It is almost time to start all that decorating for the holidays and many of you will be hanging lights outside. Out of all the decorating I always hated doing that the most. Usually because I had to climb a huge ladder and I had two brothers who you just didn’t know if they were going to push you off because it was funny. This year I have discovered an easier method of hanging those lights. It is called Holiday Light Sliders and they are so wonderful.
Holiday Light Sliders is a unique system that allows you to hang lights like drawing a curtain close. There is some installation and the first time is the most work. You install the tracks where you want them to go, since we had one set we decided to hang them on the back porch. A couple of notes about hanging the tracks, the instructions say that you can do it without pre-drilling the holes. We tried both methods and pre-drilling is the easiest way to hang them. I was able to do it this way on my own. Without the pre-drilling I simply didn’t have the strength to screw them into the house. Secondly this is best done with two people because one person can hold the track while the other installs it.
Once the track is installed you are ready to hang the lights. Hanging the lights is as simply as pulling them on the little hooks and sliding the hooks onto the tracks. We had the kids put the lights onto the little hooks while we were installing the tracks. That way everyone helps and we get done quicker. The tracks come with caps for the ends but don’t put them on (at least one end) before you get the hooks up. The caps allow you to “lock” and “unlock” them. For the part where your cord to plug in hangs there shouldn’t be a cover. However since I wanted one there hubby cut the “unlock” side and made a slit for the cord to slip through. Thus allowing the cover to lock and me not to worry about someone grabbing the lights and pulling them down.
After you get everything finished then you simply slide your lights across like you are closing the curtains! How super easy is that? When the holidays are over you take the hooks with the lights down and then leave the track in place for next year. I am a little concerned about if I loose the hooks when I store the lights or if one gets broken. There are some extra in your kit but I would love to be able to order just a pack those if needed. I should also tell you that we installed the track sideways because of how I wanted everything to look. It will work sideways but it is designed to installed upside down.
The Track Kit Includes:
- 32 Feet of Track
- One Storage Track (holds 32 feet of lights)
- 32 Light Clips
- 4 Cam Locks
- 8 Track Connectors
- 30 Screws
- Installation Instructions
- Track Dimensions 4′ x 1/2″ x 1/2″
- Track made of PVC Plastic with UV light inhibitor
I live in a small Georgia town that you most likely have never heard of and I LOVE it! My house is more than full as I am a single mother of four & caregiver to my aging mother and uncle. Lover of all things Outlander. Goes to the beat of her own drum woman.
![\\\\\\\"\\\\\\\"](\\\\\\\"https://d5nxst8fruw4z.cloudfront.net/atrk.gif?account=r2cEh1aAod000d\\\\\\\")
I can’t stand the tangles!!
The heights! I hate heights and we live in a converted 100 year old barn – we have lots of height to deal with when decorating!
It’s time consuming.
I hate tangles and burned out lights.
My husband tends to do the untangling (which I’m sure HE hates!), but I hate it when the whole string won’t work because one bulb is loose or needs to be replaced.
Thanks!
h4schaffer at gmail dot com
Talking about all the tangles reminds me of my dad. When it would pull out a big wad of tangled lights he would say “Your mother must have put these away.” She never winds the cords, not Christmas lights or on the vacuum cleaner. She just wads it up.
I’m scared of climbing ladders… so I guess the height is what I hate. 🙂
I hate burn out lights
Tangled up cords and the extension cords!
there is always some left over -when you put the on the roof and then they dont look right
tcogbill at live dot com
it takes too much time
Hanging them to find out I should have tested them first–lol now you think I would have learned that the first time–lol
hate to take it down
untangling the strings of lights – – Paul T/Pauline T aka Paul Tran….. emscout9 at Hotmail dot com
Tangled cords are the worst!