Keep Your Roof Safe When You Hang Up Your Holiday Lights

It’s the holiday season again and you’re ready to pull those old Christmas lights out of the box or buy new ones and make your house really sparkle. Obviously, this is going to take some work and a little bit of money. So the last thing you want to have happen is for this decoration celebration to turn into a pricey disaster that damages the roof of your home, especially if you recently had it remodeled. Check out some of the tips below for ways to protect your roof when stringing your Christmas lights along or across it.

Make Sure They’re Outdoor Bulbs

While this tip may seem obvious, you’d be surprised how many fires occur each year around the holiday season due to the fact that people don’t pay attention to this little detail. Indoor lights are not protected from weather and can short out when they get wet, causing sparks and, in turn, burning your roof or even worse, your entire house down. So make absolutely sure of this—if you’re not sure if the lights in that dusty attic box are for outdoor use, don’t use them.

Don’t Use Staples or Nails

Attaching Christmas light to your roof can be a tricky thing to do properly, but the one thing you should absolutely avoid is using staples or nails to     affix each strand. There are a number of reasons to avoid this. For one, staples and nails will put holes in your roof no matter what it is made of. Over the course of the winter, water will get into the holes and freeze and unfreeze and repeat, causing cracks and weakness to form. This will cause your roof to fall apart more quickly, especially when you are digging new holes each holiday season. Another reason is the possible fire risk. Nails and staples could easily cut through the wiring on Christmas lights, causing them to spark and start a fire. So use electrical safe clips or zip ties and secure them and the Christmas strand to objects on the roof itself.

String the Lights Early in the Season

Walking on an icy roof when you don’t have to is always a good idea. So if you string your Christmas lights early in the year, you won’t have to deal with bad weather conditions. Not only could you slip and fall and seriously injure yourself, but walking on an icy roof can lead to cracks and leaks on down the line, as it may not be as flexible in colder conditions under your weight. So consider stringing Christmas lights up in the middle of fall, before the first real freeze. You won’t have to light them until the holiday season.

Know Where to Walk

Know where you should and shouldn’t walk on your roof. While most roofs will hold someone’s weight when they walk on it, there are definitely some places that are sturdier and less prone to developing leaks or cracks than others. So check with your roofing contractor to know where the best places to walk on the roof might be, so you don’t do damage to the roof while you put up your decorations. Wear the right shoes when walking on the roof as well. Early in the season when it is not wet or icy, heavy rubber work boots should be fine. Later in the season, when there is wetness and ice, shoes with cleats or metal picks on them that you would, say, climb a wall of ice with are not a good idea. These can easily damage or poke holes in your roof under your full weight.

Be Kind to Your Gutters

If you are hanging Christmas lights along the side of your house or along your gutters, be careful to not put to much weight on the gutters or damage them, as they are often directly connected to the roof itself. In other words, a broken gutter can lead to a leaky roof, so make sure all the Christmas lights are hung and taken down from them with real care.