One of the easiest ways to create ambiance in your outdoor space is with lighting. We have lots of in-ground lights, hanging lights and even fence lighting – both hard lined and solar – but it all started with our patio string lights. The string lights themselves were fairly simple to install, it was the infrastructure that was the tricky part.
Do Patio String Lights Hold Up?
Curious just how durable our patio string lights are? I did an entire post on storm preparation after a huge deracho we had on August 10, 2020, just months after we installed these lights, and they didn’t budge!
Our 200-pound patio table flipped over with our umbrella in it but these lights were still hanging (and working)!
Patio String Lights Project Materials
The actual project materials will vary based on how you plan to hang the lights. Perhaps you already have a pergola, shed or garage you can install hooks on. But if not, I’m sharing how we installed two 10-foot wood boards at the corners of our patio to make our design work.
Pro Tip: Be sure to bring bungee cords and red flags/bright cloths when picking up your wood boards. Chances are the boards won’t fit entirely inside your car. Alerting other drivers of the extra length protruding from your vehicle is a must-do safety practice.
- Our Amazon String Lights
- Alternative Edison Shaped Amazon String Lights (from same brand, providing options for different style preferences)
- Q hooks
- Wood boards
- Wood stain
- Quikrete
- 3-foot level
- Drill
- Optional: wood stain and clear sealant
Installing Treated Wood Boards
Before installing the patio string lights you need structures in place on which to hang them. For us, the two ends attach to the house with two treated wood beams on either corner of the patio to hold them up out there.
If you’re also using wood beams to hang your patio string lights for this project, it’s critical that you’re buying treated wood boards. Treated means it’s been treated to fare the outdoor elements. Untreated wood will rot from rain and snow and need to be replaced, causing a huge rework and a lot of hassle.
Pro Tip: Do NOT burn excess treated wood. It’s been treated with chemicals you don’t want to breathe in that will release into your air upon burning. Recycle or trash any extra treated wood. Or better yet, ask the hardware store to trim the boards to your exact project length and they can properly dispose the excess.
Using Quikrete to Install Wood Boards
You’re probably wondering how one gets two enormous wood boards to stand firmly level in the middle of the yard. Our secret is Quikrete.
Quikrete is a magical little product. It’s a ‘just add water’ powder mix that creates instant concrete. We followed the directions on the packaging, which were super simple, and installed our wood boards that way.
But first, we had to create the space to make this installation happen. This involved digging two very narrow (no bigger than 8″ in circumference) 3-foot holes, which is a lot more laborious than it sounds.
The holes are too narrow to get a shovel in so we used this manual post hole digger, which we can assure you was grueling. Even digging down another 3″ was a very big ask, so we maxed out at precisely three feet down.
Our boards were 14-foot long 4×4 treated wood boards that the hardware store cut to 13′ for us. We wanted the boards to stand about 10′ above the patio and would bury them 3-feet down, bringing us to 13-foot boards. With Kevin being 6’6″ tall he needed to be sure he’d never feel like he had to duck under them so we hung them pretty high, but you can make them any height you’d like!
Setting and Leveling Wood Boards
Once the holes were in place it was pretty smooth sailing. First, we followed the Quikrete packaging directions for how much mix to add to the holes.
From there, we filled it the rest of the way with water and used a 3-foot level to ensure the boards were standing perfectly upright.
It’s SUPER important to use a larger level for this project (not the small one you probably already own). You can get a bad read from a small level on an extra long board. The longer length on the bigger level will account for more of the board.
Once the water is in place, you’ll have to hold the wood board in place for a little bit as the Quikrete starts to harden. I can’t recall exactly how long I was holding it in place, but I think it was around 10-15 minutes. After that, it was firm enough to leave with the ladder propped right next to it for light support while it dried the rest of the way.
Let the Quikrete dry for a solid 24-hours before staining, painting or drilling into the wood boards so that you’re not messing with it’s levelness.
Staining the Wood Boards
Quickly, I wanted to talk about how I stained these wood boards. It was quite the tall order (literally) and I have a few notes.
First off, if you have the ability, I recommend staining or painting these BEFORE installing them. It will be SO much easier than getting on a ladder 10-feet into the air. We didn’t think that far ahead and based on the timing we had to complete the project we had to get them in-ground that day, so I stained them later.
This involved me getting on nearly the very top of our 6-foot ladder (the only one we had at the time) which isn’t the safest. Kevin spotted me a bit but it was still quite the task to reach the very top. Kevin had a much simpler time hanging the Q hooks because the ladder was on the patio the whole time and he’s an entire foot taller than me. Whereas I had to stain all four sides of the boards and needed the ladder to be in the grass/mulch for some of it, which was shorter and less level than the patio.
Overall, it was hard work but worth it. We didn’t want the natural light color because it didn’t match anything in the yard and this darker stain color blends in super well!
Hanging Patio String Lights
Firstly, you have to have something with which to hang your lights. We used Q hooks, which are commonly used to hang Christmas lights. Three years later we can happily say they haven’t budged a bit!
Installing Q Hooks on the House
Kevin said this was actually much easier than you’d think. He only drilled into wood which is as simple as it gets! The hardest part of it all was being on a tall ladder during installation.
He was towards the top of the 6-foot ladder and drilled the Q hooks into the wood paneling. This was best case scenario because it didn’t require drilling directly into the mortar which is a lot more involved.
This part was a bit trickier because Kevin was right on the edge of the patio with the ladder. He had to be as close to the wood beams as possible, and those were just off the patio.
Hanging the String Lights
When we purchased our patio string lights in May 2020 they only sold them in the 25-foot length. Now, they have them in 50, 75 and 100-foot lengths. We ended up needing 75-feet of string lights so it would’ve been nice to just grab one strand versus three. However, these are still one of the most affordable and durable sets of patio string lights on Amazon, so you can’t go wrong either way!
Hanging them on the Q hooks was simple. The hard part was ensuring the lights would stay plugged into each other where the different strands met each another. Since the strands are heavy the ends are pulling apart from one another at the end plugs where they meet, which can cause them to fall.
We know this from experience… because we had a long strand fall while hanging them here, specifically.
We used zip ties to hold the strands together so all of the strain isn’t on the plugs. They’re so discrete I almost forgot to tell you about this detail because I never even notice them. The plugs alone won’t hold each other, they’re not meant to function as load bearing fasteners, so the zip ties are key.
If it works out, in lieu of zip ties you can simply let the string slack where the plugs meet like we did on this post. This didn’t work on the other one because we needed the length, but for our second post we let the plug drape and simple continued hanging the lights after the two strands were connected.
Creating Cohesive Outdoor Lighting
Here’s a quick note on creating a cohesive backyard lighting scheme.
It’s important that all your outdoor lights are cohesive. Not necessarily the fixtures themselves, but in the tone of your lighting. For example, we have all warm toned (warm is more soft yellow versus a bright white) lighting in our backyard. Our warm patio sting lights were the first lights we installed so they truly set the *tone* for future lighting decisions.
spare string lights: https://amzn.to/3N4d5Hl
fence solar lights: https://amzn.to/39SXyWO
Our Current Backyard and Patio String Lights
These photos are from last week to show the current state of our backyard. It’s come a long way since the installation of the patio string lights, right? Progress like this take time though, so please don’t think your yard should look like this as soon as you move in. We’re on our fifth summer with this yard and it’s taken until now to call it ‘complete’!
Have an idea in mind of what you want for your space and never stop mood boarding! Create a Pinterest board and save backyard lighting and decor (and this post!) to it and slowly shape your space over time. You’ll be amazed at what happens next!
Looking for more patio string lights? This collage rounds up what I thought were some of the best rated various strands of lights on Amazon. Some are multicolor, some change colors, others are solar and some are even remote controlled! Click through to check them all out and follow me on Amazon while you’re there for daily treasures.
