River towns
Holiday lighting up and down the Allegheny
Kittanning, Ford City, Freeport, Tarentum and Natrona Heights all sit along the same river, and the same crew hangs lights in every one of them every November. Here is what that season looks like town by town.
One river, several towns
The Allegheny runs through all of these towns before it reaches Pittsburgh, and the housing along it tends to share the same bones: older river-town homes close to Main Street, brick and frame construction, narrow lots, and a lot of front-porch character worth lighting well.
Kittanning is home base, so it gets the shortest drive. Ford City and Freeport are a short hop south, and Tarentum and Natrona Heights sit further down the river closer to the Pittsburgh side, but all of it is on the same daily route.
The company itself grew up on this river before it was called Thraxel, hanging Christmas lights across these same towns as 160 Glow. Kittanning and every other 16xxx ZIP code along the Allegheny has been part of the route since long before the permanent lighting system existed.
What the seasonal program covers
The full Christmas program is design first, with a render mock-up of the actual house before anyone touches a ladder. Install happens when the weather allows it, with the crew, the Elves, working to Christmas music in costume, using proper PPE the whole time.
Anything that fails during the season gets fixed within 24 to 48 hours at no charge, whether it is a burnt-out bulb or a wire a squirrel got into on a river-town oak tree. Takedowns start January 4, and everything comes down, gets labeled, packaged and stored until next November.
It is a complete white-glove service from start to finish, which matters on a river-town street where a lot of neighbors are watching the same block light up together every year. Nobody on a Thraxel-serviced street is left waiting on a tangled bin of last year's lights to sort out alone.
- Design and render mock-up before install day
- In-season repairs covered at no charge, 24 to 48 hour response
- Takedown starting January 4, lights stored off-season
Why river towns need durable gear
River valleys hold damp, cold air longer than the ridges above them, and the wind that comes off the water in December is a different animal than a still winter night a few miles inland. Every component on a Thraxel job is UL, ETL and CUL certified, and the crew installs only when weather actually permits it, not on a fixed calendar.
For homeowners who want lighting up year-round instead of one season, the permanent system uses IP67 marine-grade silicone housings on 16-gauge wire and has been salt-tested, which matters on streets that see road treatment through a river-valley winter. Details on that system are at thraxel.com/permanent/.
Crews also hold the manufacturer-required certifications for whichever system is going up, seasonal or permanent, and Thraxel carries full insurance on every job. On an older river-town roofline, that combination matters more than it does on newer construction, since older fascia and gutters are less forgiving of a rushed install.
Older homes, narrower rooflines
A lot of river-town housing stock is older and narrower than the newer developments further from downtown, with tighter porch columns and shorter roof runs. That is not a limitation, it is a different design problem, and the render mock-up shows exactly how a shorter roofline reads once it is lit.
Front porches and columns get particular attention in these towns, since that is often the most visible part of the house from the street. See more on that specific approach at thraxel.com/christmas/.
For homeowners ready to move past one seasonal display, the permanent system fits these narrower rooflines just as well, since color-matched track scales down to a shorter run the same way it scales up to a larger newer home. The render mock-up shows exactly how it looks on your specific porch before anything is decided.
Booking the season along the river
The good November weekends book first every year, and river towns are no exception, they just have fewer new-construction homes competing for the same install windows, which can make early booking a little easier. A free on-site consultation gets the design started, and the render mock-up comes back within 48 hours.
Most homes are installed in one to two days once the design is approved. If you are unsure which town you fall in for scheduling purposes, the answer is usually the same crew either way, since Ford City, Freeport, Kittanning and Tarentum are all worked on the same weeks.
Financing at 0% APR for up to 24 months applies to the permanent system for river-town homeowners weighing that option instead of a seasonal booking, and every install, seasonal or permanent, carries the same warranty and insurance standard regardless of which town along the river the house sits in.
When to call it in
Whether you want one classic season of C9 lighting on a river-town porch or a permanent system that runs Christmas colors from Thanksgiving through Epiphany and something else the rest of the year, the starting point is the same. Reach hq@thraxel.com or request a quote at thraxel.com/quote/ and we will tell you honestly which fits your house.
A comparison of the two programs, laid out side by side, is at thraxel.com/blog/permanent-vs-seasonal-christmas-lights/, worth a look before your consult if you are still deciding between a single season and a system that runs all year.
For a river-town business, a restaurant, tavern or storefront along Main Street, the same commercial scale of the permanent system applies, with the same free consultation and render process used on any residential roofline in these towns.
Text or call 724-859-4390 if a phone conversation about your specific street is easier than a form, since Tyson can usually tell you which install week fits your town before you even leave the driveway consultation.
