Best Way to Pin String Lights to Side of House

Raise your manus if yous love the expect of string lights… Aye, me likewise!! Every time we would eat on a restaurant patio with the glow of string lights overhead or stroll through Denver's Larimer Square, I would dream most hanging patio string lights over our backyard!

Only if we were going to practice information technology, I wanted to do it right – with commercial grade light strands and guide wires. The installation process seemed very intimidating to u.s.a., and nosotros weren't sure where to begin, so we finally enlisted the help of a knowledgeable family friend. As it turns out, it's really not that difficult – you just need to have the right materials!

Our backyard patio is situated between our kitchen and our detached garage, so I always envisioned lights strung dorsum and forth betwixt the house and the garage.

COMMERCIAL GRADE VS. STANDARD GRADE STRING LIGHTS

As I mentioned, we knew from the first that we wanted to utilize commercial grade lite strands with guide wires, rather than the less cheap strings of lights bachelor at well-nigh stores. One of the reasons for this is because we could custom order the exact length of lights we needed, merely the other, more important reason is because commercial grade lights are better suited for permanent outdoor installation.

So what is the difference between standard grade and commercial course string lights? It'southward a common misconception that the difference is the blazon of light bulbs, but really the distinction is in the wire and the sockets. According to PartyLights.com, commercial grade lite strands are fabricated from heavy duty wire with conditions-proof sockets that seal around the seedling to keep water out. In additional to giving a more professional wait, commercial grade string lights are recommended for permanent installations intended to be left upwards year-round and are suitable for hard-wiring.

By comparison, standard grade cord lights can also be suitable for outdoor installation, but they typically do not last as long as commercial grade lite strands, especially in locations with inclement weather. They are less expensive up forepart, merely require replacement much more frequently if left up year round. Standard class string lights are more appropriate for events and less permanent applications.

PLANNING FOR & PURCHASING PATIO Cord LIGHTS

Several years ago, during the structure of the patio, we likewise had an outlet installed in the underside of the garage eave {above the light by the garage man door} in anticipation of adding string lights some twenty-four hour period. Commercial form string lights tin can exist plugged in or hard wired, merely by having the forethought to add this outlet years agone, it made our cord lite installation such a quick and easy job! The outlet is controlled by a light switch in the garage, allowing us to the turn the lights on and off without ever having to unplug them.

I honestly call back that figuring out the layout for the lights and determining the lengths, wattage and socket spacing was harder than the bodily installation of the lights. However, I fully acknowledge that is probably a biased perspective because since I was in charge of the measuring and planning, just I didn't accept to do any of the work of installing the lights.

Even so, planning is evidently an important footstep, so let me testify you the plan nosotros came up with. As we went along, I learned that there is a lot more to information technology than just measuring for the length of your string lights, and information technology can get pretty disruptive, so I'll endeavour to sum up all of the things you need to consider before purchasing your cord lights.

Because of the placement of our outlet in the garage eave, nosotros really used 2 divide strands of lights {as represented by the red and bluish in the diagram below}. Each strand plugs in to the outlet on the garage eave, so zig zags back and forth between the garage and the house. We measured the length of the garage, including the overhang of the roof line. Taking into account the location of the electrical outlet, nosotros determined that 5.25 feet betwixt points would allow us to have 5 evenly spaced connexion points, as illustrated in the diagram below. {The gray in the diagram represents where the roof line extends across the garage building.}

We then identified four corresponding connection points on the house side of the patio – each evenly spaced between the connexion points on the garage. Knowing the distance between the garage and the house, and given the 5.25 foot distance between connection points, we were able to calculate the length of each zig {or is it a zag?} at 230 inches. Who ever said you lot'd never need the Pythagorean Theorem in real life?!

Once nosotros calculated the length of light strands we needed, we started doing inquiry on commercial form string light pricing. We settled on purchasing a bulk reel from PartyLights.com because they not only had the all-time price, but had as well been recommended to us by a friend.{This mail is not sponsored past Political party Lights, I am just sharing our experience.}

Since nosotros were custom ordering the lights, in improver to knowing the length of low-cal strands we needed {every bit determined by the diagram above}, we as well had to decide on the distance between the sockets and the fashion and wattage of bulbs. These decisions are important non simply for aesthetic purposes, but likewise because each strand of lights has a maximum run wattage {which is listed in the specs for each light strand}.

In order to ensure that you stay within the maximum run wattage, you have to take into consideration the total length of the strand yous need, the wattage of bulbs you want to employ, and the distance between the sockets. In other words, the college the wattage of bulb and the closer the sockets are placed, the shorter the strand must be; whereas with lower wattage bulbs and sockets spaced farther apart, you tin can have a longer strand and notwithstanding be with in the maximum run wattage. Installing 2 stands of lights was not only convenient due to the location of our outlet {as shown in the diagram higher up}, but likewise allowed us to avoid exceeding the max wattage of either strand.

Taking all of these things in to account, we settled on 11-watt "sign bulbs" and a socket spacing of 24 inches. This is the exact reel of lights that nosotros ordered, and these are the exact bulbs. If you're doing the math, you might discover that this reel was much longer than nosotros needed. This is because we were splitting it with my parents who were besides installing string lights at their house; nonetheless, we could accept ordered simply the length we needed.

Note that the reel we purchased DID Not come up with plugs. Since we were not hard wiring our lights, nosotros had to add together plugs to the ends of the strings, which we purchased at our local hardware store.

HOW TO INSTALL COMMERCIAL GRADE PATIO Cord LIGHTS WITH GUIDE WIRES

The commercial grade lights we purchased are suitable for permanent installation, either affixed to a construction {such as a pergola} or hung with a guide wire. Since we were stringing our lights back and forth between our firm and our garage, we used a guide wire.

Full disclosure – I had no part in the actual installation of these lights. A family friend, who had experience installing commercial cord lights, helped Scott do the job. They did the work while I was out of town at a conference terminal summer. Equally a consequence, I but have 1 or two photos of the procedure that Scott sent to prove me sneak peeks forth the fashion, just I think that the photos of the completed installation, together with their explanations, will tell you everything you need to know.

Materials Needed :

• Commercial Grade String Lights from PartyLights.com {discussed higher up}
• 1/16″ Wire Rope
• i/16″ Wire Rope Clamps
• Centre to Eye Turnbuckle
• Screw Hooks

• Nix Ties

• Outdoor rated plugs

Since a picture is worth a g words…

Using the document I created showing the layout of the lights, the guys installed 5 screw hooks in the eave of the garage – one right by the outlet, and each other 5.25 anxiety apart. Then they installed four spiral hooks in a minor overhang on the house side.

They then placed center to eye turnbuckles on each screw hook, and ran a length of wire rope between each turnbuckle {spanning the altitude from house to garage}, and so secured each guide wire with a wire clench. Once the wire rope was strung betwixt the firm and garage, the guys were able to accommodate the screws in the turnbuckle to control the amount of swag in each guide wire {screwing the eye hooks farther into the turnbuckle pulls the guide wire more taut}.

The screw hooks at each far end of the garage have but one middle to eye turnbuckle {because this is where the string lights end}. All of the other screw claw has two turnbuckles on it, and then the guys aught tied the ii turnbuckles together to secure the position of the each guide wire.

Once all of the guide wires were in identify, the guys began attaching the low-cal strands to the guide wires using nil ties at the location of each socket, as well as betwixt each socket.

Here's what the completed string light installation looks like on the house side of our dorsum patio:

And here's what it looks like where a strand ends and is capped off well-nigh the corner of the garage:

PATIO String LIGHTS HUNG IN A ZIGZAG PATTERN

The lights look great hanging to a higher place the patio during the day…

…just, of course, it's when the sun goes downwards that the string lights become the stars of the show! I love watching the fashion the glow of the light changes after afterward the sunday has set up as the heaven becomes deeper and deeper shades of blue.

We swapped out the regular light switch inside the garage for a dimmer switch, allowing us to control the amount of light that we get from the string lights at dark. When not dimmed, the lights make the backyard quite vivid {just not as well bright} – perfect for entertaining or letting the kids play at night. Simply for a quieter backyard dinner, or when relaxing on the outdoor couch, we enjoy beingness able to dim the lights a bit for more than ambiance.

HOW TO ADD A DIMMER TO PATIO STING LIGHTS

If you lot make up one's mind you want to use a dimmer, just brand certain that you purchase a dimmer that can handle the wattage load of your lights. Well-nigh dimmer switches can only handle 600 watts of power, which was insufficient for the wattage and number of bulbs we had. We burned out a regular dimmer earlier realizing this, so replaced it with a k-watt dimmer. If your strand rates at college than ane,000 watts, you may exist unable to use a dimmer with your string lights, because we were told that no one makes dimmer rated for wattage above 1,000 {though you should confirm this for yourself}.

HOW ARE THE String LIGHTS Holding Upwards?

The string lights have been upwards in the backyard for just over a year now, and I only wish we had installed them sooner! They are such a stylish addition to our thousand, and make information technology easier to enjoy our patio at nighttime.

The guide wires and lights held upwards not bad through the Colorado wintertime, including a couple of major snow storms. Yet, before this summer we had a massive thunderstorm that produced very large hail, and after the storm passed we went exterior to find that about 20 or so of our bulbs had been shattered past the hail. If yous look closely at the photo below, y'all tin can see that the glass is gone on just about every other bulb.

I didn't notice the cleaved bulbs at first, until I started finding glass on the basis. Fortunately, the kids had not yet been back outside. Nosotros already had actress bulbs on hand, so replacing them wasn't an outcome, merely cleaning up all the tiny shards of thin drinking glass was quite a task! Not only was in that location glass all over the cement pavers, we also institute glass all over our table, chairs and couch, in the basis comprehend, and in the grass. And so a give-and-take of warning – after a hail storm, be sure to check for any broken bulbs before letting kids run effectually in the backyard!

Hopefully I explained the installation procedure clearly enough to get yous on the right rail, just don't hesitate to leave me a message or email me if you take further questions!

UPDATES:

• Late Summer 2015:The backyard renovation is consummate! Come see how we made our one thousand feel twice as big!
• Summer 2016: Backyard Tour – Creating a Colorful Outdoor Living Room

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Source: https://www.blueistyleblog.com/howtohangstringlights/

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