Brighten Your Porch Using Your Railings And Balusters

12 December 2014 by Marvin Carroll

Are you looking for a way to bring additional lighting to your deck or porch, have you considered looking into installing lighted balusters or rail caps to the area? There are many options of lighting up a dimly lit porch, and here you will learn a few ways to do it.

Rope Lights

One of the easiest ways to light up a dimly lit porch is by hanging rope lights around the railing. This can be done in no time at all. Simply purchase a strand of rope lights from your local home improvement store. Use the clips that come with the lights to mount the strand to the railing, plug in the light and you are done.

Tip: To light the porch automatically each night, plug the strand of lights into a timer box. The timer will then turn the lights on and off at the times that you set it to. Not only will the timer make lighting your porch effortless, but it will also reduce energy costs for lighting the area.

Lighted Rail Caps

Lighted rail caps come in all sorts of shapes and designs. Oftentimes, you can find lighted rail caps that will mount directly onto the existing rails around your porch. When looking into them, be sure to carefully consider whether you want solar powered or electrically powered rail caps. If you choose to go with electric, you will need to run electrical wires through the railing and to a source of power in the home. This is probably best left to professionals to do so you do not cause any electrical shorts which can cause fires or electrical shock.

Solar powered rail caps simply slide onto the top of the rail post and are ready to go after the sun charges them up for the day. Do invest in quality lighted caps though, because the cheaper alternatives tend to run out of stored power a few hours after they illuminate at night.

Lighted Balusters

If you have a railing that does not have rail caps, you can opt for lighted balusters instead. You can find fully illuminated balusters or balusters that have ornamental lighting built into them. These can also be solar or electrically powered, so weigh your options carefully.

The installation of lighted balusters takes a little more effort than the rail caps and likely should be left to the professionals to avoid damaging the old and new elements of the porch rail.

Talk with a railing installation company such as Alberta Vinyl Decking & Railings Ltd to learn more about lighting up the railings around your porch. Professionals will be able to give you the advice and direct you to the products that will most effectively brighten up your outdoor living space.

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