How to Hang Christmas Lights on Your House

It's Christmas time and many of us would like to show our Christmas spirit with lights on our homes. Lights really add to your house and your community. The blocks after blocks of homes with Christmas lights on them give a warm glow to the house and the people around them. Now, that we are in the spirit of hanging Christmas lights lets take a look at how to hang our Christmas lights.

Let's start with making sure you are dressed for the weather in your area. Hanging Christmas lights with numb fingers is just not a good time. If you are planning on using a ladder, make sure you have a good shoe that is decent for going up and down ladders. A good pair of thin gloves would be a great item to have also, as I stated above hanging lights on your house with numb fingers is not a good time. Once you have on the needed exterior gear its time to head outside and hang some lights.

There are many types of lights and each one can be used in a number of ways. When hanging Christmas lights on a roof line of a house, it is a good idea to use a S shaped clip. Years back people would use nails and staples. These items are not the way to hang lights on your home. Each time you use a nail or staple it leaves a hole in siding or wood trim. Holes can lead to the area allowing moisture into these areas and rot the wood trim out. Yes, it would take some time, but when ever you break a sealed surface that area will be the first to break down. Not to mention stapling your lights to your house can look pretty tacky. Years back tacks were another way to hang lights. Going through a electric line with a tack is not a good idea.

There are many great clips out there now days. Last year at this time I showed people on our TV spots all the different clips and how to use them to hang Christmas lights on their homes correctly. The plastic clips come in all sizes for different size lights. You will know which clips to use by looking at the size of your lights. If you are running a rope style lighting , you will need a much bigger clip then if you were hanging a normal traditional size of small bulb lights. Where you want to hang them also will dictate which clips are best for that particular application. The S hangers can work well for clipping around windows or doors which have a siding bracket on it. They also can be used on the roof line and clip to the edge of a trim piece or shingle. Now, be very careful when clipping to the edge of a shingle as you don't want to damage your shingles.

The clips show how they are used on the packages that they come in. Make sure that you use the correct clip for your application. The correct clip will provide a better finished look and won't fall apart during the holidays and look bad. In the end the clips will save you time and money. Going green by using new LED lights will also save you money. Again clips will make hanging your lights faster and easier for you. It will make your house look great and show your Christmas spirit.

As always safety first when doing any home projects.