The Post-Your-Christmas-Lights Thread

[buffo]

HAHA! I have some home video somewhere of the one (1) time I actually got my wife up on a ladder. She was in tears... I actually thought I was going to have to make her climb through a window to get down, because she kept saying that she *couldn't* go back down the way she came up.

I ended up climbing up behind her and then "walking" her down the ladder one rung at a time. Took like 10 minutes. Sheesh! Never again will I put her on a ladder.

I've heard of people being afraid of heights, but not like that!

Adam

[platinum]

. . .They burnt their bra's back in the sixties to do stuff like this !!

I literally laughed out loud when I read this. Good stuff!

. . .I don't think I'll be doing that this year though. I seriously doubt my wife would let me get on a ladder!

Adam

I'm a little far away from you, otherwise I'd happily help you with your lights. If only there was someone here on PL that lived close by...

-Jonathan

[mliptack]

One thing I read about was the use of N50 magnets to secure lights to gutters... I thought- thats a really good idea... of course if your gutters are not aluminum. But you could also put a magnet in the gutter on the other side. That would make set up and tear down a snap!

[platinum]

My eves are wood although they have galvanized flashing at the top. I wanted the lights hanging off the bottom though, so they'd make the house glow a little.

Here's a little pictorial for anyone who wants to do a bunch of tedious work:

^^They have these in a masonry variety too^^

^^Note: I used a razor blade to clean up the nail whole on the open side^^

^^This is a 36" Nylon Tie^^

^^I cut them so they adequately cover the open end of the staples^^

^^The pliers are crucial; I value my fingers^^

^^I later found it more efficient to nail these all the way in^^

^^As aforementioned, easier once the nail is all the way through^^

^^Done.^^


All in all, this was a very tedious process, but I'm stubborn, so I saw it through. I am very much open to suggestions as to how this could be accomplished easier in the future.

I'm getting a new roof (the whole thing) in a few months and I doubt I'm going to want to recover all of these before they tear the eves down. We'll see though.

-Jonathan

[Things]

Wow great idea! Makes it easier if the string decides to die, instead of having to pull the whole thing down and nailing it back up again!

[buffo]

OMG!

Johnathan, I can't believe you went through all that work! That's amazing...

I've always used shingle tabs. (Here's another link, or you can find them at your local Walmart...) True, it gets expensive because you need one for each bulb (and when using mini-bulbs that adds up fast), but they install in seconds and pull out almost as fast.

You attach the tab to the bulb first, and then just slide the tab under the shingle. Friction holds them in place, and I've never had them come loose. When you pull them out, the tab stays connected to the bulb. Just wind up the string of lights with the tabs in place and store for next year.

I can't imagine manufacturing and nailing all those holders in place! You must have the patience of a saint!

Adam

[platinum]

I suppose the fact that I spent around $10 on everything for the hangers kept me going. :-) (I already had plenty of nylon ties to butcher)

I still can't find anything that will do the same job since I'm dealing with C5 lights.

They did have adhesive clips, but those would've come off with some of the paint on my eves.

Maybe I should have these made for sale next year...

-Jonathan

[Laserman532]

We dont do much for x mass lights because our new house cant be seen from the street. But here is our house back in December of 2000 (8 freakin years ago!)

[platinum]

We dont do much for x mass lights because our new house cant be seen from the street. But here is our house back in December of 2000 (8 freakin years ago!)

If you do something like that again, you should do all red lights, then a green laser.

Looks great that way too though!

Now I have to put my laser on my roof one of these days..

-Jonathan

[Things]

Holy crap that is cool! What power are you running there??

Too bad xmas here is in the middle of summer