Hanging Icicle Lights

The wife has adamantly told me that she wants the icicle lights hung outside for the holidays. The problem is that last year, using the gutter clips from Menards, the lights would constantly end up sitting on the roof, flipped over the gutters with the slightest breath of wind. I got sick and tired of constantly climbing up the ladder to pull them back down and by Christmas, most of the lights were frozen to the roof. Anyone have any suggestions for mounting them under the gutters? I have no facia board or wood to mount permanent hooks – all sheet metal. Thanks! I attached a picture of the gutter situation for reference.

I use those gutter clips and haven’t had too many instances where I’ve had to flip them off the roof. The lights I have are fairly stiff wire so maybe that’s why?

Sounds like a really good excuse not to have to put up Christmas decorations

In all seriousness, be careful whatever you do. I knew of a guy that didn’t live to far from me who died while putting up decorations (ladder slid out and he wonked his head). Ladders and ice don’t go well together.

That does sound odd. I use the same cheap clips and run about 100 ft of them lights. Don’t like too but do it every year.

Make sure you are mounting the clips correct. You want them on the outside of your gutter and they should sit below the top edge of your gutter. Make sure your not allowing the wire or light to be in the gutter channel.

I usually have to double up on the clips every 10 ft too keep them tight.

1/8-1/4 oz clip on weights might help w the flip, even w some wind flipping em onto roof wouldn’t think they’d do damage, hopefully good angle to not hit the soffits either

B-man wrote:

Sounds like a really good excuse not to have to put up Christmas decorations

In all seriousness, be careful whatever you do. I knew of a guy that didn’t live to far from me who died while putting up decorations (ladder slid out and he wonked his head). Ladders and ice don’t go well together.

That’s why my lights go up the first week of October, in nice weather!

I had this problem with my icicle lights when they didn’t hang low enough from the gutter. I bought a spool of wire and bent up some S hooks like you would find on a bungie cord. Have not had the problem since. It was not very heavy wire.

Tie wire would do you wonders

I told my wife I will decorate outside for her and the girls, but certain things will always be a “no.” Icicle lights were one of the items on the list. They tangle, blow, move, etc. The giant blow up things are my other “no.” We’re in the country with not enough windbreaks to keep them from getting blown sideways. They’re also simply annoying to look at for a month.

All excellent ideas and suggestions (especially about not hanging lights at all!). I amazon-ed these hooks to the house this morning and they already arrived. I had 16 of them screwed into the sheetmetal soffits that hang below the gutters in about 25 mins (B-Man that ladder was treacherous on the snow and ice and I was cursing my wife the whole time).

If they work well, I’ll never have to take them down and hanging any types of lights during the holidays will be a breeze, fingers crossed.

Hope you silicone shot them when you screwed them