a holiday and exterior lighting marketplace that matches homeowners with vetted independent installers. Curbstead does not install lights — the installer you are matched with quotes and contracts with you directly. We also do not write or interpret HOA rules, and cannot approve anything on your association’s behalf.

Start the checklist I’m on a board or manage the property

Start where you actually are.

You own a home in an HOA

You want lights up and need to know what needs approving first.

What to confirm →

You sit on a board or committee

You are evaluating a common-area project and need vendor requirements.

Board and manager path →

You manage the property

You need a vendor information list before requesting proposals.

Vendor checklist →

You rent or own a unit

You are not sure whether the exterior is yours to decorate.

Who is responsible →

Before you contact an installer

The answers only your association has.

An installer can quote a roofline from a photo. What they cannot do is guess whether your association restricts attachment methods, or states a removal date, or wants an insurance certificate naming the community. Those answers live in your governing documents or with your manager, and getting them first is what turns three phone calls into one.

Nothing below is a Curbstead requirement, and nothing below is something we can tell you the answer to. Record what you have confirmed; leave the rest marked as not reviewed.

Preparation checklist

Record what you have confirmed

Nothing here is a Curbstead requirement. These are the questions an installer will need answered, and only your association can answer them. Nothing you select is saved, and no rule text is ever requested.

Where would the lights go?

Who approves the work?

Knowing the approver early is what prevents a second site visit.

What have you confirmed with your association?

Leave anything you have not checked alone — it stays Not yet reviewed, and is passed on as unknown rather than as cleared.

Written lighting rules available· Not yet reviewed
Approval required before installation· Not yet reviewed
Application or request form available· Not yet reviewed
Installation dates restricted· Not yet reviewed
Removal deadline stated· Not yet reviewed
Attachment methods restricted· Not yet reviewed
Roof or exterior access restricted· Not yet reviewed
Electrical-source rules stated· Not yet reviewed
Common-area responsibility stated· Not yet reviewed
Vendor insurance documents requested· Not yet reviewed
Vendor license information requested· Not yet reviewed
Ladder or lift restrictions stated· Not yet reviewed
Storage responsibility stated· Not yet reviewed
Maintenance responsibility stated· Not yet reviewed

14 of 14 items not yet reviewed.

You do not need all of them answered to ask for a quote. What you have recorded travels with your request so the installer knows what is settled and what is still open — nothing else from this page is sent, and no rule text is ever transmitted.

Request a quote with this context Start without it

Not booking today? Take the list to your board, committee or manager. The copy below includes the items you have not reviewed — for that conversation the open questions are the useful part.

Boards, committees and managers

Running a common-area project.

A common-area display is a procurement decision rather than a household one. The sequence that tends to work: decide the scope and who signs off, settle the vendor information you will ask every bidder for, then request quotes on identical terms so the numbers are actually comparable.

Curbstead routes your request to one vetted installer holding the territory for your area rather than broadcasting it. If your association requires competitive bids, say so up front — a single-installer match may not fit your procurement rules, and it is better to know that before anyone visits.

Commercial and multi-property work has its own page: commercial holiday lighting, which covers approval chains, access windows and how larger properties are quoted.

Whose exterior is it?

This is the question that most often stops a project after an installer has already been out. In many communities a detached home’s roofline belongs to the owner while the entrance, clubhouse and landscaping belong to the association — but in condominium and townhome communities the building exterior itself is frequently common property, which changes who may authorise work on it.

We cannot tell you which applies to you. Your declaration, bylaws or manager can, and it is worth establishing before anyone quotes: an installer who arrives to light a roofline the resident does not control has wasted a visit, and the resident has usually paid for the trip.

Vendor information

What to ask every installer for.

Ask the same things of everyone and the quotes become comparable. Whether your association requires any of it is, again, a question for your association.

Insurance: Whether the association asks vendors for a certificate, and who it should name.
Licensing: Whether any licence information is requested, and in which jurisdiction.
Access: How a crew reaches the roofline or the common area, and any gate or hours limits.
Attachment: Whether the association restricts how anything may be fixed to the building.
Power: Where the display draws power, and whether that outlet is shared or metered.
Dates: Any window the association states for installation and for removal.
Storage: Who stores the materials out of season, and where.
Maintenance: Who a resident calls when a run goes dark, and who pays for the fix.

Installation and removal.

Removal is the half of the job people forget to settle, and in a community with a stated takedown date it is the half that generates complaints. Establish before you book whether removal is included in the price, who stores the materials, and what happens if weather pushes the crew past the association’s date.

Booking timing matters more here than for a detached home, because an approval step sits in front of the install. Our guide to booking before crews fill covers the install window, and removal and storage covers what a quote should say about takedown.

When you are ready to ask.

Send the request with what you have confirmed attached. We pass it to the vetted installer who covers your town — one installer, not a call list. Availability varies by season and area, so a request is not a booking, and it is not an approval.

Size the project firstThe estimator maps your answers to a published range and shows its reasoning.What it costsPublished ranges and what drives the number on a larger property.

Request a quote

Questions worth settling.

Does Curbstead know my HOA's rules?: No. Curbstead has no access to any association's governing documents and no relationship with any HOA. Everything on this page is a prompt to confirm something with your own board or manager — we record that you confirmed it, never what it says.
Does requesting a quote get my project approved?: No. A quote request goes to an installer, not to your association. Approval is a separate process run entirely by your board, committee or manager, and it has to happen on their timeline regardless of what an installer says.
Does every association require approval?: We cannot say. Associations differ enormously, and some address exterior decorating in detail while others do not mention it. The only reliable answer is the one in your own governing documents or from your manager.
Are any installers pre-approved by my association?: Not by us. Approval is something an association grants, and a marketplace cannot confer it. Curbstead vets installers for insurance, licensing and territory — a different thing, and we describe it plainly rather than dressing it up as association approval.
Can an installer deal with the association for me?: Some will supply documents an association asks for, such as an insurance certificate. Whether they will handle the submission itself is a question for the installer, and it is worth asking early rather than assuming.
What if I have not confirmed anything yet?: Ask for a quote anyway. Items you have not reviewed travel as unknown rather than as cleared, so the installer knows what is still open instead of assuming it is settled.