Putting lIghts on the house in 2011

[jfelix]

I am planning on covering the whole house in lights for 2011 and using about 40 channels to animate it. I am doing alternating strips of clear and multi(maybe red). I was hoping some of you might have some insight ont he best way to do this. I do not want to put screws in the house if I can help it. I have thought about attaching the lights to some sort of net then hang the net.

Here is a pic of the house, I am open to suggestions.

Attached files

[Guest Don Gillespie]

Netting might not be a bad idea but if a wind storm would be lurking how would the net stand up, I have never tried to hang the lights from a vertical postion on my house however when we were in Disney it looked pretty cool, I was going to try that for next year so I will keep my eye on this thread to see if there are some answers, at my house I have no choice but to attach the lights to the upper fascia boards and drop them down to the ground where I could attach them to a 2 x 6 and anchor the 2 x 6 to the ground, but I am not sure what you could do on your upper levels so as not to damage your shingles.

[MikeH]

Testing the red dot.

MikeH

[MikeH]

yep....red dot means you have posted in the thread.

MikeH

[dschultz56]

jfelix wrote:

I am planning on covering the whole house in lights for 2011 and using about 40 channels to animate it. I am doing alternating strips of clear and multi(maybe red). I was hoping some of you might have some insight ont he best way to do this. I do not want to put screws in the house if I can help it. I have thought about attaching the lights to some sort of net then hang the net.

Here is a pic of the house, I am open to suggestions.

http://www.johnsonschristmascorner.com/Strips.html

Check this out. This is how Ryan Johnson does what you are describing to his house. Ryan may respond here also.

[Dale J]

that is a great idea, im not sure i would want to glue them to the house but there might be some other applications

[testraub]

When you say grid, I think of something that runs both vertical and horizontal. Some thing like the mesh they put in concrete. You could just install a few hooks and cut it to the proper angle and such.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_66369-157-10002_4294858232_4294937087_?productId=3037284&Ns=p_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_quantity_sold|1&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl_Remesh_4294858232_4294937087_%3FNs%3Dp_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr%7C0%7C%7Cp_product_quantity_sold%7C1

or maybe chain link fencing?

[brownjm74]

I have a few ideas however I don't know if you are wanting to do Our House A or Our House B. (see the next two post)

For Our House A: I would bundle the Red and White strands together then use "siding clips" to clip the lights to the side of the house. To outline the roof click here on my how I did it last year:

http://www.brownchristmaslightshow.com/roof-outline-lights.html

For Our House B: I would probably use the same technique as Our House A but the lights won't be on the "exact" corner of the house. You would have to move the lights over to the side so you can use the siding clips.

Hope this helps,

PS also can you post a larger size photo of your "avatar photo"

[brownjm74]

Our House A:

Attached files

[brownjm74]

Our House B:

Attached files

[RaceMedic]

On mine we have a few screws in the face of the house but we have over 800 C9 lights on it. A 10' section only has 2 screws but we have plugs that we left in the facing for next year so new holes will not be made.

Here is the link to how it was done.

http://www.pbase.com/dgeall/lights

Dave

[jfelix]

Dae I like he track you made. I have been wanting to some up with an idea to make outlining the house quicker and easier.

Jeremy we plan to do the lights similar to what you posted in option A. We already outline, but have wanted to run lights vertical on the siding for the last 2 years. Siding clips have crossed my mind.

Ryan Johnson uses the colonnade strips, which I like but with the cost and I do not think the wife will let me attachthem. I did see someone who used PVC pipe too. The fun part will be the peek abve the garage. Cannot cover the garage door so we can have access.

[Ryan Johnson]

Hi everyone. Yes I do use the Colonnade strips and have for 3 or 4 years (can't remember). They work VERY well and stay in place with the Marine Glue. I've had to replace only two strips in the past years and those were because I didn't use enough glue.

As for not attaching them permanantly I would say this- if you use them correctly, no one knows. I use the brown strip on mine and that goes nicely with the color of the brick along the front. And when/if you are selling the house you can easily say "Look. It's ready for YOUR Christmas lights!"

On that same topic- it's hard to see from your picture but it looks like you have a bit of an "eve" on your roof (it extends a bit and actually has a... I don't know how to describe it... a "lip" on the edge. I have that as well, on the side of the house, and I simply glued the track up in there and you truly NEVER see it. See the link to see what I mean (I was going to embed it in the message but it's pretty big and I hate when people embed big pictures and take up the whole screen!).

Good luck on your plans for this year!

http://www.johnsonschristmascorner.com/images/Christmas/2008/Progress6.png

[Ryan Johnson]

brownjm74 wrote:

To outline the roof click here on my how I did it last year:

http://www.brownchristmaslightshow.com/roof-outline-lights.html

THAT is fantastic! Such a simple, inexpensive application! I do my roof (in a pyramid) and that would make things SOOOO much easier!

Thanks for sharing.

-Ryan

[RaceMedic]

GREAT IDEA !!

Between the track system I use for the facing of the house and your system for the room top it is complete !!

Dave