Most Christmas installs are done…and now the part nobody talks about is here.

Takedowns.

And if you don’t have a process, you’re about to light money on fire.

In this episode of Captain’s Quarters First Class, I break down how we run takedowns so reinstalls are easy, crews stay consistent, and you don’t bleed labor in January…or pay for it next October when everything is tangled and nobody knows what goes where.

We talk about:

• Why “everyone has their own way” turns into chaos when you scale
  

• The real reason reinstalls take longer than new installs (and how to fix it)
  

• How we use CompanyCam for photos, walkthrough videos, and takedown checklists
  

• Labeling systems (colored zip ties, maps, strand counts) so any tech can reinstall next year
  

• Ridge lines, bags vs bins, and how to avoid the tangled nightmare
  

• Northeast urgency: snow, ice, and why you want takedowns DONE early
  

• Why takedowns should be 20–30 minutes on jobs that took 4 hours to install
  

• How to set expectations with clients (geographic routing…not “by request”)
  

• Why you need takedowns finished fast so you can run numbers and plan 2026
  

If your reinstalls feel harder than new installs…it’s not your crew. It’s your process.

Lights. Legacy. Living. Captain’s Crew. Sink or Swim.Ready to join Captain’s Crew?

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