To believe it you have to see it, so I created the super short video/GIF below and also included a few amazing before and after photos. Check them out and let’s get rolling on refreshing that grout.

Some of our posts contain affiliate links. We often share links to the tools & products used in our home improvement projects and if you purchase one of these items using our link, we may earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

Pick up any Loose Debris

The very first step is to give yourself a clean surface to work with. If you skip this step you’ll be painting/pushing around dirt and debris that has gathered in the grout. Trust me, I’ve done it!

Quickly hit the center of the floor with your standard vacuum head. Then use a special angled attachment to get all the debris in the tough to reach corners. This really helps get ALL the debris out of the cracks and tough to reach places where we’ll be refreshing our grout.

A Quick Scrub

Now whether you’re dealing with floor tiles or shower tiles it’s important to give your grout a quick scrub with a hard bristled brush. You can use a very inexpensive grout brush which makes it quite a bit easier to focus the pressure on the grout. If you don’t have a grout brush your standard scrub brush will work. Typically, I give my grout a quick scrub with a little warm water mixed with a drop or two of Dawn soap.

The real goal here is to remove any large chunks of dirt, debris, soap scrum or hard water deposits that have built up. If you have some extreme build up, you can also buy Sulfamic Acid Crystals. Just mix a small amount of these crystals with hot water and apply with a brush. When doing so, make sure to wear gloves, eye protection, and wash off your tile with water after using.

With Sulfamic Acid Crystals you’ll want to test this solution out on a small inconspicuous area of your tile. I typically avoid using this solution on any stone-based tiles, such as marble (just to be safe!).

Bringing Out the Big Guns – Grout Colorant & Sealer

To be honest, I fly through those first few steps. While they are important, they are just setting the stage for the big guns – which is our grout colorant & sealer.

You can use either Mapei’s Grout Refresh and Polyblend’s GroutRenew. Both products work amazingly well and in addition to refreshing your grout, act as a sealant to help prevent future discoloration.

Start by dumping a small amount of your grout colorant into a small container. Start in the corner of your room opposite your door and apply the colorant to a very small section of your grout using an old toothbrush. Brush the colorant into the grout with a few extra stokes to make sure it soaks in.

For small tiles similar to these 3″ tiles, apply to a single hexagon and then quickly wipe the excess colorant off with a damp rag. When wiping off the tile, try to wipe the top of the tile, but avoid getting your paper towel down in the grout lines.

For larger tiles similar to these 1′ tiles, apply the grout colorant to two one foot sides of the tile and then wipe off the excess colorant. This stuff dries fast, so it’s best to wipe off within 20-30 seconds.

Wow! Check out the two images below. You can clearly see how awesome the grout looks on the right hand side of both photos and how gross the grout was prior on the left.

In the end, this easy and inexpensive hack truly helps refresh your grout and make your tile floors, backsplashes and showers look like the day they were first installed.

Other Awesome Cleaning Hacks & The New Shabby Chic House

If you loved this post on How to Clean Tile Grout, then you’ll really love our post “The 6 Best Cleaning Hacks of All Time“.

Check out the photos below and read the full post here!

Also, if you’re new to the ShabbyChicHouse please check out our latest blog post and introduction to the newly built ShabbyChicHouse (ShabbyChicHouse II?). Link and photos below!

The New Shabby Chic House & 7 Upcoming Home Improvement Projects

The post A Mind Blowing Hack to Clean Your Tile Grout appeared first on .

EZVALO’s Under Cabinet LED Lights

I started this project by researching products online and after reading a dozen or so reviews I decided to go with EZVALO’s Under Cabinets Lights. To start, they came in a 5 pack which was perfect for my kitchen. On top of that, they had over 2,400 ratings on Amazon and averaged 4.1 stars. To seal the deal, they had a 50% coupon which dropped the price from $69.99 to $37.26 with taxes and everything.

Some of our posts contain affiliate links. We often share links to the tools & products used in our home improvement projects and if you purchase one of these items using our link, we may earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

Installation

Installation was insanely easy. Each LED light comes with two magnetic mounts. Just place the two magnetic mounts on your LED light, peel off the adhesive cover and press under your cabinet in the desired location.

What’s awesome about the magnetic mounts is you can take down your lights at any point in time just by pulling them off the magnets. This makes it easy to take down the light and use the included USB-C charger to recharge the unit.

Size

The entire unit is 9″ long by 1.5″ wide and a hair more than 1/4″ thick. The LED light itself is about 7.5″ long. The underside of my cabinets are about 22.5″ wide and ideally I would have loved a LED light that was somewhere around 18-20″ wide. However, these do the job just fine and if we wanted we could install two under each cabinet.

In terms of thickness, these LED lights are perfect. They hide nicely beneath the facade of the cabinest and are not visible unless you were to kneel down and look for them.

Functionality

Each light has a switch on it allowing you to choose from three different settings. The “ON” setting simply turns and leaves the light on. The “OFF” setting turns the light off. The “Auto” setting utilizes the units sensor to turn the light on and off.

For our purposes, we use the “Auto” setting. The great thing is, this setting will only turn the light on if it is dark. This means the motion sensor will not turn the light on during the day and waste the battery. At night when you trip the motion sensor the light will turn on and will stay on until it does not sense motion for at least 30 seconds.

The Remote

The remote is nice and small and powered by a CR2025 button battery. It has “ON” and “OFF” buttons as well as buttons to turn up or dim the brightness.

In addition, it also has several “Timing” options (5, 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes). These buttons will keep the LED light on for a desired amount of time and automatically shut off once that time has elapsed.

Longevity

We’ve had these LED under cabinet lights installed now for a month and a half and have yet needed to recharge one of the units. However, again we only really have them kick on when they sense motion late at night or before sunrise. Obviously, if you were to use them more often or to leave them on for mood lighting during a party, I’d imagine they’d need a recharge a bit sooner.

In Conclusion

If you’re looking for a super easy (and cheap!) project that can give your kitchen some extra appeal and functionality while also earning you a few points with your significant other, this under cabinet lighting project is it!

Check the EZVALO LED Under Cabinet Lights on Amazon and comment below with your thoughts and questions.

DIY on my friends!

– Mike from the ShabbyChicHouse

The post How to Add Easy LED Under Cabinet Lighting appeared first on .

In this post, I’ll walk you through how to build your own DIY floating picture frame in a few easy-to-follow steps as well as include a few additional tips in case you wish to paint your frame a custom color.

Let’s dive in!

Some of our posts contain affiliate links. We often share links to the tools & products used in our home improvement projects and if you purchase one of these items using our link, we may earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

Materials

• 1″ x 2″ (an 8′ piece worked for my 18″ x 24″ canvas)
• 1/4″ (1-2′ will work)
• Mitre Saw or Mitre Box
• Nail Gun
• Wood Filler
• Wood Clamp

Step 1: Measure Your Art

Measure the length and width of your art. Our painting is roughly 24″ wide by 18″ tall.

Since this is a floating frame, we’ll want roughly a 1/8 inch gap between our frame and the painting.

Account for the 1/8″ gap on both sides of the painting.

Measurements & Math

24″ + 1/8 + 1/8 = 24 1/4″

24″ + 1/8 + 1/8 = 24 1/4″

18″ + 1/8 + 1/8 = 18 1/4″

18″ + 1/8 + 1/8 = 18 1/4″

TOTAL LENGTH NEEDED FOR OUR PAINTING: 85″ or 7.08′

For our project, we used what is commonly known as a 1″ x 2″ furring strip. Similar to the 2×4, those are not the actual measurements. This piece of wood actually measures .75″ x 1.5″.

With our measurements above being just over 7′, we purchased 8′ of material.

Step 2: Cut Your Wood

A good miter saw is the preferred tool to make the most accurate 45-degree crosscuts. However, if you don’t have access to a miter saw and are looking for an inexpensive alternative you can also use a miter box.

If you are in the market for a miter saw, check out Bosch’s patented axial glide miter saw. I just picked up the 12″ version last year and the hinged arm (official name – axial glide) allows you to set the saw again the wall in your shop. This technology is a game-changer as most other miter saws need 12-18″ of clearance from the wall!

Needless to say, this monster is the envy of a few woodworkers in my family.

Ok, so let go! Set your miter saw to make a 45-degree crosscut and cut your 1″ x 2″ per the measurements you took above.

After you’ve cut the four 1×2’s pieces that will make up your frame, we’ll want to cut four corner brackets that will allow us to secure your canvas in the frame and create the “floating” look.

We used a 1/4″ thick board. These corner braces will sit flush with the back of the frame.

There’s no need to take make an exact measurement on these. Just make try to keep them around 1″ or so out from the corner of the frame. Also, once you cut your first bracket you can use it as a template for your next three.

Step 3: Glue, Clamp & Nail

Next dry fit your frame together. How does it fit? Well? If so, you’re ready to Glue, Clamp, and Nail.

Wood glue is the preferred glue for this type of project. Titlebond is our go-to!

Place a small amount of glue in your corners and then secure with a clamp.

I picked up these inexpensive 90-degree clamps not too long back which are awesome for building any sort of box-like structure (picture frame, cabinets, bench, etc.).

Once clamped, permanently secure your frame with a few 1″-1.25″ nails in each corner. We have this Metabo compressor and 18 gauge brad nailer which we use for all our woodworking, crown molding and wainscoting projects (Check out our recent wainscoting DIY tutorial).

CAUTION: When using a nail gun, make sure to keep your hands clear of the wood that you are nailing. When nailing a thinner piece of wood like this, the nails can occasionally be redirected and unexpectedly pop out the side of the wood.

Step 4 (Optional): Fill Nail Holes

Brad nails are pretty small and would likely go unnoticed. However, if you’re a perfectionist and don’t mind spending an extra 2-3 minutes you can fill these holes with a wood filler.

If you don’t plan on painting your frame make sure to use a natural colored wood filler.

If you plan on painting your frame you could also consider filling the corners/miters to create a frame with a seamless look.

Fill your nail holes/corners and allow 3-4 hours for the wood filler to dry. Once dry, give a light sand.

Step 5 (Optional): Paint Your Frame

If you want to go with the natural wood look, you can skip this step. If you want to spice things up, you can add a bit of color or even stain your frame.

With these types of floating frames natural wood, black and white seem to be the most common choices.

For our project, we decided to use Rustoleum’s Gold Metalic Finish spray paint to match a few other home decor pieces we painted the same color.

However, if you wanted, you could also paint with some regular ole paint and brush.

Step 6: Installing Your Art Into the Frame

To ensure that you have an equal gap between your canvas and frame use cardboard. Your standard cardboard box is about 1/8″ thick and is the perfect size spacer.

Once you have your canvas perfect spaced in the frame flip it over secure with a nail or a screw. We drilled pilot holes and used screws, so the canvas could easily be removed from the frame in the future.

Step 7: Hang & Enjoy!

Check out both the natural wood frame and metallic gold finishes below. Which one is your favorite?

Natural Wood

Metallic Gold

The post How to Build a DIY Floating Picture Frame appeared first on .

Instead, follow along as we’ll walk you through a few potential issues your tree may be running into, the tools to help you troubleshoot the problem, and then the solutions to get your Christmas tree lights back up and running at 100%!

Some of our posts contain affiliate links. We often share links to the tools & products used in our home improvement projects and if you purchase one of these items using our link, we may earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

How Traditional Incadencent Christmas Lights Work

Understanding how traditional incandescent Christmas lights work is essential to helping you troubleshoot the potential problem and find a solution. The great part is, it’s not rocket science!

To start, electricity flows through your light strand in a linear fashion. Electricity starts to flow from the outlet plug and then through each individual light creating what is called a circuit. If there’s a problem at any point in the entire circuit (i.e. a single bulb) the entire strand of lights will go out.

Let’s take a look at what might be disrupting your circuit.

Christmas Light Bulb Issues

Missing Bulb Prongs

If either of the wire leads on an individual bulb are damaged or missing (Bulb #1 in the photo above) the circuit is broken and electricity can not flow onto the next light.

Bent Bulb Prong

Similarly, even a slightly bent prong can break the circuit. Inside each bulb socket, there are two connector plates. When a bulb is inserted, the two bulb prongs touch these plates connecting the circuit. Bulb #2 in the photo above could have issues as the wire lead is bent out of position and may not touch the connector plates.

Burnt-out Bulbs

When a bulb burns out the small filament breaks. When this happens, a part of the lightbulb called the shunt is activated. The shunt ensures the circuit is not broken and electricity continues to flow to the next light. These shunts are somewhat delicate and often malfunction causing the circuit to break and the entire strand of lights to go out.

A burnt-out bulb can easily be identified by the black ring on the glass around the filament as shown in bulb #3 in the photo above.

Malfunctioning Bulb Socket

Again, there are two connector plates inside of every bulb socket. Also, each bulb has two prongs that when inserted into the socket touch these plates and help carry on the current. If one of these plates becomes loose, it will break the circuit causing your strand of lights to go out.

This issue can be easily identified if you see the metal plate sticking out of the bottom of the bulb socket as you see in the photo below.

An unseated connector plate may not be this apparent. In that case, you’ll need to remove the bulb and inspect the inside of the socket. Inside of a working socket, you will see both connector plates tightly seated to opposite sides of the socket wall like in the photo below.

In a malfunctioning socket, you may find one of these connector plates unseated.

If either of your connector plates (gold part of the green wires in photo #1 below) have become unseated you’ll need to reseat them. Reseat the plate(s) by pulling them towards the bottom of the socket while at the same time applying pressure with a pointed device like an Exacto knife.

CAUTION! When reseating the connector plates make sure to unplug the power to your Christmas tree lights!

Dead Fuse

Another possible issue may be a burnt-out fuse. The fuses are located in the plug(s) of your Christmas lights. To check your fuse, start by unplugging the lights. Next, slide back the fuse cover on the plug and pop out the damaged fuse like a battery. Replace with a new fuse and plug your lights back in.

The Ultimate Troubleshooting Tool to Fix Your Christmas Tree Lights

This year we had a TON of burnt-out lights on our Christmas tree. I began unplugging bulbs one by one and trying to replace them with a new bulb. It was taking forever and I thought “there must be an easier way”, so we searched the web. We came across a tool called the Light Keeper Pro and decided to give it a try.

The Light Keeper Pro is truly a must-have tool to fix your Christmas tree lights and moving forward will be a staple in our Christmas decor arsenal!

Below are some of the awesome features of the Light Keeper Pro.

Failed Bulb Finder

One of the best tools on the Light Keeper Pro is the Failed Bulb Finder. It’s essentially a voltage detector that can tell you if a burnt-out bulb is still passing electricity or not.

1. Start by making sure your lights are plugged in.
2. Hold down the black button on the top of the Light Keeper Pro and begin scanning the burnt out bulbs. Start out with the lights closest to the plug and work your way through the string of lights. You will hear a continous beeping indicating voltage is being dectected.
3. Move bulb to blub and when the continuous beeping has stopped voltage is no longer being detected. Voila! you’ve found the malfuctioning bulb, sockets or wires.

95% of the time you can insert a new bulb and the problem will be fixed.

Bulb Tester

The bulb tester allows you to quickly test a light bulb to see if it works. When a bulb is inserted it will glow if it is still working. This is one of my favorite features as it allows you to quickly eliminate malfunctioning bulbs and ensure you’re only using viable replacement bulbs.

Fuse Tester

On the top of the Light Keeper Pro, is a 3 Amp 125 Volt fuse tester. Simply touch the two metal ends of the fuse on the two metal spots on the top of the Light Keep Pro and if the fuse works, a red light will turn on.

Shunt Repair Tool

As I mentioned above, the shunt of the lightbulb is very fragile and can often get damaged. The Light Keeper Pro has an easy-to-use shunt repair tool. Just slide the bulb socket onto the shut repair tool and pull the trigger 10-30 times (lights must be plugged in). What happens is the shunt tool sends a burst of electricity through the broken shunt helping to activate the non-functioning shunts!

Bulb Popper

Some bulbs are pretty difficult to remove and you nearly lose your figure nails trying. The Light Keeper Pro has a little metal popper on the end (almost like a bottle opener) to make it easy to remove expired light bulbs.

Storage Compartment & Replacement Bulbs

You know your turning into one of your parents like in one of those Progressive Insurance commercials when you get excited about storage. When I first purchased the Light Keeper Pro I didn’t realize there was a storage compartment in the handle. When I found it, I was blown away to find there were 3 sections for storage and also a package of replacement bulbs. Talk about an unexpected bonus!

The three-section storage compartment is great as it allows you to store fuses, bulbs and bases separately!

The Red-Tipped Bulb

Over the years you might have noticed a single red-tipped bulb that typically comes in a small baggie along with a few clear replacement bulbs and fuses. This bulb is what’s called a “Blinker Bulb”. You can insert this bulb anywhere in your strand and the blinker bulb and all the bulbs that follow will blink!

The way these bulbs work is somewhat interesting. They have a small metal/bendable filament. When the filament warms up it bends breaking the circuit and turning the lights off. Once the metal cools, the metal filament bends back, the circuit is reconnected and the light comes back on. This process continues on and off causing the circuit to break/unbreak and all subsequential lights to follow suit.

In Conclusion

I have to admit, it feels pretty awesome to be able to save a Christmas tree that you spent a few hundred dollars on. Also, it’s also always a plus being able to inform your significant other that he/she has married a genius.

Hopefully, you learned a little more about Christmas tree bulbs and were able to save a pre-lit Christmas tree of your own.

While you’re in the holiday mood, check out other blog posts on our Favorite Christmas Decor of 2021 and well as our Christmas Porch Decor Makeover.

The post Easy Tips to Fix Your Christmas Tree Lights appeared first on .

Our new house has dangerously high roofs, so we weren’t sure how best to decorate in year one. We tried stringing up some of our old Christmas lights on the three pillars in the front of our house, but they just didn’t look/hang right.

With that being the case, it gave us the perfect excuse to purchase all-new Christmas porch decor and really light up the neighborhood. Follow along as we share some of our favorite finds in this Christmas porch decor makeover!

Some of our posts contain affiliate links. We often share links to the tools & products used in our home improvement projects and if you purchase one of these items using our link, we may earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

Pre-Lit Garland

In 2021, Garland is all the rage for decorating outdoor porches and this year we hopped on the Garland train. As I mentioned above, last year was our first year in our new house and we tried wrapping our three pillars with our existing string lights, but it just didn’t look right. So this year we decided to give these pre-lit 18′ garland strands a try and they look absolutely amazing. The green garland gives additional depth, dimension and substance that’s visible from the road, unlike our old string lights.

We originally ran across these garland strings by Home Accents on Amazon, but then found them for a fraction of the price at Home Depot. Wow! How is such a huge price difference possible?

Vintage Blow Molds

We love vintage blow molds and over the years have picked up several for each holiday season. For Christmas, we have a Santa as well as a Frosty the Snowman blow mold. This year they reside on both sides of our front door.

A Fun Ornament Wreath

I’d say there isn’t a day our front door flies without a seasonal wreath of some sort. Over the years, we’ve made our own DIY ornament wreaths with foam and hot glue, but this year ran across this pretty awesome pink and silver ornament wreath we picked up from one of our favorite stores – Homegoods!

4′ Pre-Lit Christmas Trees

To complement our new garland, we also picked up two of these awesome pre-lit 4′ Christmas trees. They go perfect on both sides of a front door or in our case, next to each of our pillars.

Check out how they make it all come together in the photos below!

Ring Outdoor Smart Outlet

Our absolute favorite part of our Christmas porch decor makeover is the addition of a new Ring Outdoor Smart Outlet. The Ring Smart Outlet has two outlets/plugs that you can control either separately or together in one command from your phone.

In addition, if you have an Alexa-enabled device you can give the command “Alexa, turn on the Christmas Lights“.

The Ring Outdoor Smart Outlet also allows you to set schedules which is perfect for Christmas lights. Simply, go into the Ring app and set the time you want the lights to turn on and off.

One of my favorite things about Ring products is their ability to sync with other devices. After setting up my Ring Outdoor Smart Outlet I was able to link it to the motion detector in my Ring doorbell cam, Ring Solar Steplights as well as my Ring Outdoor Motion Sensor. If any of these devices detect motion after hours, my Christmas lights and 16+ landscape lights will ALL kick on at once.

Talk about scaring the crap out of a potential burglar or neighborhood pest.

We absolutely love cool and fun home automation and smart home devices. If you do too, then check our full DIY tutorial on How to Install Your Own Landscape Lights (w or w/o Ring integration) as well as our in-depth review of the Ring Protect Plans and our favorite Ring products.

We hope you loved this post on our brand new Christmas porch decor makevoer as much as we loved putting it together. Also, if you haven’t seen it yet – check our fun post on our favorite interior Christmas decor for 2021.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, questions or ideas in the comments section below.

Thanks for visiting!

– Mike from the ShabbyChicHouse

The post A Fun Christmas Porch Decor Makeover appeared first on .

This year we stumbled across some of the most unique and creative decorations and are super excited to share our favorite finds with you. So let’s dive in!

Some of our posts contain affiliate links. We often share links to the tools & products used in our home improvement projects and if you purchase one of these items using our link, we may earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

Christmas at Rockefeller Center Print

As we began to decorate, we noticed an empty/unused nail hanging behind the Christmas tree and went out to see if we could find a cool piece of holiday art to fill the gap. We stumbled across this awesome “Christmas at Rockefeller Center” print on Etsy made/produced by Nicole Cicak of OnLaneAvenue.

Nicole has a few other holiday prints, but this one is my absolute favorite.

Holiday Throw Blanket

A good decorative holiday throw blanket is always perfect on those cold days when you want to snuggle up by the fire with a cup of hot cocoa. Being cat owners we love this fun cat-themed holiday destruction throw blanket. Not a cat person? Then maybe you’ll like their pup-themed or maybe even better, llama-themed holiday throws!

Lo Home Christmas Trees

This year we picked up two sets of handmade 22K ceramic Christmas trees from Lo Home. We’re big fans of Lo Home and have more than a dozen of her ceramic ginger jars, seashells and trays around the house.

Unfortunately, her seasonal items sell out quickly, so if you miss out this year make sure to sign up for her email list and get notified when her new products come out.

Lo Home Nativity Scene

Also, from Lo Home and seen in the picture above is this awesome handmade 14 piece nativity scene with 22K gold that we paired with one of her pink and gold-trimmed trays.

Holida Door Mats

Anthropologie always has some really fun and creative decor and this year they continue to knock it out of the park with several really awesome doormats. Our favorite is this gingerbread house doormat, followed by their Dear Santa Postcard doormat.

Festive Pillows

These beaded beauties we picked up at one of our favorite stores – Homegoods! While you probably would have a hard time finding these exact pillows, Pier 1 has tons of similar ones worth checking out.

A Snowy Village

A snowy village is a must-have and recently these white porcelain villages have been popping up at retailers all over the place. We ran across this awesome 31 piece set on Amazon that has been getting a ton of 5-star reviews.

It includes (9) village buildings, 13 sisal trees and 18 battery-operated LED tea lights.

Tabletop Pre-Lit Birch Tree

Looking for another great tabletop piece. These pre-lit battery-operated birch trees look great by themselves or are fun to use to show off a few of your favorite ornaments.

The Chistmas Story Leg Lamp

We couldn’t make a list of the top holiday decor items without including the infamous Christmas Story leg lamp. Ralphie’s house where the movie was shot is just a few miles away in a Cleveland neighborhood called Treemont and is open for tours if you’re ever in town.

While it’s not so shabby or chic, we can’t help but get excited (and jealous) when we see one in a neighbor’s front window. Get your own major award now and dazzle the neighbors!

Pre-Lit Outdoor Mini Trees

This year we’re wanted to spice up our front porch decor and throw in something new. We purchased two of these 4′ tall outdoor pre-lit Christmas trees in gold urns to adorn each side of our doorway, a ton of strands of pre-lit garland and are getting to work.

At the same time we plan to still feature our vintage blow molds and pink and silver ornament wreath. More to come on that in the next few days!

The post Top Christmas Decoration Ideas for 2021 appeared first on .

What we absolutely love about Ring Protect Plans is the ease of set-up, the super-low subscription fees and the sheer number of security and smart home devices you can manage through the Ring App. In addition, there was no contract and it was fairly easy/inexpensive to test the waters with Ring before going all-in.

In this post, I’ll walk you through a full review of the Ring Basic Plan, the Ring Protect Plus Plan, the brand new Ring Protect Pro Plan as well as a high-level review of the Ring App and some of the really awesome additional hardware that we’ve integrated to create the ultimate smart home.

Some of our posts contain affiliate links. We often share links to the tools & products used in our home improvement projects and if you purchase one of these items using our link, we may earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

Ring Subscription Costs

Ring offers four levels of service. The free features that are included with the purchase of a security camera, the Ring Basic Plan, the Ring Protect Plus Plan and the Ring Protect Pro Plan which just came out September 28, 2021.

Free Service

If you purchase a Ring camera, at no cost you can receive motion alerts, view live video and chat through your device via the free Ring App.

Without a subscription, you cannot record and archive video. If someone was to break into your house you would get notified and could see it live, but there would be no recording available after the fact to use as evidence.

Ring Basic Plan

The Ring Basic Plan costs $3 per month or $30 for the entire year. This plan includes Ring’s cloud storage which will archive your videos for 60 days.

One of the coolest things about the video archival is what I’d call Ring’s video timeline.

This timeline consists of two elements – snapshots and motion-activated video recordings. Snapshots are still photographs that you can set your Ring camera to take regularly at time different intervals. Ring stitches these stills together in your timeline to create a time-lapse. These time-lapses fill the gap between your motion-activated recordings giving you a more complete account of events without recording 24/7 and draining your battery-powered cams.

This basic plan only covers a single camera or doorbell, so if you have more than one camera you’d need to get two Ring Basic Plan subscriptions or upgrade to the Ring Protect Plus or Ring Protect Pro.

Ring Protect Plus Plan

The Ring Protect Plus Plan is $10 per month or $100 for a full year. With this plan, you can have an unlimited number of cameras and unlimited cloud storage. In addition, the Ring Protect Plus Plan also gives you an extended warranty for the life of the product (as long as you remain a subscriber) as well as 10% off any additional Ring products.

Up until September 28, 2021, the Ring Protect Plus plan included 24/7 monitoring. Unfortunately, 24/7 Professional Monitoring is now part of the new Ring Protect Pro plan.

If you were a Ring Protect Plus subscriber prior to September 28, 2021, you’ll still get 24/7 professional monitoring, alarm cellular back-up, and Alexa Guard Plus for $10/month or $100/year until January 1, 2025.

Ring Protect Pro Plan

The Ring Protect Pro is Ring’s newest subscription service that came out on September 28, 2021 at the same time as the Ring Alarm Pro.

If you want the combination of unlimited video/cloud storage and a security system and you’re a new subscriber, you’ll need the Ring Protect Pro Plan. The awesome thing is this plan is still only $20 a month or $200 a year.

While we pay $10/month, $20/month would still be a no-brainer for us. Prior to switching to Ring we had one of the big three home security providers and paid about $70 for the same services. That’s $840 per year compared to $200!

Below is a graphic comparing the difference in the Ring Protect Plans as of 9/28/2021.

Ease of Entry

One of the things that we loved most about Ring was the ease of entry into their service. I started off with a single Ring Spotlight Cam and initially utilized the free features that came with my camera. I wanted to test out the equipment and Ring App before I completely committed.

For the first 30 days, I received a free trial of their video cloud storage service and was able to test everything out. In the end, Ring did not disappoint. I ended loving the service and added on Ring’s 8-piece security system called Ring Alarm, another Ring Spotlight Cam, a Ring Stick Up Cam, the Ring Video Doorbell Pro, the Ring Indoor Cam as well as several other really cool smart home integrations.

Short story – There was very little risk to give Ring a try with only one camera and once I found out I loved it, scale up with all the other equipment.

Ring Cameras

Below are our quick thoughts on the Ring Cameras we have in our house. If you have interest in having us do a deeper dive please comment and let us know!

Ring Spotlight Cam

We started with the Ring Outdoor Spotlight camera which combines the power of a motion sensor video camera with a spotlight. This was perfect for the back of our house where we’d want a spotlight to kick on should an intruder set off the motion sensor. I also purchased a special gutter mount to avoid having to drill into my siding in case the cam didn’t work out.

Ring Stick Up Cam

Shortly after our purchasing our first Ring Spotlight Cam we decided to try out the Ring’s Outdoor Stick Up cam which is half the cost at $99. While the Stick Up Cam does not have a spotlight, it does have a pretty decent night vision camera.

Ring’s Spotlight and Stick Up Cams can be purchased with a quick-release battery or hardwired to a power source. We chose to go with the wireless battery-powered versions of each. The Spotlight Camera has space for two rechargeable batteries (for longer camera life), while the Stick Up Cam only has room for one rechargeable battery.

We’ve found that a single Ring rechargeable battery lasts about 2-3 months in our household. However, depending on the frequency of video being captured and how you have your settings, your battery could last shorter/longer. We purchased additional rechargeable batteries to make sure we always have a fully-charged battery ready to go and our cameras are up 100% of the time.

Ring Indoor Cam

The Ring Indoor Cam is great if you want to keep an eye on things inside your house. You might use it to keep an eye on the kids, nanny or even your pets while you’re away.

Just like the rest of the Ring cameras, the indoor cam is super easy to set up. Just click the “Add Device” button in the Ring App, plug in the device and scan a barcode on the camera to get going.

What I love, is that it’s easy to move around the house. I often unplug, move my camera and then just plug back it back in and it starts working again.

Ring Doorbell Pro

Ring has a few different hardwired and battery-powered doorbell cams. We chose to go with the Ring Doorbell Pro due to its slim design.

The Ring Doorbell Pro captured 1080p HD video and also comes with four different plastic vanity covers (White, Silver, Black & Chocolate Brown).

The Ring Doorbell Pro is hardwired, so it’s up and running 100% of the time and doesn’t rely on a rechargeable battery. Installation is fairly easy and can be done without an electrician.

Ring Alarm System

Since we were also in the market for a security system I decided to give Ring Alarm a try. What I ended up loving about Ring is, I could archive footage from all 5 of my cameras and have professional monitoring for only $100 for the year. Heck, I was paying $70 bucks a month for 24/7 professional monitoring and a single camera at my old house.

I ended up purchasing the 8-piece kit which includes 4 door/window sensors, an indoor motion sensor, the Ring Base Station, a range extender as well a wireless keypad.

Setting up all 8 piece kit was super easy, just like all the other Ring products. What I love most, is the wireless keypad. In looking at other security systems I was worried about having to have my keypad plugged in or hardwired. The spot where I wanted to put the keypad was not conducive to either. Over the past year and a half, I’ve had to charge my wireless keypad once!

The Full Intergration for a Smart Home

One of the things that we love most about Ring is the ability to integrate and control nearly every smart device in your house. Over time we purchased and were able to integrate ALL of the smart home devices below.

• Video Cameras (We have 5 Cameras – (2) spotlight cams, (1) stick-up cam, doorbel cam and (1) indoor camera)
• Ring Alarm 8 Piece Kit
• Ring Alarm Panic Button
• Kwikset Smart Lock
• Honeywell T9 Smart Thermostat
• Ring A19 Smart LED Bulbs (Standard LED light bulb you can control via phone!)
• Ring Transformer & Bridge (for controlling Outdoor Landscape Lights, motion sensors and more – see the our blog post)
• Ring Solar Steplights (Solar-Powered Motion Actived Steplights)
• Outdoor Motion Sensor
• Ring Alarm Flood & Freeze Sensors (Notifies you of water leaks or temperatures below 40°F)
• Amazon’s Alexa Echos & Shows

Out of all the integration above, my all-time favorite is the integration with our outdoor landscape lights. By purchasing the Ring Transformer and Bridge, I was able to connect 9 can lights (uplighting) and 5 pathway lights and 2 steplights to our Ring system. With the Ring App you can turn your landscape lights on/off with the push of a button or set them on a schedule.

But the coolest feature integrates Ring’s Motion Sensor. If the motion sensor is tripped after hours when the landscape lights are off, all 16 lights will kick on at once scaring the pants off any pests or intruders.

Check out the full blog post here on how to install the Ring Transformer and your own landscape lights.

Ring’s integration with Alexa

Ring also integrates nicely with Alexa. We have a large 8″ Echo Show in our kitchen and a small 5″ Echo Show upstairs. We love the Show on its own, but when you integrate with Ring you can see live video and chat with visitors when they ring your doorbell.

Also, at any point, you can give Alexa the command to show you live video of any of your outdoor/indoor cams. We often use this to check in on other rooms and like an intercom.

In addition, when you want to arm the system, you can just give a verbal command to any Alexa device “Alexa, arm home stay” or “Alexa, arm home away“.

Also, it’s important to note that you can activate or deactivate the use of verbal commands to disarm the system.

The Ring App

The Ring app is extremely user-friendly. The placement of the buttons and settings is intuitive and the menu is very easy to navigate.

From your Home Page, you can arm/disarm your house (Away & Stay modes), set your notifications to snooze (the moon icon) or request send an SOS! requesting Police, Fire or Medical help.

Directly below those settings are tiles that you can customize to access whatever smart devices you decide to integrate. On my dashboard, I can access all my lights. This includes my landscape lights, steplights on the front porch, Ring light bulbs and spotlights. I can also lock/unlock my Kwikset lock and even control my Honeywell smart thermostat!

The right below that I have five windows where I can see a recent snapshot of my live camera feeds. With a click, I can see live video and review archived footage from all five cameras.

The Ring App has so many features and ways to customize your setting that it probably warrants its own post. However, if I had to pick my favorite customization, it’s that you can actually map out the zones for motion alerts.

As you can see in the example below this allows me to remove high traffic areas from my alerts. So for example, I can eliminate the road and sidewalk avoiding unnecessary alerts anytime a car passes on the road or someone passes on the sidewalk.

Ring Protect Plan Conclusion

Over the past year and a half, I’ve become a huge fan of Ring. Their smart products are expertly designed and are top of the line. Also, Ring is constantly improving its platform and rolling out new features, products and new smart home integrations. In fact, in the near future Ring is rolling out the Ring Always Home Cam which is a first-of-its-kind flying indoor security camera that you can map out flight paths for. We’ve already applied for early access, so hopefully, we’ll be able to test and have a review for you soon!

Overall, if I had to rank Ring and its suite of products I would give them a 9.5 out of 10. I have almost zero complaints. However, if you twisted my arm I might say occasionally I get a motion alert and a video will take 30-45 seconds to load. That doesn’t sound like long, but when you’re curious what the motion was, it seems like a lifetime. Also, we’ve had a few false alarms with our indoor motion sensors on sunny days.

In the end, we love Ring and have turned at least 3-4 friends on to their products. Hopefully, you found this post helpful and if you have questions we didn’t answer please feel free to leave a comment or reach out to us directly.

The post Choosing the right Ring Subscription | Review of Ring’s Protect Plans & Equipment appeared first on .

In this short DIY tutorial, I’ll walk you through a few wainscoting layout tips, the tools of the trade and everything else you need to knock out this job in just a weekend.

Some of our posts contain affiliate links. We often share links to the tools & products used in our home improvement projects and if you purchase one of these items using our link, we may earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

Wainscoting Layout Tips

Before you do anything, you need to come up with a thorough plan for each and every wall in the room. How many boxes do you want on each wall? What sizes should they be? Spend a quick 5-10 minutes sketching up your plan before you start cutting wood.

A good wainscoting layout tip is to follow is the 4″ rule“. You should set your wainscoting boxes 4” in from the baseboards, door frames, walls and each other.

The height of your wainscoting boxes will depend on where you want to put your chair rail. The standard placement for chair rails is between 32″ and 40″.

The original purpose of the chair rail was to protect your walls from dings made by chairs set against them. So if you’re wainscoting a dining room you might measure the height of the chairs and set your chair rail at the corresponding height so they are both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

However, in a bathroom, you can choose the height that is most aesthetically pleasing to you. In the blue and white floral bathroom below, I set the chair rail 4″ above the countertop. In the pink mermaid-themed bathroom I felt the chair rail looked best centered on the backsplash. Choose the height that works best for you!

If you’re having a hard time visualizing your wainscoting boxes, you can use blue painter’s tape to make foe boxes and chair rails.

As you are planning out your wainscoting layout it’s important to be symmetrical. For example, I could only fit one wainscoting box on each of the 3 walls in this small bathroom. On the largest wall, I could fit roughly three boxes. Initially, I thought about mirroring the boxes on the opposing wall, but then I’d have a few different size boxes. In the end, the best-looking option was to make all three boxes the same size.

How to Cut Wainscoting

If you put up blue painter’s tape to help visualize your project, it’s fairly easy to take your measurements for each box. Just measure the width and height of each box along the outer edges of the tape.

In order to build your box, you’ll need to make eight 45 degree cuts (two in each corner). For my wainscoting projects, I like to use a pre-primed PVC Base Cap Moulding.

Also, while you could make these cuts by hand, a miter saw makes this project so much quicker and accurate. I was in the market for a new miter saw, so I scooped up this awesome Bosch miter saw. It’s truly amazing as it has a patented axial glide arm which allows you to set it on a bench near the wall. Most other miter saws have bars that the saw slides on and require you to have the saw 12 inches away from the wall.

If you’ve ever had or operated a traditional miter saw then you know this patented design is a game-changer!

This saw is amazing and makes every project like cutting through butter.

Quickly set to 45 degrees and chop. Then measure from the outer corner, mark and cut. Think of your wainscoting boxes as a picture frame. The outer edges should be longer, inner edges shorter.

Putting up Your Wainscoting

In order to install your wainscoting you’ll need the following:

• Construction Adhesive
• A level
• Nail Gun

One of the most amazing tools ever created for wainscoting is the modern laser level. This tool will shoot a laser line around all four walls of a room helping you make sure that every wainscoting box you put up is perfectly level. I purchased this Bosch laser level years back and have used it on an endless number of projects. Check out how truly awesome this level is for wainscoting in the photos below!

Once you get your level set-up, place a generous amount of Liquid Nails on the back of your wainscoting. Place the wainscoting on the wall and permanently secure it in place using a nail gun.

My wife bought me this 18 Gauge Metabo brad nailer and pancake compressor a few years back. It’s served me well and I’ve used it for wainscoting, crown molding, filling the car tires with air and more!

For this type of project, you’ll want to use around an 18 gauge 2″ brad nail.

Once you get the top of the box up, add both sides (again using your level) and then finally the bottom of the box. Check out the photo below and how the multi-beam laser level can help you great perfect 90-degree boxes.

Punch & Patch Your Holes

Now that you have your wainscoting up on the walls, the last step is to hide the nail holes and touch up the wainscoting. Start by inspecting each brad nail. Very occasionally you may have a nail that didn’t sink 100% under the wood. If so, use a punch set and a hammer to sink the brad nail under the wood.

Next, use a sandable and paintable putty to fill the nail holes. I love DAP’s DryDex as it goes on pink and turns white when it’s 100% dry and ready for sanding.

Last – sand, paint and enjoy!

If you liked this post and are still hungry for more wainscoting content, check out the ShabbyChicHouse featured on RealHomes.com story about DIY wainscoting.

And if our blue and white floral wallpaper caught your eye check out our other DIY tutorial on How to Install Wallpaper — Here!

The post How Installing Wainscoting Can Spice Up a Boring Room – DIY Tutorial appeared first on .

In this short post, I’m going to show you how to restore a wrought iron patio set – giving it new life and making it feel like a brand new piece!

Some of our posts contain affiliate links. We often share links to the tools & products used in our home improvement projects and if you purchase one of these items using our link, we may earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

Sanding

Start by sanding any areas of the wrought iron where you see rust. Use 200-300 grit sandpaper.

Your goal here is to remove ALL signs of rust. In doing so you may remove quite a bit of paint and get down to the metal.

Use a lighter 400 grit sandpaper to create a smooth surface and transition between the layers of paint that will be covered later when we repaint the set.

Wash for a Clean Surface

Sanding creates dust particles from the paint and metal. To get the best level of adherence, give your wrought iron patio set a quick wash.

Hit with the hose, wipe down with a towel and allow 1-2 hours until fully dried.

Prime Before Your Paint

Priming your furniture is an extremely important step that should not be skipped. Yes, it takes a little extra time and effort, but will ensure your new paint job lasts for years.

Priming is important as it adds an extra barrier between the raw metal and the elements. In addition, it allows for greater adherence of your paint.

I’ve had a lot of success with Rust-Oleum’s automotive primer. Coat thoroughly hitting all the nooks and crannies.

Spray Painting your Patio Furniture

For this particular project, I used Rust-Oleum’s Stop Rust Advanced Spray Paint in Satin White. It took around 5 cans of paint and 3 light coats to achieve full coverage.

While spray painting is pretty self-explanatory, here are a few tips to help you get the most of your project.

1. Get a comfort grip to save your hand from cramping.
2. Spray roughly 6-9” away in a light sweeping motion.
3. Don’t try to get the job done in 1 coat. Rushing = Drippage. Be patient and aim for 3-4 coats.
4. Use a cheap plastic drop to catch overspray.
5. Paint outdoors or in a well ventilated area.

Protective Coating – Protect Your Hard Work!

If you’ve come this far and put in the time to restore your wrought iron patio set, it’s worth taking a few extra minutes to protect that investment. You can quickly do so by spraying on 2-3 coats of clear protective enamel.

I used Rust-Oleum’s crystal clear enamel which goes on clear and gives your patio set a nice finished shine.

Replacing Old Seat Cushions

If the seat cushions that came with your wrought iron set are old, faded and dirty it may be time to replace them.

The previous owner of our wrought iron set had attached foam padding/cushions to a piece of composite wood/MDF that soaked up water and got moldy, so we wanted a fresh start.

Step 1: Start by removing the existing cushion from the chair. Place that cushion on at least 1/4″ piece of plywood and trace the outline of the cushion.

Step 2: Cut along the line using a jigsaw. I have and love this Ryobi which is extremely easy to use and has served me quite well over the years!

Step 3: Test in the corresponding wrought iron chair.

Repeat this process for all of your chairs.

Reuphostering Your Patio Set

Now that you have the base of your seat cushion cut, place it on a piece of upholstery foam and trace. We went with a piece of 1″ upholstery foam from Amazon for our project.

If you like to stay organized, number your seats bases and foam to keep them paired together as each may have slight variations in shape.

Once all of your foam cushions have been cut you can start upholstering your seat cushion.

Step 1: Set your plywood base and foam on the backside of your fabric. Make sure to have a clean work surface to keep your fabric from getting soiled.

Step 2: Staple the back edge of your cushion making sure to keep your fabric straight and uniform on the seat. See how the stripes are centered and all start about the same place?

Step 3: Pull your fabric somewhat tight (not too tight) to the front side of the seat cushion and staple in the center.

Step 4: Continue to pull the fabric tight on the front side of the cushion and staple every 1-2 inches. While doing this make sure not to introduce any wrinkles or folds into the top side of the cushion.

Step 5: Staple all four sides leaving the corners loose.

Step 6: Fold, staple and trim off any excess fabric like in the photos below.

The Final Product

Wow! Check out those before and after shots. We couldn’t be happier with how this set turned out.

To keep this patio set in prime shape we Scothgarded the cushions with Scotgard’s special Outdoor repellent that not only protects from stains, but also reduces UV fading and repels rain and snow.

In addition, we store it inside during the winter months and when we’re not using it we keep it covered. We’ve gone through two of these inexpensive round bistro covers. They typically last a good 2 years before they get discolored and we order another.

Check out the fully completed set and additional photos below and let us know what you think!

The post How to Restore a Wrought Iron Patio Set appeared first on .

Installing landscape lighting is an amazing way to make your house stand out from your neighbor’s and look like the ultimate show home. By adding just a few lights you can boost your nighttime curb appeal, maintain a well-lit house for easy entry/exit and provide additional security from burglars and other unwanted pests.

The best part is…installing landscape lighting is fairly easy. You don’t need to be an electrician as it utilizes low voltage wiring and this job can be tackled in only a weekend.

In this post, I’ll walk you through several types of landscape lighting, how to plan your lighting layout and most importantly, how to successfully install a transformer and lights.

Some of our posts contain affiliate links. We often share links to the tools & products used in our home improvement projects and if you purchase one of these items using our link, we may earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you).

Solar Powered vs. Hardwired Landscaping Lights

When we first began researching landscape lighting, solar-powered lighting was a very interesting option. As we read online reviews and observed neighbor’s lighting, we found that solar-powered lights didn’t quite have the power to adequately light up a house.

In the end, we decided to go with hardwired landscaping lights as they offered greater consistency and a higher light output. Go with a hard-wired option to make your landscape lighting project look like it was done by a pro!

With that being said, solar-powered lights are great if you’re looking for a quick plant-and-go solution or if you’re looking to illuminate a tree or other feature that may be too far away to run wire to.

Uplighting

The most common type of landscape lighting is uplighting. You may have heard these lights called “Cans” and essentially they are an upward-facing spotlight.

There are a lot of options out there. I like Doluck’s 4W LEDs. These LED cans come in black as well as bronze.

Initially, I purchased Doluck’s 8 pack and when I added a new feature tree in the front year I needed a 9th can light. Unfortunately, Doluck’s LED cans were sold out, but I was able to find pretty comparable 5W LEDs.

I absolutely love these two specific uplighting options because they are powered by an actual LED bulb instead of being hard-wired. When the bulb burns out you can simply unscrew the unit, pop out the bulb and put a new one in. Also, the bodies of both of these landscape lights are made from cast aluminum, so they feel well made and durable. I’d expect they’ll last for years and see several LED replacement bulbs.

Pathway Lights

Uplighting is the most common type of landscape lighting. However, if you want to add some additional dimension, simply add some pathway lights.

Pathway lights are great for illuminating walkways and ensure visitors can safely enter/exit your house at night.

Being big fans of Ring products, we checked out the Ring pathway light. However, their style did not match our house. Instead, we found these cool pathway lights below that have a farmhouse barn light look and match the exterior lights on both sides of our garage.

Unfortunately, Home Depot discontinued this light which we had hoped to also utilize in our backyard. However, when the time comes we found a fairly similar replacement that has that barn light look.

Ring Step Lights

While Ring’s pathway light didn’t quite match our style as soon as we saw the Ring Steplights we knew we had to have them. While all our uplighting and pathway lights are hardwired, these little guys/gals are solar-powered. They’re not on all the time like the rest of the lights, but turn on when they sense motion or a linked motion sensor is tripped.

These are perfect when guests come to the house as they light up the steps (at night only) and can also send a motion notification to our phone 24/7.

Transformer

A transformer is a hub that plugs in and converts your standard 120-volt electricity to a low-voltage current. Low-voltage electricity (around 12V) is safer to work with.

There are a lot of transformer options out there, but being a big Ring user I chose to go with the Ring Smart Lighting Transformer.

The Ring Transformer can power up to 200 watts. That easily covers my nine 4 watt uplights (9 x 4 = 36 watts) and my five 1.6 watt pathway lights (5 x 1.6 watts = 8 watts).

With the Ring Transformer, you can turn your landscape lights on/off from your phone as well as set them on a daily schedule.

However, my favorite feature is being able to link my landscape lights to a variety of motion sensors. For example, I have my landscape lights linked to a Ring motion sensor by my driveway, the Ring step lights I mentioned above and my Ring doorbell. If any of these motion sensors are tripped between 12:00 AM – 7:00 AM, all 16 of the landscape lights in the front of my house will kick on illuminating the entire front yard.

Talk about sending a burglar or pesky plant-eating animal running for the hills!

Below is a shot of the small sensor that detects motion when someone uses our sidewalk or goes anywhere near our garage entrance.

This is just one of the many awesome things Ring can do. Check out our new blog post that touches on Ring’s many other cool smart home integrations as well as an overview of the different Ring Protect Plans.

How to Install Landscape Lights

Tools You’ll Need

• Shovel
• Fishing Tape (if you need to go under a sidewalk)
• Electrical Tape
• Landscaping Light Connectors
• Low-Voltage Landscaping Wire
• Uplights / Cans
• Pathway Lights
• A Transformer & Bridge

Planning Out Your Landscape Lights

Start by observing your house from the street. What features of the house and landscaping do you want to accentuate and draw attention to?

Look for pillars, architectural highlights, trees and any other interesting features. Also, try to be symmetrical in your approach.

For example, starting on the left in the photo below the lighting goes – tree, house (3 lights), tree, house (3 lights on the pillars), tree. The tree in the center splits up lights focused on the house. The trees on the outside nicely bookend and compliment the other lights.

This structure and symmetry creates an awesome aesthetic at night. Also, what makes the biggest impact is incorporating the trees. Many DIYers focus solely on the house and forget why to accentuate their landscaping.

Planning Where to Place Your Transformer

Next, think through where you might want to mount your transformer box. Most transformers are weatherproof, measure around 12″ x 12″ x 4″ and are typically mounted/hidden on the side of your house. Your transformer should be plugged into a GFI-rated outlet and mounted at least 2-3′ high off the ground to help keep it dry.

In my situation, I did not have a GFI on the side of my house where I wanted to keep my transformer. However, I had a GFI on the other side of the wall in the basement. I ended up running the low voltage wire through the wall and actually keep my transformer inside of my house!

Once you’ve located a home for your transformer and planned out where you’ll place your lights it’s best to draw up a basic map. This will help you plan out how best to run your low voltage wiring. Plus, it’s nice to have something you can hold on to for future reference in case you forget exactly where you buried the low voltage wiring.

As you can see in my drawing above, the orange line represents my low voltage wiring. Off of it, you can see the circular can/uplights as well as the pathway lights.

I chose to run my low landscape wiring right in the middle of my flower beds. This allows me to have my larger plants in the back of the bed and plant tulips and annuals in front of the bed by the pathway lights.

Installing Low Voltage Landscape Wire

Once you have your low-voltage landscape wire laid out you’re now ready to connect your individual lights. To do so, you’ll need a 3-piece low-voltage landscaping connector.

Step 1: Using a razor blade, carefully separate the landscaping wire into two pieces make sure not to damage the rubber wire casing and expose the wire.

Step 2: Place the bottom of the wire connector with threading on each of the two split wires and plunge the metal point/tip into the wire and secure by screwing on the bottom cap.

Step 3: Split the end of the landscape light wire and strip roughly 1/4″ of the rubber coating off the wire.

Step 4: Insert the bare wire of the landscape lights into the top of the connector and screw-down on the bottom of the connector that we attached to the low voltage wire in Step 3.

NOTE: There are no red or black wires. So either of the light wires can be connected to either of the low voltage wires.

Step 5: After you’ve connected all your lights to the low-voltage wire, you can now connect the low-voltage wire to your transformer. Simply split 2-3 inches of the low voltage wire, remove the rubber sheath and insert into the two slots on your transformer.

Step 6: Plug in your transformer and test to make sure all your lights are working.

Burrying Your Low-Voltage Wiring

After you test and make sure that all your lights are working properly, you are now ready to bury your low-voltage wiring.

Using a spade dig a 6-7″ deep trench that you’ll be able to lay the wire in.

Again, I dug my trench right in the middle of my flower bed. This allows both my uplighting in the back of the beds as well as the pathway lights in the front of my bed to reach my low-voltage line. Also, this allows me to have my larger perennials/hydrangeas in the back of my flower bed and plant tulips or annuals in the front of my flower bed.

Going Under a Sidewalk

There’s a very high chance that at some point you’ll need to run your wiring under your sidewalk. While this sounds like a pretty difficult task, it’s fairly easy and there are two ways you can do it.

Buy a Auger

This auger is the easier of the two ways. Simply dig a hole on both sides of your sidewalk. Then attached your auger to a power drill and drill through the soil and rock under the sidewalk towards the side where your line is stuck or rests. Next, lace the line through the small opening on the tip of the auger and pull underneath the sidewalk!

Sledge Hammer & PVC Pipe

If you already own a sledgehammer, this second option may be the way to go. Simply buy a small (roughly 1″ diameter) piece of inexpensive PVC piping. Cut one end of the PVC at an angle to help it penetrate through the dirt and rock.

Next, Dig a 5-6″ hole on both sides of the sidewalk. Then, begin to hammer the PVC so it runs underneath the sidewalk. Once you see the PVC appear on the other side of the sidewalk you’re done. Finally, feed your electrical wire through the PVC pipe with a fish tape tool and repair your flower bed.

Conclusion

We absolutely love our landscape lighting and the difference it makes at night time is game-changing. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!

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