You want to light up your backyard but don’t know how to hang light on deck. luckily, the feat is easier than it sounds. In fact, use this guide to complete the project within a weekend – or earlier.
Indoor-outdoor living spaces are in trend now. But they may not be the best solution for you. You may want to maintain the conventional look of your deck. But that doesn’t mean that you have to convert it into a sunroom.
How To Hang Light On Deck
Heck, you don’t have to sacrifice the extra space you could have if you had turned it into an indoor-outdoor living room.
You don’t believe me? There are ways to make your simple deck your multi-functional living space. And you don’t have to renovate the whole backyard while transforming its nature. Keep the look true to its origin and add the element of comfort and ease with a few simple ideas.
These ideas may include adding lights, furnishing the space with rugs and sofas, and using shades and covering to protect against harmful sun rays.
And if you are looking forward to using your deck in summer evenings, lights should be the topmost product you would want for the space.
This plan leads to a series of questions. For example, you might ask which lights will be most suitable for use in the area. How to hang lights on deck? What are the accessories you should use?
This post will discuss all the things you should consider to add lights to your deck, backyard, or garden.
Plan
Every deck is unique and has unique needs when it comes to lighting it up. You have to understand its structure, size, and furnishing before deciding on the lighting plan. Of course, your budget and DIY skills will also determine the type of lighting project you should plan.
Or you can ditch most of the planning and use a simple project that can be accomplished with basic craftsmanship and is affordable.
If you are specifically looking for a basic project, you are in luck before our post will detail the simplest method to carry out this job fantastically.
But you still have to take note of your deck’s structure – and of course, try to keep energy costs down by using the right lights!
If your deck’s sitting area is closer to your main dwelling, you can use the walls of your house to support light strings.
For those corners of the deck that are farther from the house, you will have to set up poles or make use of tree branches to hang the lights.
You want to give particular attention to the corners of your deck. If your deck has a square or rectangular shape, the planning will be easy for you. You would only need a pole for every corner of the deck. Things will get tricky for hexagonal or circular decks.
For circular decks, it’s easy for us to miss lighting up the corners leading to the asymmetrical distribution of light on the deck. This can be frustrating for those sitting in these corners. And it can also kill the mood especially if you are adding the lights for aesthetic purposes.
To prevent this asymmetry, you will have to add more poles to attain a curve-like arrangement of lights.
Measure the distance between one corner to another to understand the length needed for string lights – that is if you plan on using these lights, by the way. Add a few inches extra to this length to allow for the swag.
Again, the length is subjective and depends on the swag you want to allow. If you want to let your string lights droop significantly, you should add more than a few inches to the length. It’s better to get longer strings than to compromise on the swoop you want to allow.
You also have to consider power issues. If you are using solar string lights on your outdoor deck, you will not have to worry about the distance of how to hang light on deck.
On the other hand, you will still have to hang the strings near the wall because the wall will hold the solar panel which will then power the lights on the string light.
If you are planning to use electric-powered string lights, power outlet proximity is a top concern for you to determine the length of the string. The best practice is to give an electric outlet outdoors for easy connectivity.
Select The Lights
You might have guessed that we are talking about hanging string lights in this post. If you don’t like the idea of using string light, you will have many other options to consider.
If you want to keep the lumen count of these lights minimal to emphasize a cozy romantic feeling, you can hand lights to your deck’s post, rails, or stairs.
Note that these lights will attract attention to the elements of your deck so you want to make sure they are aesthetically pleasing. Floodlight is another way to give minimal light to the how to hang light on deck but it doesn’t make your deck inviting enough for hours of stay in any way.
In other words, if you are planning to have dinners at your deck and you have planned hundreds of evenings there, you should go for brighter options.
Another method to give barely enough light to your how to hang light on deck is to hang lights from the trees present there.
You may also feel tempted to give thousands of lumens to your how to hang light on deck using spot or flood lights. Before you do that, think about the extra lumens that may intervene with your sleep pattern.
If you still insist on using these lights, keep them away from you at a higher position than you would keep the string lights. In the end, we have the most common choice how to hang light on deck – string lights. Backyard string lights are neither too bright nor too dim and create the perfect ambiance.
You can use different colors or make it welcoming and cozy for every occasion by sticking to the conventional warm hue of yellowish light. On top of all these, you can choose to build the lumen count by adding more strings.
Among string lights, the best are those that are solar powered as they minimize your energy bill.
Gather The Material
Now you have understood your needs and have planned accordingly. The next step is to gather the supplies. Here are all the supplies you will need to how to hang light on deck.
Wooden beams – get enough beams to be installed at each corner of the deck minus two corners connected to the house.
Paint, stain, and sandpaper – these materials will be used to make the poles presentable. You will either need paint or stain to complete the job.
If you want to match these poles with the stain of the wooden floor, use a stain. You may also want to paint the poles black or white. For these colors, you will go with the paint option. You can choose to save this hassle by choosing the right beam with the appropriate stain and the right finishing.
- Cup hooks – get one for each corner.
- Deck screws – each beam will need one screw.
Solar string lights – if you want to cover the opening of the attached house wall with the string lights as well, you can use one string. Otherwise, get two.
Preparation
Once you have gathered all the supplies, your next step should be to prepare them for use on your deck. The wooden beam should be presentable and align with the color scheme of your deck.
The same holds for the outdoor light hooks. If you are using stain for the poles, you can opt to keep the color of the hooks.
Otherwise, use the same color for both parts. So, you should start with sanding the beams. This process will prepare them for priming. Once you have achieved enough smoothness, you can proceed to the painting or staining step.
Some people drill the holes for hooks before the painting step. You can also choose to make these holes after you are done with painting and staining.
Install
Once you have finished painting and drilling, it’s time to screw the hooks. On one side of the pole, screw cup hooks.
And the other side will go into the deck with deck screws. Also, screw the cup holes on the two sides of the wall where you want to hang the string lights. Your poles are ready to be installed. Now, you can install them on your deck using deck screws. Get your string lights hung on the cup hooks.
You can let them hang almost horizontally leaving a minimum curve where they droop only slightly. Or you can get them in a deep curve. These poles are not the only thing that needs installation for your deck to have working lights. You also need to work on installing the solar panel of these strings.
If you are using electric-powered string lights, this step will be eliminated and you will simply have to plug in the lights.
On the contrary, solar LED string lights will preserve energy from the sun and need continued exposure to it. Naturally, you will install it on your wall or on a pole under the sky. If the panel comes with a stand, you will have to simply stand it on the deck in a corner.
In case the solar panel has to be mounted on the wall –or the fence – you don’t have to worry about the installation process. It will arrive with screws that will go into the wall for easy installation.
Enjoy
That is all for the installation. The whole preparation and installation process will take less than an hour. If you can source the material online and get an express shipment, your project should take no more than a weekend from planning to sourcing to installation.
And you will have your whole evening of fun under the sky. Also, it shouldn’t cost a lot. The whole project should cost less than a couple of hundred bucks.
You can also be more extravagant to add more beauty. Here are a few ideas to hook you.
Other Patio String Light Ideas
Use fairy lights instead of string lights. It may not seem the best idea if you want to spend most of your days at your deck, but adding a bit of glamor for a single night is always welcome, right?
These lights will look more appealing if you are a plant lover and have decorated your deck with these green creatures.
Instead of hanging lights outdoors at the side of your deck, you can choose to hang them in rows. Note that this decoration method will cost extra money because you will have to use longer strings to cover the deck.
Still, this method is worth it when you have a large deck that will not be illuminated by a single string of lights around the deck.
Installation of these lights on this deck is just as simple. You build the poles using the method we have outlined above.
Once these poles are built, you have to join all the poles with a string – not a string light but a sturdy and durable string – something you can hang the string lights on.
Now, wrap these lights over the string and take to the string opposite to it and then back.
Take Away
There are a few things that can make or break the aesthetic appeal of your deck. These include furniture, paint or stain, decoration, and lighting. The impact of lighting becomes more pronounced as the day approaches its end.
But for most people, this time of approaching night is family time and what’s a better place to spend this time than your comfortable and cozy deck. Proper lighting emphasized the coziness of your deck.
If you want to use the light for your deck but aren’t sure about the installation process, learn how to hang lights on deck today.
Believe me, the process is super-easy and your deck will be all set within an hour. Make sure that you use the right lights by the way. Not all lights are created equal.