I struggle every year getting my tree out. What can advice can you give me to get my lights to work.. It is only about 3 years old and purchased at Sears.. Either something isn't connected right or there is a bulb out.
I also may be shopping for a 7.5 foot new tree if you have any suggestions. It must be prelit and be easy to put together.
We have a pre-lit tree that we got 7 years ago and it still works and looks great. It may only have a few years left, but by then the kids will be a little older and happier with the white lights that I prefer anyways :).
So definitely pre-lit if you have a fake tree. If it's a real tree, I recommend having a glass of wine (or tea, coffee, whatever you stress drink is ) within reach,
Christmas trees and lights.. That is one of my businesses. We decorate beautiful homes for the holidays (on the inside). Only a few outdoor things.
It is the storing the trees each year that causes the wear and tear mostly on the lights.
If you purchase a new tree fully lit, when it is time to take the tree down, everyone needs to be very careful as they remove the ornaments. Each branch then needs to be carefully gathered together. One section at a time. If you need to use Saran wrap to gather and hold them together.
No pulling of the lights is happening. It is easiest to take apart the tree one section at a time. Lay it down on a carpet rug or blanket and then press it together., You can roll it to help you press it gently but tightly and place it back in its original box.
Lights in general will last for only so many hours. so if you keep your tree lit 24 hours a day from December 1st until January 1st, your lights are not going to last as long as the person that only keeps their tree lit when they are at home and awake. Plug in timers and remote controls are awesome and not expensive.
If a few lights go out we do not bother replacing them. When a whole or half of a strand go out, we consider just adding a new strand over them. If it is a large section, we cut them out of the tree and wrap new lights on it.
I charge $100. per foot of tree to relight a tree. (cutting off strands of lights and replacing them with new lights. I make it look as though it came from the factory.
We work with all sized trees. up to 20 ft tall. I only have 1 client that still uses a live tree, this year she is trying to purchase a 12 to 14 ft tree. I am hoping she can only find a 10 feet! Ha! It is a glass house and with the light and heat, the tree is usually pretty dead by Christmas.. It is hard to get a really freshly cut extra tall tree shipped down here. But I cannot convince her to use an artificial one.
In my business it is not worth searching and replacing a couple of lights, it has to be a pretty large gap of missing lights for it to make a difference. We have learned to place ornaments and ribbons, or flowers over the unlit lights so that is is not obvious.
Yesterday we spent hours on a tree that is not only 10 ft tall and 8 ft wide but is now way past 10 years old and is shabby. The owner agreed it is time to replace it for next Christmas! Thank you lord.. I was throwing new strands at that tree yesterday.. I had a migraine last night.
Merry Christmas every one! Off to do 2 more trees and a neighborhood gate!
We got both of our trees at menards. Easiest trees we have ever had. They come in 3 pieces plus the base. The top piece is the topper. Middle and bottom the limbs are hinged. You just pull them gently down and wala tree is done. They are prelit. The one in my front room is 6 1/2 ft and has white lights. The one in my family room is 7ft and has colored lights. Take down is a cinch. We love them.
Home Depot Frazier Fir. Beautiful. Not expensive IMO.
We just broke down and got an artificial, pre-lit tree from Home Depot because I feel like when Cali is in a major drought there is something wrong with cutting down Christmas trees. It took 5 minutes to set up and it looks great. I wish we had done this much sooner, especially in light of our allergies. Not sure what brand it was but we got it for half price on Black Friday.
There is some kind of device that you can buy to help you determine what light is out. Just bought a new 9 ft. tree this year and I am impressed with the technology. It can also be used as a 7 ft or a 5 ft. tree. Each section is its own light section and does not need to be connected to the other part of the tree. It lights up when the pole is connected to the next pole. Very cool--the last time we bought a tree was 1999 so I guess it was time to upgrade the tree and downsize from a 12 ft. It was also easy to put together (but that may have been because it was smaller) We bought it at costco and it has been great. However on the website, some people reported problems with the 7 1/2 ft tree. We have not had any problems.
We spent 3 hours ripping our prelit lights off our tree. We decided it would be better for the environment to save the tree and buy more lights.
Please do not buy another tree. Please think of the environment and your wallet. Buying a new tree every three years is wasteful, I know, because we're on our second in 5 years, and they were expensive ones!
I have a funny feeling the first trees were of better quality, thus accounting for the 10 years. Everyone I know has to replace every three.
Target has pre-lit trees. Our 7 foot tree & lights have worked consistently for nearly 10 years now.
If you are getting a new tree then get one that already has the lights. It is so much easier if you use an artificial tree.
The Light Keeper Pro. It sounds too good to be true, but it really works! Just put a socket in the end, pull the trigger a few times, and 95% of the time, the lights are fixed!
You can buy it online or at Lowes (or probably other places). I swear by it. It's awesome and it's only about $15.
