Best Way to Hang Rope Lights on House

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If you're looking for a way to make your house shine, rope lights are one of the best ways to go. They are long strands of LED lights wrapped up in a waterproof PVC case. They are very easy to cut to fit whatever stretch of your dwelling house. You lot can also join dissimilar strands together to create the most colorful display you lot have ever imagined. Rope lights are often used for holiday decorations, merely you tin can use them year-round for a rubber and durable fashion to add some flair to your home.

1. 1

   Select a clear path along your home to hang the lights. Locate the nearest electric outlets and then y'all have a style to power the lights. Then, look for solid, visible surfaces around the edges of your domicile. Bare walls and window frames are a few skillful spots for lights. You can also clip them to the roof'southward eaves or gutters.^[one]

   • Rope lights are easiest to install in open areas. For case, mounting clips are easiest to place on apartment walls without lots of twists and turns. They tin can also be used to line railings, walkways, and other surfaces.

2. 2

   Utilize a tape measure to make up one's mind the length of lighting you need. Measure out forth the length of your home. If you're planning on hanging lights in a few different spots, calculate the length of each strand separately. Rope lights are very piece of cake to cut and reconnect, so you can accommodate several strands together without much problem. Nevertheless, retrieve to also measure the altitude from where the lights will be to the nearest outlet in order to factor in the length of the power cord.^[2]

   • For example, you might use rope lights as a vacation ornamentation forth the edges of your roof and then also hang some extra strips vertically underneath them. Yous can easily connect all of these strips together.
   • Power cords are often almost vi ft (one.8 chiliad) long. Y'all may have to rearrange the light placement a niggling and then you can easily plug them into the outlet. Y'all could also become an extension cord, but make sure you lot're able to proceed information technology out of the way.

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3. 3

   Carve up the strand length past 12 to determine how many mounts you lot need. Programme on spacing the mounts out no further than 12 in (30 cm). If you're hanging multiple strands or working along different surfaces, such as around corners, summate the mounts you need for each length separately. Accept the total length of each strand or space you're covering, then separate it past 12. Add each consequence together to go the total number of hanging mounts required to keep those lights safety and secure on your habitation.^[3]

   • For example, if yous have a wall 48 in (120 cm) long and plan on placing mounts every 12 in (30 cm): 48 / 12 = 4 hangers.
   • Add up the number of mounts for each surface or strand you're hanging. For example, if you lot need 12, 10, and eight mounts for different walls: 12 + 10 + 8 = xxx total mounts.
   • If you lot're working around corners, have a few extra clips on paw but in case you lot need them. Rope lights often benefit from having a fiddling extra support in that location. Try keeping at least 1 or 2 clips for every bend in the route.

4. 4

   Mark nigh every 12 in (30 cm) with chalk for the hangers. This will requite you lot an idea of where the mounts for the lights will be installed. Space them out equally evenly every bit possible. Keep in mind where the corners are. To work around corners, mounts have to be positioned close to, only non correct upwards next to them. Make sure the mounts stay about4 to 6 in (x to 15 cm) from the corners so the rope lights don't bend at too precipitous an angle.

   • Make sure they are spaced out correctly. You may need to go back and revise your calculations to spread them more evenly, especially across curves and other tricky surfaces.
   • Before purchasing mounts or installing any on your home, take some time to mark the mounting locations. Careful planning ways less additional work you have to do afterward and less risk of unnecessary damage to your habitation.

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1. 1

   Select mounting clips to straight lights along tight or curved spaces. Plastic mounting clips are the easiest type of mount to find, and they offer the well-nigh flexibility. They tin can be used to hang lights along straight paths, simply they are even better for corners and other areas where the light strands may non lay completely flat against the wall. There are adhesive and screw-on varieties available.^[four]

   • Rope light clips look like C-shaped rings attached to a base with holes for 2 screws. The most mutual ones have open rings that you only push the light strands into, but others can be screwed airtight.
   • The downside of mounting clips is that they all take to be spaced out and installed separately. If they aren't positioned in the right spots, your rope lights could sag or pull the other hooks down.

2. two

   Choose lite tracks to hold the lights directly against a wall. Tracks, or channels, are open clips that the rope strands fit into. They are the best selection for setting rope lights up into the most precise pattern possible. If you lot look at lights held up with tracks, they look perfectly straight, like a professional painstakingly hung them. The tracks are also difficult to see from a distance.^[v]

   • Rope calorie-free tracks are thin tubes, kind of like the safety weather strips some doors accept. They are open on 1 end so you can thread light strands through them.
   • Tracks don't work very well around corners, in tight spaces, or other tough spots. They can't be aptitude, so you lot accept to hang them carefully to directly light strands around corners.
   • Rail lights come in both agglutinative and spiral-on varieties, although spiral-on ones are more common.

3. 3

   Stick adhesive mounts directly to your domicile if you're using them. You won't take to do annihilation to your habitation to prepare it. Pare the agglutinative backing off of each mount, then press it in place. One time all the mounts are installed, thread the rope lights onto them to complete the installation.^[half-dozen]

   • Since y'all don't have to impairment your home with screws, adhesive hangers are very handy. You can hang rope lights without e'er having to pick up a drill.
   • Adhesive hangers aren't permanently fastened to anything, so some of them may fall off over time. However, you can just go new ones to stick in place.

4. iv

   Drill ^one⁄_eight  in (0.32 cm) pilot holes if yous're using screw-on mounts. Fit a power drill with a masonry drill bit. Utilise it to create ¹⁄₂  in (1.iii cm)-deep holes through the mounting spots you marked with chalk before. A good masonry bit will exist able to break through any type of siding without damaging your drill. However, make sure yous drill straight into the siding, just deep enough to secure the mounts without breaking through the underlying surface.^[vii]

   • Airplane pilot holes should e'er exist slightly smaller than the screws you're using for the mounts. The screws tin can vary in size depending on what mounting set y'all bought, so double-check that yous have the right size of drill fleck.

5. 5

   Utilise ⁷⁄₆₄  in (0.28 cm) stainless steel screws to secure the mounts. Hold the mounts up to the pilot holes. Make sure the mounts are all positioned in the same management so the rope lite strand can pass through them. Fit a spiral through each mount and into the pilot hole. Then, secure them to the wall with a cordless screwdriver.^[8]

   • Screws are typically included with the mounts. If you have to get replacements, choose ones that are the same size as the screw holes on the base of operations of each mount. Also, make certain they are stainless steel or another rust-resistant cloth.
   • Clip mounts ordinarily accept a unmarried screw pigsty on the base. The opposite end is an open clip designed to hold a light strand in place. Some of them are loops that spiral closed.
   • If you're using track mounts, make sure they are spaced far plenty apart that they don't overlap. The screw holes will be in the center of each mount. Bank check that the tracks line up end to end before securing them in identify.

6. 6

   Use extra mounts to curve lights around walls and other corners. Rope lights can't be bent at a xc-degree angle. They take to exist guided gently in an arc no more iii to 4 in (seven.six to 10.ii cm) wide. This can exist hard to exercise without actress mounts, so install clips about 2 in (5.ane cm) from corners as needed. When you hang the rope lights, they should curve lightly effectually the bend without sagging.^[9]

   • If you lot're using tracks, make certain they come up shut to only finish short at the corners. Leave a ane in (2.v cm) between the tracks.
   • If you lot're uncertain about placing actress mounts, hang the lights first, then note any spots where they crave actress support.
   • If you're arranging lights in a gentle curve instead of around corners, place the mounts appropriately. They won't have to be right up adjacent to one another to agree the strands in the shape you lot desire, so save actress mounts for spots that crave additional support.

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1. 1

   Hang the lights by threading them through the mounts. Y'all may exist tempted to cut the rope lights correct away, but await until you finish hanging them. Rope lights come up in reels, and so unravel merely what you need. Place the free end of the rope lite strand on the mountain closest to the electrical outlet. Then, pull more of the strand off the reel to reach the next mounts in the line.^[x]

   • If you programme carefully, you can first mounting the strand on either side of your dwelling house. However, starting near the outlet is ordinarily easier. You lot can connect the ability cord to the cease of the rope light strand there.

2. 2

   Use scissors to cut the strand according to the marks on its tubing. Expect closely at the rope lights for dotted lines. These spots are the but places where you can cut the lights. Observe the closest dotted line and trim through it. Cutting along the lines to remove excess lighting and hang separate strands across your home.^[xi]

   • If you lot don't have pair of scissors, you tin also cutting strands using a utility knife or shears.
   • The cutting lines are spaced out across the strand between the bulbs. If you cut elsewhere, the strand won't work.

3. three

   Place a plastic cap on the cut terminate of the strand. When you lot purchase new rope lights, yous will most probable get a couple of caps with them. To apply the cap, just push information technology onto the stop of the strand. It covers the exposed terminate to go on information technology dry and protected.^[12]

   • For each light strand you cut, fit a plastic cap on the end. If you lot need more of them, club some online or from a lighting retailer.
   • Rope light caps and connectors come in a variety of sizes. If you buy extras, brand certain they friction match the diameter of your light strands.

4. 4

   Attach the power cord to the strand about the power outlet. Rope lights come up with a ability connector. It's a plastic cap that fits on ane cease of the strand. If you started mounting the strand close to the outlet, you tin can utilize the end of the strand for an easy way to attach the connector. Button the connector onto the lite until it'south firmly connected to the tubing, then run the electrical cord to the nearest outlet. Wait until you're washed setting up the lights to plug it in.^[13]

   • The power connector tin can be attached to either end of a strand. If yous cut the lights, it volition fit over i of the cut ends. Go on it shut to the outlet.
   • You only have to utilize one power cord for rope lights. Any boosted strands can be wired to the one with the power string, and then they don't take to be plugged in separately.
   • Ability cords can be a petty short, so become an extension cord if you're unable to reach the nearest outlet. Plug the connector into it, then constrict the string into a safe spot, such as behind some bushes.

5. five

   Use strand connectors to secure whatsoever additional strands to the original ane. Cull connectors co-ordinate to the number of strands you plan on joining together. There are a variety of connectors available that make installing multiple rope strands way easier than you might expect. Push the metallic barbs on the connector into each cutting strand to secure them together. After yous have all the strands connected, y'all can plug the original strand into the wall outlet to light upwards your home.^[14]

   • The primary type of connector is a plug that splices 2 different strands together. You can also get T or Y-shaped connectors to bring together iii unlike strands and X-shaped connectors for iv strands.
   • Use a splice connector to join strands across portions of your abode yous don't want lit up. It's a expert mode to comprehend gaps between strands, for instance, or work effectually corners.

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• To assistance protect cutting rope light sections from h2o damage, apply a silicone sealant or cover them with a compress wrap tube.^[15]

• Rope strands are easy to maintain. Cut out whatsoever portions that have burned out, then join new lengths to the existing strands with connectors.

• LED rope lights don't utilise much power and tin last as long as 100,000 hours. They are a great choice if you're planning on using them often.^[16]

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• Rope lights tin can be a burn risk, and then watch for breaks and other signs of damage. Replace the lights if they look worn out, burned, or cracked.^[17]

• Cut light strands with circumspection. If y'all cut them in the incorrect spot, they will finish working. Make sure you await for the cutting spots marked on each strand.

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Things You'll Need

• Rope lights
• Clip or track mounts
• Measuring tape
• Chalk
• Scissors or utility knife
• Power cord
• Plastic rope low-cal cap
• Rope calorie-free connectors (optional)
• ⁷⁄₆₄  in (0.28 cm) stainless steel screws (optional)
• Power drill (optional)
• ¹⁄₈  in (0.32 cm) masonry bit
• Cordless screwdriver (optional)

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