Jim miller/viewChristmas Light Pros owner Dave Steckbeck hangs lights on a home in the Red Rock Country Club. The local company specializes in decorating houses throughout Las Vegas.
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Las Vegas may not get snow, but plenty of houses will be sporting icicles this holiday season -- illuminated ones. But not all of the homes will be decorated by the occupants themselves.
When it comes to putting up outdoor lights, many people turn to a service. One is called The Christmas Light Pros.
"People will call up and say, 'I want the Griswald's,' " said Dave Steckbeck, owner/operator of the business, referring to the 1989 Chevy Chase movie, "Christmas Vacation."
The Christmas Light Pros will put up any lighting scheme homeowners stipulate, or will come up with a design for them.
Michael McGraw has a one-story home at 1400 Westwood Drive in what long-time Las Vegans call the Scotch 80s -- between Oakey and Charleston boulevards and Rancho Drive and the freeway. His 6,000-square-foot abode took nearly 14 hours to illuminate completely.
"I just let him do whatever he wanted," McGraw said.
The result, he said, was beautiful, decadent and sophisticated.
Dave Griffis, a doorman at Wynn Las Vegas, said he couldn't wait for Christmas. He had Steckbeck's venture deck out his house for Halloween. Steckbeck outlined Griffis' two-story home in orange lights then returned to wrap a big tree and nearby bushes.
"Boy, it was a statement," Griffis said. "Everybody said, 'Wow. Nobody does that for Halloween.' But it's my favorite holiday."
The bulbs were later changed out for Christmas ones.
Steckbeck started his business last year and wound up with 60 clients. This year, he had 40 booked even before Thanksgiving rolled around, he said. The business' services are in demand all season long.
"Last year, we had people call us on Christmas Eve to come decorate their place," said Steckbeck's wife, Cinda. "We were already on vacation in California."
Sometimes, it's not the house that owners want decorated, just their trees. One big job last year included wrapping 25 palm trees with tiny lights. Each tree took about two hours. Another customer had him wrap 15 palm trees, plus the house.
Ninety percent of Steckbeck's business is residential and half of that is in the Summerlin area. Taking down the displays is part of the service.
The 40-year-old supported himself by bartending, but always wanted to be an entrepreneur, he explained. After paying a man to string lights on his own home, he saw how easy it was and how lucrative. His jobs start at $200.
He looked into the business and hooked up with a company out of San Diego. After attending seminars to get more familiar with the line of work, the learning curve continued on the job. That included checking if the homeowner has dogs.
"I learned that real quick one day when a pitbull chased me out of the yard," he said. "All my guys were laughing at me. Of course, they were safe up on their ladders."
Steckbeck sometimes makes a job into a family affair. While he's busy hanging the lights, his wife will push their 6-month-old son Gabriel in the stroller and leave fliers on the neighborhood doors.
Owning the business means the Steckbeck's home is decorated to the nines.
"When the sign on your car says, 'Christmas Light Pros,' you'd better have the best looking house in the area," he said.
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