Best place to screw in eye hooks for string lights?

Question

The wife has asked me to put up some string lights (2 x 45' lengths weighing 9 lbs/strand) over our deck in the backyard and I'm looking for the best way to hook it up to the house as I don't have any wood on the house to screw into.

I have bought a 1/8" - 3/16" vinyl coated cable with a cable kit that includes the turnbuckles and clamps, however, I need to still purchase the eye hooks to install on the house. I guess those will depend on where I should install them.

Here is a picture of what is available to me on the back of my house:

Should I screw the eye hook into:

1. The bottom of the fascia?
2. The bottom of the soffits? or
3. Into the mortar between the bricks?

Which would be the best option? I've looked through countless articles/videos online, however, they mostly always just skip over this part and don't explain the options.

If you have any links to the best eye hooks for whichever application as well, that would be a great bonus too.

Answer 1

You have two options for hanging the lights as I see it.

Under #2, there will be some studs every 16" or 24", but the problem is finding them without drilling holes through #2. You may be able to find them by probing through one of the vent sections and then measuring over from the one you found to hopefully get to the next one. The idea would be to drill through #2 and get into a stud with a long, relatively thick screw eye. If you really want to avoid the brick, this is a good option.

#1 is a cladding over what is probably a fiberboard fascia or some other thin material that you probably wouldn't trust to hold the weight of the lights.

#3, the brick is the easy option because you can drill where ever you want without trying to find the right spot. Drilling into the mortar is the weakest part of the wall, however, and for something that will be pulling straight away from the wall, I'd really have to recommend drilling into the brick itself. You say the box of lights is 9lbs, but as they get pulled straight, that weight is multiplied so you have to use an anchor that can easily hold 60lbs or more (you have wind too!).

For setting the fastener in brick, a lag shield is a tried-and-true method, and if you choose one the same size as your mortar line, they can be pretty strong in between bricks as well.

These should be available at any hardware store, and work a lot like the little plastic drywall anchors you can use inside. You put the lag shield into the wall and then use a screw eye made for wood to screw into it.

Answer 2

1. If there's plywood behind #2 screw into that.
2. If no plywood (just joists and air) and if #2 is metal, use self tapping sheet metal screws, that will be plenty.
3. If #2 is flimsy vinyl and there is nothing backing it (mostly air), you can accurately locate a rafter or joist at two or three locations, firmly screw a long eye hook into them, and run a taut stainless steel rope between them. This is how you see it done in restaurants when they suspend these lights above the tables. Then hang the lights from the steel rope with zip ties.
4. Last resort would be the brick but then you'll need to drill a bunch of holes in the brick and use long eye hooks or stand offs so the bulbs aren't resting on the wall.

It's important with these lights to follow the instructions and support the string by the eye molded onto each bulb base, not by the electric cables. So you may not be able to simply use available rafters/joists because their spacing may not correspond to the spacing of the lights. That's why you need the steel rope.

Answer 3

I'm guessing the light string is not very heavy, so consider stick-on hooks instead. There are some pretty decent ones that are designed for hanging pictures on walls, but with a little ingenuity (or shopping around) you should be able to adapt them to your purpose. I'd stick them to the underside of the gutter because that's where I would want the lights to be.