Most professional installers — including us — price roofline Christmas lights by the linear foot. Our base rate is $4 to $6 per linear foot for roofline and window outlining. That makes the math simple once you know one number: how many feet of lights your home needs.
This guide shows you how to get that number, either with a tape measure or with a quick estimate.
What counts as a linear foot?
A linear foot is one foot of length along the line where lights will go. It doesn’t matter how tall your house is or how big the roof is — only the length of the line you want lit.
For most homes, that line includes:
- Eaves — the horizontal edges of the roof, usually along the gutters.
- Rakes — the sloped edges that rise to a peak on a gable. Each gable has two.
- Ridges (optional) — the top line of the roof. Less common, but striking on some homes.
- Windows (optional) — outlining a window adds its perimeter. A typical 3×4 ft window is about 14 feet.
How to measure your roofline
You don’t need to climb anything. Measure from the ground.
- Walk the front of the house with a 100-foot tape measure or a measuring wheel. Measure along the ground directly beneath each eave you want lit. Write each number down.
- Estimate each gable’s rakes. Rakes are sloped, so ground measurements come up short. A good rule of thumb: measure the width of the gable at its base, then multiply by about 1.2 for a typical roof pitch (1.4 for a steep roof). That gives you the total of both sloped sides.
- Add second-story eaves separately. On a two-story home, you’ll often have an upper eave line and a lower porch or garage eave — both count.
- Add windows you want outlined: width + height, times two, for each.
- Add it all up. Round to the nearest 5 feet.
Example
A two-story home with lights on the front only:
| Section | Feet |
|---|---|
| Upper eave | 48 |
| Lower eave (porch + garage) | 44 |
| Main gable (both rakes) | 34 |
| Garage gable (both rakes) | 26 |
| 4 front windows × 14 ft | 56 |
| Total | 208 → 210 |
At $4–$6 per foot, that’s $840–$1,260 before any add-ons.
Don’t want to measure? Estimate from your home
If you can’t get outside with a tape, our cost estimator has a home-profile option. You enter your square footage, number of stories, how complex the roof is, which sides you want lit, and how many windows. It estimates footage using a simple, transparent formula — it treats your home as a rectangle about 1.6 times as long as it is deep, then adjusts for roof complexity, coverage, and extra eave lines on multi-story homes. You’ll see exactly how it got there, and you can adjust the number.
For example, a 3,000 sq ft two-story home with a moderately complex roof, front only, with four windows, comes out to about 160 feet: roughly 103 feet of roofline plus 56 feet of windows.
Common measuring mistakes
- Measuring rakes from the ground. Sloped edges are longer than they look. Use the multiplier above.
- Forgetting the garage. Attached garages often have their own eave and gable.
- Double-counting corners. Measure each run once, corner to corner.
- Counting sections you won’t light. If a side of the house isn’t visible from the street, most people skip it.
What’s not in the per-foot rate
The $4–$6 per foot rate covers roofline and window outlining, including layout design, professional installation, and January takedown. Trees, shrubs, wreaths, garland, pathway lights, custom color schemes, difficult roof access, electrical work, in-season service, and storage are priced separately at your consultation. See the full cost guide for details.
Next step
Plug your number into the estimator to see your range, then request a free quote. We’ll confirm your footage on-site before we give you a final price.