How it works
Holiday lighting without owning, storing, or untangling anything.
Curbstead is a marketplace, not an installation company. You request a free quote, we match you with one vetted local installer, and they hang, maintain, take down, and store the lights. You never buy a strand or climb a ladder.
Start to lit
Four steps between you and a lit roofline.
- Step 1
Tell us about the home
Two minutes, no account. Your town, your address, how many stories, and how much of the property you want lit — roofline only, or trees and wreaths too. That is the whole form.
- Step 2
Get matched with a qualified installer
We route your details to one vetted installer who works your town and roof type — screened for insurance, roof experience, lease terms, and takedown. Not a call center, and not five contractors racing to your phone.
- Step 3
Review a full-service quote
The installer quotes your specific home — the actual roofline, trees, and scope you described — as one seasonal price with everything included, not a generic per-foot rate.
- Step 4
Install, maintenance, takedown, and storage
The crew hangs the lights, keeps the display lit all season (a dark section gets fixed without a call from you), takes everything down afterward, and stores it until next year. You handle none of it.
The lease model
Why leasing is easier than owning your lights.
Most Curbstead installs are leased. Here is what that actually means for you — and the full lease-vs-buy breakdown if you want the comparison.
- The installer owns the lights
- Commercial-grade strands, sized to your roofline — not retail lights that fade after a couple of Chicago winters. You never buy or replace them.
- Maintenance is covered
- If a section goes dark mid-season, the installer swaps it. Keeping the display lit is their job, not your Saturday on a ladder.
- Takedown and storage are included
- Nothing bulky in your garage for eleven months. The crew removes everything and stores it off-season as part of the seasonal price.
- You are renting a lit house on a schedule
- Buying your own lights lowers the year-over-year cost but shifts storage, breakage, and re-hanging onto you. For most homeowners the lease math wins once you price in storage space and the value of never touching a ladder.
Read the quote
What a full-service quote should include.
A real lease quote covers everything below as one seasonal price. If a quote leaves something off, that is the question to ask before you sign. See the cost guide for what drives the number.
- Commercial-grade lights, sized to your actual eaves and rooflines
- Professional clip work and timers — installed, not improvised
- In-season maintenance: failures replaced during the season, not left dark
- Takedown after the season
- Off-season storage of the lights
- One seasonal price for your specific home — not a generic per-foot rate
After you submit
What happens after you request a quote.
It is free, with no obligation
Requesting a quote costs nothing and does not create an account. Curbstead is a marketplace — installers pay for the introduction, not you.
One vetted installer, not a list
Your details go to a single installer for your area. We do not resell them to a stack of contractors or post them to a lead board.
They quote your actual roofline
The installer reaches out to price the specific home you described. Most homeowners hear back within a couple of business days.
You compare one good option
No stack of cold calls to vet yourself — one screened crew who works your town and already knows your roof type.
We only make money when a match works out, which keeps the incentive simple: send you an installer you would recommend to a neighbor. More about how we match.
- Does it cost anything to get a quote?
- No. Requesting a quote is free, with no account and no obligation. Curbstead is a marketplace — installers pay for the introduction, homeowners don't.
- Is Curbstead the company that installs my lights?
- No. Curbstead is a marketplace, not an installation company. We match you with one vetted local installer who does the work and quotes your home directly.
- How many installers will contact me?
- One. We send your details to a single vetted installer for your area — not a list of contractors racing to your phone — and we never resell them.
- Can an installer pay to be shown first?
- No. There is one vetted installer per area, chosen on qualification and coverage — not on who paid the most. You can't buy a better spot here.
- Do I own the lights?
- On a lease, no. The installer owns commercial-grade strands, maintains them through the season, takes them down, and stores them off-season. You're paying for a lit house on a schedule, not buying equipment.
- What does a quote actually cost?
- For most Chicagoland homes, a roofline-only install on a two-story starts around $800; full displays with tree wrapping and wreaths commonly run $1,600 to $3,500. Your quote is priced for your specific roofline.
- What if I already own my lights?
- Many installers will hang lights you own, though failures and takedown may then be billed separately. If you'd rather never handle them again, ask about a lease when the installer quotes.
- When should I book?
- Early. The best crews fill by mid-October, and booking sooner gets you first choice of install dates before Thanksgiving.
One honest quote for your roofline.
Two minutes, no account, no obligation.