How to install permanent lighting track
Two extrusions, a box of lights and hand tools. This is the whole method, start to finish — including the three things people get wrong.
What you need
No specialist kit. If you own a drill and a pair of snips you can do this.
- Tin snipsEvery cut on the job — length, end caps, corners.
- Chalk lineThe straight line the whole run is set out on.
- Drill or nail gunFastening the base. A drill also opens a hole where a pre-drilled one misses.
- Exterior screwsSized to your soffit — see the fixing guide for the material you have.
- Tape measure or squareThe setback, and marking a 45 at the corners.
- A ladderAnd somebody to foot it.
Two parts, and why
Anyone who has only seen adhesive channel will open the box and find one extrusion too many. The split is the reason this goes up in a fraction of the time: only one part takes a fastener, and the lights go in on the ground.
Track A — the base
The flat piece. It screws to the soffit and is the only part that takes a fastener. Nothing about it is visible once the job is finished.
Track B — the cover
The squared piece. Lights clip into it from behind, and it snaps onto Track A. It hides every wire and holds each light pointing straight down.
Plays once — the order is the point.
- 1
Track A screws to the soffit
The only part that takes a fastener.
- 2
Lights clip into Track B
Done on the ground, not up the ladder.
- 3
Track B snaps onto Track A
No fasteners, no visible wire.
Step by step
Walk the roofline first
Pick your start point, your corners and your stopping point before anything comes out of the box. Knowing where the run ends is what stops you finishing on a two-inch offcut.
Cut 3 inches off your first base piece — and keep the offcut
Take 3 inches off the end of the first piece of Track A. Cut down one side at the mark, cut down the other side to match, then bend the end back until it parts. The short piece you have just removed is not waste: it is the guide you will use for the rest of the job.
Watch out — This cut is what staggers the run. Without it, base and cover break in the same place at every joint, nothing holds the line, and the run steps at the seam — visible from the curb and not fixable without pulling it down.
Mark 3 inches off the wall, using that offcut
Hold the 3-inch piece against the wall at each section and mark the far end of it. That is your setback, and using the offcut rather than a tape means every section lands on exactly the same distance with nothing to misread. A tape or a square works too if you have lost the piece.
Watch out — Three inches is the sweet spot. Closer and the light hugs the wall; further out and the pool goes round and soft.
Chalk a line between your marks
Working alone, drive a screw at the first 3-inch mark and hook the chalk line onto it — that frees both hands. Move the ladder to the next mark you made, pull the line to it, line it up and snap.
Watch out — Chalk the whole elevation rather than measuring at each piece. It is faster, and it is the difference between a line that reads straight from the curb and one that wanders.
Fix Track A along the line
Start with your shortened piece. Line up the FRONT edge of the track — the edge nearest you — on the chalk line, then drive your first fastener. Screws, a drill or a nail gun all work, and every piece after the first is full length. Where a soffit has wood planks standing proud, mount on top of them: Track A is profiled to clear them, and trying to fit between them is what puts a run out of line.
Watch out — The pre-drilled holes will not always land on solid soffit. When one does not, mark through the track where it does meet the soffit, drill your own hole at the mark, and fasten there instead of forcing the factory hole.
Use a short offcut of cover as a joiner
Cut a couple of inches off a piece of Track B and pop it over the joint between two base pieces before you fasten the second one. It holds the two ends together and in line while you drill, which is what keeps a long run straight.
Pop the lights into Track B on the ground
Push each light into its opening from behind — the slot grips it around the bulb and locks. Once it clicks it is not coming out.
Watch out — Doing this on the ground rather than up the ladder is the single biggest time saver on the job.
Snap Track B onto Track A
Press the cover onto the base along its length. It seats with a positive snap and takes no fasteners of its own. Because the base was started 3 inches short, each cover joint now lands mid-way over a base piece and the run reads as one continuous line with no gaps at the seams.
Finish the ends and the corners
Cap every open end and mitre the corners at 45° so two cuts close a 90° turn. Both can be made on site from offcuts of cover track, and we supply ready-made end and corner caps if you would rather not.
Hole spacing and the stagger
Drawn to scale. The 3″ you take off the first base piece is what offsets every joint after it, and the same offcut is what sets your 3″ off the wall.
Govee Original
Govee Pro
Cutting to length
Almost no elevation is a whole number of pieces, so this comes up on every job. The technique is not obvious and it is worth getting right the first time.
Tin snips
Mark your length, then cut DOWN THE SIDES of the track at the mark — one side, then the other, lining the second cut up with the first. Do not try to shear straight across. With both sides cut, bend the offcut back and forth until it parts.
Shearing all the way through curls the face and leaves a burr. Cutting the sides and letting the aluminum fatigue gives you a flat edge that butts against the next piece without filing.
Making an end cap from an offcut
One cap short does not have to stop the job. Four cuts and a bend, out of any offcut of cover track.
- Take a piece of cover track and mark about an inch in from the end.
- Cut down each side at the mark: first through the clip slot, then on down to the flat face.
- Cut along the ridge on both sides to take the side walls off completely, leaving just the face.
- Bend the remaining inch over. That is your cap.
We supply ready-made end caps too — this is for the run that needs one more than you brought.
Cutting a corner
A 90° corner is two 45° cuts meeting. Use a square or a set-square to mark the angle rather than eyeing it — a corner is the one joint everybody looks at.
Track A — the base
- Lay the square across the base track and mark the 45 where you want the cut to land.
- Cut along one side on the mark.
- On the other side, nick the front lip off first — that releases the section so the blade can follow the line.
- Cut straight through.
Track B — the cover
- Mark the 45 across the face of the cover track the same way.
- Carry the line around and mark down the side as well, meeting the end of the first line. You want two lines, not one.
- Cut down the side first, then bend that side back to open up room for the snips.
- Cut across the face on your line and take the waste off.
Ready to order?
Track is powder-coated to any RAL colour before it ships, so it arrives matched to your trim and ready to mount. If you fit these for a living, a trade account is free and the rate drops with the size of the order.