Tips For Installing Christmas Lights

Christmas lights can bring holiday liveliness to your yard and home but the process of hanging them can take away all the fun especially when fitting equipment such as ladders and even the light strings themselves prove to be problematic. Here are some easy Christmas Light Installers Chicago tips to ensure that you draw the most fun out of your Christmas holiday.

Where To Install Christmas Lights

• Along your eaves or roof lines 
• On top of hedges, bushes and trees
• Around posts and pillars 
• Around door frames, windows and other architectural features
• Near pathways and driveways 
• Inside planters and window boxes 
• You can use the lights as focal points of your garden or place them around focal points in your garden or yard.

Equipment Needed For Installation 

Outdoor Extension Cords: Bring power to the specific site you want to install the lighting.

Timer: Automatically turns your lights on and off for a predetermined period time. This saves power in the process. 

Power Stakes: These are portable devices that bring power closer to the site being lighted up, thus you no longer need meters of cords running all over your yard. More preferably, look for stakes with remote controls and timers.

Ladder: Purchase an extension ladder or a lightweight step ladder, sized to match the decorating projects you will be carrying out.

Hardware: You need to have the right hardware for you to successfully carry out the decorating project. They include specialty hooks and clamps, adhesive-backed hardware for outdoor use, various sizes of nails, cup hooks and a thin wire.

Basic Hand Tools: Such as a hammer, screwdrivers and pliers.

Work Gloves: A pair of thin, flexible gloves not only keeps your hands warm but also protects them from injury.

How To Install The Lights

You will need to first map out specific decoration areas by use of a long tape. Then establish the number strands you will need taking into account the eaves, doors, windows, trees, shrubs etc. Ensure you have measured the lengths and heights of the decoration areas including the trees, ground etc. Having mapped out the decoration areas, ensure that you enough working lights for that area.

Locate an electrical source that can run or support heavy-duty extension cords of 120-volts. If possible, plug the lights into an automatic timer or you can as well use a switch-controlled outlet. 

Use a ladder to hang the lights on the eaves. If the eaves are low it is more preferable to use stepladder; else, use an extension ladder. It is important to use the ladders appropriately for your own safety. 

As you hang the lights along the eaves, your objective should be to safely and easily hang the lights without maiming your home’s trim or walls. Use plastic clips (made for the job) to attach lights along gutters or the roof. 

When attaching lights to window trim and other comparable vertical surfaces, use nail-on plastic clips or tube light clips and place them approximately 12 inches apart or as recommended. Avoid use of nails or staples or to hang the light strings because they can pierce the protective insulation, creating an electrical short.

Care should taken when hanging the lights because they are delicate i.e. they can break easily.