TIL don't buy cheap string lights for a pergola unless you like redoing wiring
Spent $38 on a 100 ft strand of those thin copper string lights for my pergola last month, and within 3 weeks half the bulbs died from rain getting in the sockets. Should've just dropped $90 on the thicker outdoor rated ones from the start, since I ended up buying those anyway. Now I've got a pile of dead wire in the yard and I'm out the $38 on top of it. Anyone got a brand that actually survives a full season in the midwest?
Feel that pain. Did the same thing two summers ago and watched the rain take out half the strand in a month. Cheap wire just isn't worth the hassle when you're up there on a ladder twice a season.