Hanging lights on Stucco

[goyousalukis]

Hello, this is my first year doing a show. I've built one LE so far and have 3 more on the way. My house is stucco and I'd like to outline it with lights for Christmas - anyone have advice on the best way to hang the lights?

Any "lessons learned" or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Justin in El Paso, TX

[Kwajtony]

Excellent Question....New house new problems...

[gatorengineer]

Anyone figured out a way to solve this problem?

[duane.mosley]

build pvc frames, attach the frames to the soffit at the top and use some sort of tie wire at the bottom. just a thought. that is what i am doing so that everything will be easy to install and take down. also look uniform and i don't have to put holes in my siding. just my 2 cents.

duane

[meman]

There is only one solution...that is "commit". I skirted the issue for a couple of years, trying to only put hooks in the soffit and dangle strings or use dozens of suction cups around the windows. The day I took a masonary bit and some plastic anchors and committed to outlining the problem areas with screws or brass hooks was the turning point between mediocre scraggly outlines and crisp stretched lines of light. Setup time is drastically reduced and no one has ever asked "hey what are all those hooks"...they're practically invisible the rest of the year. 

Good Luck,
Mike E.

[gatorengineer]

meman, that is by far the best way and I too am trying to skirt the issue.  The rub it make sure you seal them very well.  Once water (then ice for you northern people) gets behind stucco, your stucco will fail, crack, then fall off.

[peteandvanessa]

I bit the masonary bullet and drilled holes in the stucco and inserted plastic anchors. Then I screwed in clips to the anchors. Now I can just push my PVC pipes into the clips. Super fast set up and take down: