Northlake Christmas Light Installation

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Northlake is the only Sacramento neighborhood we know of where a Christmas light dispute made the TV news. Late in 2025, CBS Sacramento reported that the Northlake Community Association sent a family a letter about lighted arches they had set up over the sidewalk in front of their house. According to the report, the letter cited the rules on holiday decor on the common area and told them to remove the arches. We do Northlake Christmas light installation with that story taped to the dashboard.

What that report tells you, and what it doesn’t

It’s one news story about one house. So treat it as a report, not as the rulebook. It didn’t mention any limit on when lights may go up or come down, and we haven’t read the association’s documents ourselves. Confirm the current rules with the association before you plan anything unusual.

The practical lesson is still clear enough. In Northlake, the sidewalk and the strip along the street are treated as the association’s common area, not as your yard. Lights over them or along them are what drew the letter. Not sure whether an idea of yours crosses that line? Run it by us at (916) 586-7193 first.

Northlake Christmas light installation that stays on your lot

So we draw the line where your lot ends and work back toward the house.

• Roofline lights on the eaves, gutters and peaks. All of it is on your own structure, held with clips. No nails, no staples, nothing drilled.
• Pillar and column wraps on porch posts. Also yours, also safe.
• Lit wreaths and lit garland at the entry, over the garage, along a porch rail. Hung from hooks and ties that leave no holes.
• Tree wraps on trees inside your lot. A tree in the street-side strip is a question for the association, and we won’t wrap it on a guess.
• Stake lighting along your driveway and front walk, stopping short of the public sidewalk. No stakes in the strip, no arch over the pavement.

Cords get the same treatment. Nothing crosses the sidewalk, ever. This is Natomas Unified territory, where a sidewalk is somebody’s walk to school, and a cord across the concrete is a bad idea with or without a letter.

New houses, young trees, and your SMUD meter

Northlake is one of the newer communities in North Natomas, so we quote from your photos instead of pretending every roof is the same. Tile or composition shingle, one story or two, we have clips for each.

If your trees went in when the house did, they’re still young. A thin trunk wraps into a tidy lit column, but there’s no canopy to fill yet, and we’ll tell you that instead of selling you a wrap that looks like a lit fence post. In that case the roofline should do the heavy lifting.

Power comes off your own outdoor outlets, which means your SMUD bill. We set timers so the display runs in the evening and shuts off late at night.

Takedown in January, without a reminder

We don’t know of a posted removal deadline here, and we’re not inventing one. What we can promise is the plan: you ask the association for its current holiday rules, pass the answer along, and both dates go on the calendar to fit. The lights are ours. In January we unclip them and off they go on the truck. If something goes dark in between, call (916) 586-7193.

Quotes, minus the estimate appointment

Over the phone at (916) 586-7193, or off a couple of photos from your phone. We don’t schedule estimate visits. Use the contact form if that’s easier than talking.

The Sacramento page lists where else we work. The big display up this way is Rockmont, which the Bee files under Natomas Park. And elsewhere in North Natomas, Regency Park is a different story, with no HOA dues on its single-family homes.

Straight answers for Northlake

Did the Northlake HOA really send a letter over Christmas lights?

CBS Sacramento reported in 2025 that the Northlake Community Association wrote to a family about light arches over the sidewalk, citing rules on holiday decor on the common area. It’s a secondhand report, so confirm the current rules with the association.

Can I put lights along the sidewalk or in the strip by the curb?

We won’t install there. Based on that report, the sidewalk and street-side strip are treated as common area, so we keep everything on the house and inside your lot.

Does Northlake have dates for when lights can be up?

The news report didn’t mention any, and we haven’t seen the association’s documents. Ask the association, tell us the answer, and we set both dates to match.

My trees are small. Are tree wraps worth doing?

A young trunk makes a neat lit column, but it won’t fill a yard. We’ll say so from your photos and usually point you toward the roofline instead.