With the holidays coming, you may be gearing up for your best Clark Griswold impression as you envision your home as a blinding festival of lights. While the end result may be worth all the hassle, you have to be careful during the process so you don’t damage your roof while stringing up the lights.
Hopping up on a ladder and navigating your roof without a plan is not only unsafe for you, it’s a risk to your roof as well that can lead to costly repairs. Heed these tips to ensure you don’t harm your roof when you deck the halls this month.
Tips for Safe Holiday Light Stringing
- Call a roofer: Before you do anything else, call a roofer to perform a roof inspection. He or she will be able to spot any concerning issues that should be fixed now before winter hits. Once those areas of concern are addressed and the roofer has identified potentially unsafe areas, you can proceed with decorating – provided you take the proper precautions.
- Untangle and inspect lights and cords: Before you get up on the roof, unbox your Christmas lights and lay them out on a large flat surface such as your driveway. Plug in all lights to make sure they’re working before you go to the hassle of stringing them up only to find out they are burned out. Check all cords and outlets for signs of disrepair or safety hazards. Tangled or damaged lights can pose a safety risk for both you and your roof.
- Use plastic clips and accessories: Instead of using a staple gun like the well-meaning dad in Christmas Vacation, use plastic clips and zip ties to attach lights and other displays to the roof. These don’t cause permanent marks and damage like staples do. Plus, the good news is, you can leave the clips up all year long, as they’re not very visible from far away. Just make sure to stick to the recommended weight load.
- Don’t hang lights from siding: Always hang lights and decorations from your gutters or eaves.
- Save the heavy decorations for the yard: Try not to get over zealous and add your Santa sleigh and reindeer decorations to the roof. While they may make a nice complement to your lights, they are putting too much stress on your roof. Too much weight will damage your shingles. If you must have decorations on the roof, go for the lightest ones possible. Otherwise, arrange all the heavy stuff in your yard.
- Don’t walk on the roof: Avoid walking on the roof unless you have to. Walking on a roof can cause damage that can lead to leaks and expensive repairs down the road – not to mention you could fall and break your neck.
Contact Ferris Roofing
To schedule a roof inspection prior to stringing up your holiday lights, contact us now at 817-769-2477. If you have already been up on the roof and think you may have done some damage, we can get those issues inspected and repaired before winter.