Permanent mounted Christmas lights

[quicksandfarmer]

We're thinking about putting up the holiday lights soon, and we want to put them on the gable end of the house. Which requires an extension ladder. So I'm thinking what I'd rather do is just go up the ladder once and install hooks on the rake board or drip edge, and then put the lights up and take them down with a hook on a pole and keeping my feet on the ground. I'm also thinking if I put up permanent hooks I can just use them every year.

Does anyone do this? I'm trying to figure out if there are special hooks or special lights for this. It seems like hooks that were easy to put up and take down with a pole wouldn't hold the lights very securely.

Any tips are appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[scootr]

I di something similar last year. I used 4 color LED lights. They are in a flat strip. I used special staples with a plastic standoff especially made for wires. I stapled the lights to the bottom edge of the facia board every 3 or 4 ft. Strung the lights around the house, up and down the gables, along the flats, and up and around the chimney too. They came with a timer and options to select single color or all 4 colors in many delectable flash patterns or solid on... It's great. I did the wishing well to match. Can't wait to plug them back in this year and enjoy the fruits of my labor last year.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

I di something similar last year. I used 4 color LED lights. They are in a flat strip. I used special staples with a plastic standoff especially made for wires. I stapled the lights to the bottom edge of the facia board every 3 or 4 ft. Strung the lights around the house, up and down the gables, along the flats, and up and around the chimney too. They came with a timer and options to select single color or all 4 colors in many delectable flash patterns or solid on... It's great. I did the wishing well to match. Can't wait to plug them back in this year and enjoy the fruits of my labor last year.

So you just left the lights up all year? I guess on the bottom of the fascia they're not really visible?

 

[yooperterry]

We're thinking about putting up the holiday lights soon, and we want to put them on the gable end of the house. Which requires an extension ladder. So I'm thinking what I'd rather do is just go up the ladder once and install hooks on the rake board or drip edge, and then put the lights up and take them down with a hook on a pole and keeping my feet on the ground. I'm also thinking if I put up permanent hooks I can just use them every year.

Does anyone do this? I'm trying to figure out if there are special hooks or special lights for this. It seems like hooks that were easy to put up and take down with a pole wouldn't hold the lights very securely.

Any tips are appreciated.

Thanks.

Do this every year now. Few years back I put up hooks on the roof edges then took a couple lengths of my snow rake and tapped a hook on the end to both put the lights up and down. Problem is every year it seems a couple of the hooks break off (plastic) so once in awhile I have to get a ladder out. If it happens in the winter I just put a note on the calendar, July works great! But, sometimes the bulbs burn out and ya gots to do what ya gots to do!

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Did the small brass "cup hooks" on our gable ends and fascia 2 years ago.... worked great! Used an old extendable paint pole with 2 finish nails tacked into the end ..... can put the lights up and take them down with it.

 

[Oaktree]

I wonder how UV-resistant the wiring & sockets are on those lights. I've left lights up for a couple seasons and the wires were getting kind of stiff & brittle after a couple years.

 

[MossRoad]

Permanent hooks would work fine, just be sure they are sturdy and able to withstand sunlight and weather, and that they won't allow water infiltration into your structure.

Another tip, don't use a metal pole to put up electric lights. Use fiberglass.

 

[MossRoad]

I wonder how UV-resistant the wiring & sockets are on those lights. I've left lights up for a couple seasons and the wires were getting kind of stiff & brittle after a couple years.

I think he's talking about putting up permanent hooks, and using a pole to put up AND take down the lights seasonally.

I, too, would not leave them up year round unless they were in a mild climate and under the eves out of sunlight. Wind, rain and sun will do a number on them a couple years out.

 

[3Ts]

I have the led outdoor strip lights strung under the soffit so they're out of the wind & rain. They've been up about 7 years without a problem and are wired into a switch indoors and I treat them as a regular porch light. I picked the brightest ones I found since they are intended as a porch light and not as Christmas lights, but could be. After 7 years one of the copper traces cracked and the section after that went out, so I replaced both strings of lights. The water proofing cover does yellow after time, but I've not seen any change in the light intensity. If you pick the RGB light strings I think you can get white as well.

 

[newbury]

Well all of you seem more fancy than some of my rural Mississippi neighbors with Christmas tree lights on their mobile homes. They leave them up year around.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Permanent hooks would work fine, just be sure they are sturdy and able to withstand sunlight and weather, and that they won't allow water infiltration into your structure.

Another tip, don't use a metal pole to put up electric lights. Use fiberglass.

If he unplugeth the lights first? Wraps tape where contacts? I use a metal TV antenna pole. It will reach up there.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

I leave my Christmas lights up on my front porch all year long

I know all the words to every old Bocephus song.

 

[MossRoad]

If he unplugeth the lights first? Wraps tape where contacts? I use a metal TV antenna pole. It will reach up there.

Problem with unplugeth the lights first is that after you put them up, then plug them in and some don't work. If you put them up while they're lit, you can see if you bump something and bring them down and correct it earlier in the process.

Also, metal poles and power lines don't mix.

 

[K5lwq]

Problem with unplugeth the lights first is that after you put them up, then plug them in and some don't work. If you put them up while they're lit, you can see if you bump something and bring them down and correct it earlier in the process.

Also, metal poles and power lines don't mix.

I am “shocked” you feel this way!

 

[MossRoad]

I am “shocked” you feel this way!

Back when I was in school for TV and radio repair, they stressed the dangers in installing antennas, working with metal ladders, extension poles, etc.

I know of two people that were killed taking home TV antennas down and touching power lines, two college students working summer jobs painting that were killed when their metal ladders touched power lines, and a friend of mine that almost grabbed a falling TV tower with his sons they were taking down, decided to let it fall, and it burned down their garage, but they lived.

You just never know.

I use fiberglass ladders and poles when needed.

 

[Oaktree]

I have the led outdoor strip lights strung under the soffit so they're out of the wind & rain. They've been up about 7 years without a problem and are wired into a switch indoors and I treat them as a regular porch light. I picked the brightest ones I found since they are intended as a porch light and not as Christmas lights, but could be.

I did the same on both my (enclosed 3 season) porch and living room. Standard clear LED Christmas lights. Did have to experiment a bit to find a soft white color, some of the LED lights are a bit harsh. Just the right intensity for watching tv, etc.
Living room ceiling has exposed beams, about 10 years ago strung colored lights just for Xmas...we liked it so much we just kept them up. The wires stretch a bit over time & sag so every 6-8 mo. I need to tighten them up.

 

[Wakey]

Holiday lights have come a long way.

 

[lincmercguy]

For my place, I get the Christmas light hangers from Menards that screw onto an extension pole. They have a hook that hooks onto the gutter or you can slide them under shingle edge on the ends. They work really well and I don't have to get on a ladder. I do get on one section of the roof because I can reach the gutter by hand there. I could get it from the ground, but it's just easier for me at this point. They are cheap, but they only last a few seconds before they get brittle and start snapping when clipping them onto the gutters. The sun is pretty hard on plastic here, even in the winter.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Problem with unplugeth the lights first is that after you put them up, then plug them in and some don't work. If you put them up while they're lit, you can see if you bump something and bring them down and correct it earlier in the process.

Also, metal poles and power lines don't mix.

Cut a small tree to make a long pole. We fashioned a hook out of wire and used it on a pole running nets. Use PVC pipe.

 

[Rockbadchild]

ha I love Christmas lights, they remind me of some co-workers.
They all hang together, half of the fu#$ers don't work,
and the ones that do aren't that bright.