Fixing fairy lights

[Mike Barnes]

The project is fixing fairy lights to a traditional stone outbuilding. The idea is to light all the edges of the walls and roof, producing a lit outline. About 60 metres of lighting all told. This will be a semi- permanent installation.

've never done anything like this before. My first idea is to use zinc- plated steel eyes, screwed into yellow plugs. Then fix the cable to the eyes using plastic cable ties. To make the eyes inconspicuous I'd probably screw them into the mortar rather than the stone, every 50cm or so.

Anything wrong with this plan, or suggested improvements?

[Matty F]

These lights are attached without any damage to the building:

'm not sure how, but I could have a look in daylight.

[pcb1962]

These might be easier/neater than the steel eyes:

[Dave Liquorice]

Unless you can get hot dipped galvanised steel eyes they will rust. I don't use anything other than brass or stainless outside. You will also get very fed up screwing 120 eyes into plugs.

Those screwfix plastic things look ideal, drill hole, tap in with hammer, attach lights. Doesn't state if they are UV stable but only a but will be exposed. Make sure your cable ties are UV stable.

[Mike Barnes]

[John]

Is it on a council estate?

[The Medway Handyman]

I use those a lot for all sorts of jobs, dead easy to use, 6mm hole, tap in with hammer. Surprisingly strong fix.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Mike Barnes saying something like:

Go over to

and I'm sure someone there will have helpful suggestions.

[Owain]

I assumed it was for a pub or something similar.

But it could be a pub on a council estate.

The pub on a council estate I walked past the other day had all its CCTV cameras broken and the innards ripped out.

Owain