Jeff Adamiak, the owner of GEM Home Maintenance, began We Hang Holiday Lights with his crew in the fall of 2017 to fill the primary business's offseason.

"It [holiday lights] sort of fit with our traditional business, window cleaning, power washing, that sort of slows down. ... And then I just realized how much happier you make people hanging Christmas lights as opposed to cleaning their windows or cleaning the roof or something like that," Adamiak says. "And I just fell in love with doing it. It became fun. It's Christmas lights, who doesn't like Christmas lights?"

Thus, We Hang Holiday Lights was born, and business is booming with the team providing holiday cheer for more customers than ever before.

In its first year, We Hang Holiday Lights served roughly 30 clients. Last year, the team decorated for 420 clients; this year, Adamiak expects to hang lights at more than 600 houses, with hundreds of new and returning customers whose demand for the specialized service is already filling up his team's schedule.

How It Works
Once customers sign a five-year contract, We Hang Holiday Lights customizes the lights specifically for each home. The company guarantees that its high-end lights remain in peak condition during those five years with very few maintenance issues.

Adamiak explains that his crew tries to get installations done as early in the season as possible, given the safety and productivity concerns that arise as the nights get colder and longer.

"We try to get as many of our customers installed in October. If you're a returning customer, we want to get your lights installed in October because it's safer. There's no frost on the roof in the morning and the days are longer, so it allows us to get more work done."

A team of three installs the lights and a photocell timer, set to run the lights for eight hours each night. All the homeowner has to do is plug the lights in when they are ready to show off their traffic-stopping displays.

Along with the team's immaculate decorating and top-notch products, they provide maintenance service all throughout the holiday season.

"Part of the contract is, we maintain everything. Bulb goes out? Give me a call and within 24 to 48 hours, I have somebody out there doing the repairs," Adamiak says, adding that this year, he expects his crew to fix any problems within 24 hours of customers' calls.

Maintenance is guaranteed until Jan. 6, which is when We Hang Holiday Lights begins the uninstallation process.

"We come to disassemble the lights, we label them all and then store them for the customer at our facility. We have three different warehouses that we're using," Adamiak says. Even in the holiday offseason, the crew is working on maintaining each customer's lights, ensuring that they are ready for next year.

Not Just a Light Company
When Adamiak began We Hang Holiday Lights in 2017, he quickly realized the positive impact he was making on his customers. Since then, his team has added a philanthropic facet to the seasonal business, providing lights for families going through tough times and bringing some light to their holiday season.

"We always try to look for as many of those as we can every year," Adamiak says. "I'd like to do more of those. Those are the most enjoyable jobs ever." We Hang Holiday Lights repurposes lights from customers who canceled their contracts early for these single-use projects, giving the lights another chance to fulfill their five-year lifespan.

Only the Best
We Hang Holiday Lights only uses the best lights in the business, or, as Adamiak admirably calls them, "the Bentleys of the holiday light industry." The company uses C9 lights and customizes the length of the strips to perfectly shape the architecture of each house.

"I can cut these lights to fit any length, any design. ... And then, of course we can do bushes and trees and shrubs," Adamiak says.

All of the lights used by We Hang Holiday Lights are warm LEDs, not to be mistaken for the bright blue that people usually associate with LED lighting. These lights are incredibly illuminating and replicate the look of incandescent lights while using only 10% of the energy.

With so much labor and quality products, Adamiak admits that the work his team does is on the pricier side. However, he believes that a job worth doing is worth doing right, and his customers certainly get what they pay for. He even compares his team's quality of work to that of Philadelphia's Boathouse Row and the iconic displays at Downtown Disney, but better!

"It's pricey, but it's worth every penny."

We Hang Holiday Lights
Mount Laurel, N.J.
(609) 267-3237
WeHangHolidayLightsNJ.com

Published (and copyrighted) in House & Home, Volume 22, Issue 12 (September 2022). 
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