Start at the top edge
Look at any house after dark and the shape you recognize is the roofline. It is the longest continuous line on the building, and it sits against
https://jsbin.com/fuqohijoso the sky, so it has contrast working for it. Light that line and the whole house resolves.Which is why almost every permanent lighting system starts at that line instead of being spread across the walls. One continuous line, installed one time, carrying the whole outline: that is the case for it.
What roofline lighting is made of
The system is an aluminum channel, color matched to the trim, with the LEDs running inside it. The channel does two jobs at once: it aims the light and it conceals the hardware. Matched to the trim, it reads as part of the house at noon.
Not every edge needs it
The main roofline is the anchor, then the design decides what else is worth adding. Gables, dormers, porch edges, columns and upper runs are all candidates, though a good plan leaves some of them dark. Outline everything and you end up with a shape and no depth, which is the most common way a roofline plan goes wrong.Look along a completed run at eye level down the elevation, since a straight line over that span does not happen by accident.
Daylight is half the job
The hardware stays up, so the daytime look is part of the product. Matching the channel to your trim color is not a small detail, it is what keeps the front of the home from looking decorated in summer. Mount it tight to the edge, match the color, and route the wire out of sight, and nothing about the daylight view changes.
How it gets used
Once the run is in, it is a phone app and a color. Warm white on an ordinary Tuesday. Red and green in December. A single color for Halloween. Team colors before a game. Most owners settle on a single warm white, using color for the handful of days that call for it.
What drives the size of the job
Two houses on the same street can be very different jobs. Length matters less than complexity. Complexity is what drives it: straight runs are quick, and every corner, peak and level change adds work. Two stories changes the job.
Where it fastens
Homeowners expect it to hang off the gutter, because that is how seasonal strands work. A permanent channel does not work that way. Fastening to the roof edge is why the run stays true.
The next step
Because houses are not interchangeable, the design has to be drawn for your building. EverCrest Lighting installs permanent roofline lighting for residential and commercial properties throughout Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina, working out of Greenville. The consultation is free. Reach them at (864) 252-1732 or
[email protected] to get started.