‘Tis the season of hanging Christmas lights on gutters. Seriously people. I love so many things about Christmas and one of my favorite things is to decorate our house. This year I thought about trying something new when decorating the house. And, I found some amazing ideas that you can use to decorate with rain gutter accessories and more.
You can get the perfect holiday lighting by hanging Christmas lights on gutters. You may worry about damaging your gutters or leaf guards. But, you will be amazed how easily you can decorate your house by hanging Christmas lights to your rain gutters.
In today’s article, I will tell you how to do this the right way.
The Preparation
There are a few things that I always do before starting my Christmas decorations. I find that they save me a lot of frustration when I am decorating.
- Check the weather forecast for the next few days and pick a day that is not too windy or too cold.
- Get the last year’s lights and left-over materials out. Assess everything, check the wiring, look for any issues. Discard items that are cracked.
- Plug the lights once to make sure they are really working.
- Take a look at your gutters to see if they have any damages or leaks.
The Calculations
Now comes the boring part (at least for me).
- Make a rough plan on how you want to decorate and where you want to put the lights.
- Now get the measuring tape and measure everything where you want to put lights.
- Now find a safe electrical outlet that you will use to plug the lights.
The Materials
When you know how many lights you will need, now is the time to go shopping and gather all the supplies.
- You can choose between incandescent and LED lights. I prefer LED lights as you can attach more sets when using them.
- If you are buying string lights, I recommend getting the short ones. This way if the bulbs stop working you can easily replace them.
- The next thing you need for hanging Christmas lights on gutters is gutter clips. You will need one gutter clip for one light bulb.
The Decoration
You can now start hanging the Christmas lights on the gutters.
- In your local store, you will find plastic light/gutter clips.
- You can use the clips to grip on the shingles or gutters and attach a light or extension cord to its hook.
- You can go as creative as you like. Attach the lights as a straight line along the gutters or hang them in drop-line style.
Hanging Christmas Lights on Gutters with Gutter Clips
You will find many types of gutter clips or light clips in the market. What you choose depends on whether your gutters run horizontally or vertically. You can also find light clips that you can use for both horizontal and vertical gutters.
You can try these light clips that blend well with darker-colored gutters. Or these gutter clips for white painted or light-colored gutters.
Hanging Christmas Lights on Gutters with a Leaf Guard:
If you have leaf guards on your gutters to keep leaves away, you can still decorate with a few variations.
- You cannot attach lights directly to the gutters as the leaf guards will interfere with them.
- A great idea is to attach lights to the shingles using a plastic shingle clip.
- You can also hang the lights to the underside of the rain gutters.
- To do this, you can use both adhesive clips or light clips.
Decorating your house is one of the best ways to celebrate Christmas.
If you are looking for an easy way to decorate your roof, I recommend hanging Christmas lights on the gutters. By using light clips or gutter clips you can do it very easily.
If you have old gutters lying around, you can repurpose them in so many ways.
Tell me what are your tricks and tips to decorate your roof?
Have you ever tried hanging Christmas lights on your rain gutters?
I will love to hear about your tips. Share in the comments.
