Adding Permanent Lighting to a Roofing or Gutter Company

Roofers and gutter crews have a head start, because the work at the roof edge is the part you already do every day. Here is a plain look at what carries over, what you will have to learn, and how you actually get product and training.

Why does it fit a roofing or gutter crew?

Permanent roofline lighting mounts at the roof edge. That is the same strip of the house you work on when you replace fascia, hang gutters or set drip edge. Your people know how to get there safely, how to move along it, and how to fasten into it without causing a leak or a callback.

Three things line up for you.

• The crew is already at the eave. Ladders, staging, fall protection and the habit of working at height are in place.
• The customer list already exists. Every roof and gutter job you have finished is a homeowner who trusted you on their house once. Lighting gives you a reason to call them again.
• It can fill a slow stretch. Demand for roofline lighting climbs in the fall as people start thinking about Christmas lights. If that lines up with a quiet period in your roofing calendar, the same crew stays busy.

There is one more quiet advantage. You see the eave up close before anyone else does. If the fascia is soft or the gutter is pulling away, you can fix it first and mount the lighting on something solid. A crew that only does lighting has to send that work away.

What skills and tools carry over?

More than you might expect. Use this as a rough map.

On the product side, the roofline track from Brighter Nights Lighting Technologies comes in 3 foot sections of powder-coated aluminum, with a light every 12 inches. If your crew can run a clean line of trim, they can run a clean line of track.

What is new to learn?

This is the part to respect. Hanging the track is carpentry. Making the system work every night for years is a different skill, and it is the one that separates a good install from a callback.

• Layout. Where the run starts, where it ends, which roof edges get light and which stay dark. A house that is lit on every edge often looks worse than one lit on the edges that face the street.
• Power planning. Where power comes from, how the lead line gets from there to the first light, and how long a run can go before the far end dims. Read voltage drop explained for installers before your first long run. For planning there is a voltage drop calculator on the BNLT site. Confirm the result against the product instructions.
• Wire routing. A roofer hides fasteners. A lighting installer hides wire. Downspouts, inside corners and soffit returns become your friends.
• Controls. BNLT systems run on Bluetooth mesh, so they work without Wi-Fi. An optional Wi-Fi Gateway adds remote access. You will set up the controller and hand the homeowner a working app before you leave.
• The handoff. Ten minutes showing the homeowner how to run the app saves you phone calls later.
• Selling at night. Roofs get sold in daylight with a clipboard. Lighting gets sold after dark, with the lights on. See running a night demo.

How do you buy the product?

BNLT is a manufacturer. It sells only through distribution, and it does that nationwide. You buy from a stocking distributor, the same way you buy shingles, coil stock or gutter. ABC Supply Outdoor Solutions is one of those distributors.

Here is how it works in practice.

• Fill out the form on the installer program page. BNLT connects you with a stocking distributor.
• Order through that distributor. Product ships in 3 to 5 days.
• There is no buy-in and no exclusive area to purchase. You can buy any system in the line through distribution.
• BNLT does not install. The install, the customer and the relationship stay with you.

How does training work?

Training lives in the Masters of Lighting Academy. The Academy is the umbrella. Inside it sits the Contractor Mastery Series, which is the course for contractors, along with the calculators and tools you will use on real jobs. Current training details are on that page.

BNLT does not install. Homeowners who fill out the BNLT design form are matched with a certified installer and an estimate. More on that is in how to become a certified permanent lighting installer.

How do you start without betting the company?

Keep it small and keep it close to what you already do.

• Pick one lead installer. Lighting rewards someone who cares about straight lines and hidden wire. You know who that is on your crew.
• Do the first install on a house you control. Your own home, a crew member’s home or your shop. You will make your beginner mistakes where nobody is paying for them, and you end up with a demo house.
• Photograph it properly at dusk. Those photos help sell the jobs after it. See photographing lighting jobs.
• Offer it on jobs you are already on. When the fascia and gutters are new and the ladders are up, the lighting conversation is easy.
• Then work your past customer list. Start with the people who already left you a good review.

Know the warranty before a customer asks. On the roofline system the track and lighting strand carry 10 years and the controller carries 3 years. The system has to be registered within 60 days, so make registration part of your closeout. The terms are on the warranty page.