The holiday season is going to be here sooner than you think, which means it’s time to start thinking about your plans for your outdoor decorations.
As you get your lights set up this holiday season, it’s important to make sure you do it safely, and in a way that will prevent potential roof damage. If you’re not careful, your hanging holiday decorations can hurt your shingles or gutters, or cause other potential problems with your home that you’d much rather avoid.
Here are a few tips for hanging your decorations without damaging your roof in the process:
- Plan out your decorations before starting: It’s always best to approach your holiday decorations with a plan in mind. This will, of course, improve your final product from an aesthetic standpoint, but it will also help you determine what types of items you need to purchase and what you need to do from a safety standpoint to execute the job. A well planned and thought-out decoration setup will be less likely to result in roof damage during the setup phase.
- Always use clips: You can avoid damaging your roof by hanging your lights with clips. The clips will typically attach onto the gutters by going over the lip face down. If you’re attaching the clips to shingles, the clips will tuck in underneath, opposite how you’d install them on a gutter. You should never hang lights directly on shingles without clips. You can make the process go faster by attaching the clips to the strands of lights while you’re still on the ground, placing them at regular intervals.
- Go slow: Take your time when setting up your lights—there’s no need to rush through the process. If you try to fly through the job, you’ll be much more likely to either injure yourself or damage the roof, not to mention the fact that your lights probably won’t look as nice.
- Have a helper: Make sure you have someone with you any time you’re doing work at elevation. This goes for installing lights, inflatables, mounted decorations or anything else. The person should be on the ground to spot you and hand you any items you need while you’re up high. This will ensure your safety throughout the installation process.
- Avoid circuit overloads: Most circuits in households are either 15 or 20 amps. You should know your circuit limits before you start working so you can plan out how many lights you’re able to put on a particular circuit. Overloaded circuits have a greater risk of fire, so be very careful and always use high-quality UL listed power cords and timer devices for outdoor use. If you see any damaged or frayed wires, throw them out and replace them.
- Secure inflatable items: Use heavy sandbags as anchors when putting inflatables on roofs. Turn off inflatables on particularly windy days to reduce risk of damage.
Want to know more about hanging holiday décor safely and effectively? Contact Dowd Roofing Co. with any questions you have for us.