Permanent Christmas Lights and Gutters: Where the Channel Goes
Permanent Christmas lights from Permanent Lighting Solutions stay off the gutter: our licensed, insured and certified installers mount a slim aluminum channel on the fascia or tuck it under the soffit, so nothing is screwed through the gutter or into the roof.
Do permanent Christmas lights attach to gutters?
No. Permanent Christmas lights do not attach to the gutter. A slim aluminum channel is fixed to the fascia or under the soffit, the lights are seated inside it, and no fastener pierces the gutter or the roof surface. The lights ride in the channel, not on the gutter.
The channel goes where the roof edge already runs, and that is the same on every house. Damage to the roof or gutter is covered in the FAQ answer on whether it damages a roof or gutter.
Why does the channel stay off the gutter?
The channel runs along the roof edge, not up and over it. The fascia or soffit already draws a straight line along the house, and the channel takes that line. The gutter's job is carrying water; the channel's job is carrying the lights, and each stays in its own place.
In the photograph, the gutter is the white run at the top, and the channel is fixed under the eave below it, with its lights off in daylight.
What about gutter guards?
The channel does not hang from the gutter. It is fixed to the fascia or under the soffit, so the gutter and the roof surface are never pierced. That holds on every house, and your own roof edge is looked at on the walkthrough before anything is ordered.
Which edge does it follow on your house?
It follows whichever edge your roof has, and the channel is made in three profiles to match. A boxed eave gets one, an open rafter tail another, and a steep gable rake the third. The profile is picked against your roof edge at the walkthrough, and the color is matched to the fascia then too.
The install itself, from the measuring to the wiring indoors, is set out in how permanent lights are installed, and the system page shows the parts up close.
Does it look like a gutter from the street?
No. By day it reads as trim, colored to match the fascia, and by night it is a line of light. The channel is low profile and follows the fascia line. Water is still the gutter's work, and the channel does none of it.
The FAQ has the trim and gutter answer in full, and the colors page shows what the line of light can run.
How do you clean the gutters with the lights up?
Rinse the lights in the same pass as the gutters, because the two go together. A rinse is all the upkeep they need. Nothing comes down in January, since the channel stays fixed to the fascia or the soffit and the gutter is not what holds it up.
The care page lists what is covered. To have an installer look at your own gutters and roof edge, ask for the free estimate.