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You are here: Home / Outdoor Living / Easy DIY String Light Poles Tutorial

June 13, 2018 · 22 Comments

Easy DIY String Light Poles Tutorial

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DIY Projects· Outdoor Living

Need to light a deck, patio, or fire pit? Install easy and inexpensive removable string light poles. I'll show you how.

Install easy, removable string light poles over your patio or backyard fire pit to create beautiful ambiance! They’re quick, inexpensive, and very simple!

Watch the NEW Video Tutorial!

Easy DIY String Light Poles! Close-up of the top of an easy string light pole, and image of patio with patio light poles over it

I asked for a patio makeover for my birthday this year, and one of the top things on my wishlist was string lights. The problem? Nothing to hang them from.

Here’s a tutorial for the quick and easy (unless you have really hard dirt) removable string light poles we put in. We put two poles in, and the whole project took about an hour.

Do you have a different setup, like a deck or a covered patio? Check out this post for more string light-hanging methods and tutorials. It covers hanging them from trees, walls, ceilings, deck railings, and pretty much anything else you could think of.

How to install string light poles.

Supplies:

  • String lights– we got these sturdier industrial ones. These are 48’ long, with 26 lights.
  • 2 ¾” galvanized electrical conduit pipes (each 10’ long)
  • 2 pieces of 1 1/2″ PVC pipe (each 2’ long)
    PVC Pipe
  • post hole digger
  • Level
  • PVC Cutters (or a saw)
  • hooks
  • Hooks
  • 3/4″ squeeze connectors (one for the top of each pole) Look for these in the electrical section of your hardware store.
  • Easy DIY String Light Poles @jessicawellinginteriors.com
  • Extension cord (We needed one to reach our outlet. You may or may not).

We wanted our poles to be at least 8’ tall to allow for the lights to swag and hang down without hitting our taller friends in the head. They’re going 2’ into the ground, thus 10’ long poles.

1. Dig the holes For the Posts.

We dug (and when I say “we” I mean Peter) each of the holes 24” deep. We placed them at the two outside corners of our patio. Update: We’ve since decided to add a 3rd pole.

close-up of someone using a post hole digger to dig a hole for an in-ground string light pole to hang patio lights, how to string lights across backyard
close-up of hole dug for a string light pole with PVC pipe

2. Put the PVC pipe in the hole.

We placed one of the cut pieces of PVC pipe upright in the hole, and loosly packed the dirt back in around it. You could also use cement here if you prefer.

Need to light a deck, patio, or fire pit? Install easy and inexpensive removable string light poles. I'll show you how.

3. Set the metal pipe in place.

We put the pole into the slightly wider PVC pipe, and I held it in place with a vertical level while Peter packed the dirt in around the PVC pipe.

close-up of string light pole in the ground to hang cafe lights over a patio
DIY string light pole being installed in the ground, hands packing soil in around the base of the post
close-up of hand holding a lertical level next to a string light pole to be sure it's straight up and down next to the patio

4. Cap the poles.

Once the poles were in the ground, we capped them with these 3/4″ squeeze connectors. This is just something to hold the light cord in place at the top of each pole.

close-up of the tops of a string light pole, with black cafe lights hanging over a patio

We screwed three of these hooks into the siding to attach the string lights on the house side.

close-up of metal hook installed on the exterior wall of a house to hang string lights over a patio

5. Hang the string lights.

And these heavy-duty string lights come with the bulbs in a separate box- which is great because then you can string them without breaking anything.

close-up of emply string light socket hanging over a patio, ready for a light bulb to be inserted
box of outdoor string light bulbs, ready to be hung over a deck or patio
close-up of hand screwing light bulb into socket after outdoor string lights are hung over a deck

Finally, we screwed the bulbs into the sockets.

patio with outdoor dining set and string lights hung from diy string light poles
easy DIY outdoor string light pole hung with patio lights

And ta-dah!

outdoor dining area on a patio with easy diy string light poles and instructions on how to string lights across backyard

You can see the rest of our One-Weekend Patio Makeover here. Interested in more outdoor lighting tips and inspiration? Check out my Outdoor Lighting 101 guide too!

Did you enjoy this post? Please share the love and pin it!

How to Make String Light Poles: DIY string light post at night

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Previous Post: « One-Weekend Patio Makeover
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Reader Interactions

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Comments

  1. Gustavo Lav says

    September 9, 2018 at 8:42 am

    some genuinely great information, Gladiolus I found this.

    Reply
  2. best interior designer in noida says

    September 25, 2018 at 10:09 am

    Hi to every one, the contents existing at this web site
    are actually amazing for people experience, well, keep up the nice work fellows.

    Reply
  3. Kate Horrell says

    May 1, 2020 at 4:51 pm

    I’m so glad I found ur post this was just what I was looking for a simple n cheap project. No cement mixing, no big barrels, just a hole in the ground. LOVE IT. Going to do this tomorrow. Thanks

    Reply
    • Jess says

      May 4, 2020 at 9:27 pm

      Thanks Kate! Good luck with your project! I would love a picture when you’re done!

      Reply
  4. Kim Murphy says

    June 4, 2020 at 3:27 pm

    On the top of the conduit before the squeeze connector you have a sleeve of some sort? What is that?

    Reply
    • Jess says

      June 10, 2020 at 2:31 pm

      Hi Kim!
      You’re right… I hadn’t even noticed that. The sleeve came with the electrical conduit.

      Reply
  5. Dan says

    June 23, 2020 at 5:42 pm

    I thought this was great, thanks. I couldn’t get these squeeze connectors onto the conduit, however. Maybe because I didn’t have the sleeve that yours did? I’m trying to attach it a different way. Also the weight of the lights seems to be bending my pole? I bought some heavy duty lights as well. I’ll keep trying

    Reply
    • Jess says

      June 23, 2020 at 9:34 pm

      Hi Dan,
      Thanks I didn’t realize that the conduit doesn’t always come with the sleeve. I’ll make a note of that in the post! Is the pole bending, or just leaning a little? Maybe try swagging the lights a little lower to see if that takes some of the pressure off the pole? Good Luck!

      Reply
  6. Christine Buckley says

    July 23, 2020 at 11:57 am

    I love this!
    My husband I have been trying to figure out how to do this.
    Thank you for the advice.

    Reply
    • Jess says

      July 23, 2020 at 9:35 pm

      Oh I’m so glad to help! Good luck with your project!

      Reply
  7. Dennis says

    August 2, 2020 at 9:55 am

    Hi, Jess: Wondering. On your patio light installation, how are the posts holding up? Was 24 inches deep enough to maintain vertical integrity on those supporting poles over time? Am doing this now. thx.

    Reply
    • Jess says

      August 2, 2020 at 10:05 am

      Hi Dennis,
      The poles do lean a little bit- though they haven’t changed over the 3 years we’ve had them installed. My dad is doing this project at the moment and setting the PVC in cement. That will likely make the poles stand up straighter. Good luck!

      Reply
  8. Jamie Sua says

    August 2, 2020 at 7:32 pm

    Did you have to do anything special with the hook in the siding on the house? Has it cracked or anything?

    Reply
    • Jess says

      August 3, 2020 at 9:59 am

      Hi Jamie,
      We just screwed the hooks in and that was it… we have Hardy Plank siding, and they have been in there for 3 years now with no problems. But I’m not sure if there might be issues in a different climate?

      Reply
  9. Greg says

    August 7, 2020 at 8:19 am

    I am going to do this project, but I have a question. Is there an issue with the poles acting as lightning rods?

    Reply
    • Jess says

      August 7, 2020 at 10:52 am

      Hi! You’re actually not the first person to ask this question. It’s something I’ve never really thought about because we don’t get a ton of lightning here in Seattle. Plus we have 150-foot trees all around. So sorry that’s not very helpful- but I don’t really know. Good luck with your project!

      Reply
  10. Mike says

    September 6, 2020 at 1:07 pm

    Are the diameters on the poles correct? It seems like the conduit is wider than the PVC – but the pic has the conduit fitting inside the PVC?

    Reply
    • Jess says

      September 8, 2020 at 9:03 pm

      Yikes you’re right. I’ll go out and measure them tomorrow and fix it in the post. Thanks for catching that!

      Reply
  11. Michael Esposito says

    September 23, 2020 at 4:49 pm

    Hi! Love this post. Wondering how they’ve been holding up over the years?

    Do you find that the poles are leaning in toward the house? Or have they remained level?

    Reply
    • Jess says

      September 25, 2020 at 11:26 pm

      Thank you! They’re holding up just fine- and I think it’s been 3 years now. But they’ve always leaned a bit. If you’re concerned about that, you could try setting them in concrete. My parents just did this, and I’m going to add pictures soon!

      Reply
  12. Rich says

    September 24, 2020 at 1:02 pm

    I searched for different DIY pole ideas for a while and found this one to be the most helpful! I just completed placing the poles and I did it with concrete! The best part is that I can remove the poles for the winter which is nice.

    Thank you for this!

    Reply
    • Jess says

      September 25, 2020 at 11:27 pm

      Thank you I’m so glad it worked out well!

      Reply

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