3 Tips For Roofing Safety While Hanging Your Christmas Lights

It does not matter if you hang a few Christmas lights or are trying to be the most decorated house in the neighborhood. There are roofing safety tips you need to observe. These tips will not only protect you but will protect the health and integrity of your roof. Failure to follow these practices may require an appointment with your roofing contractor before the new year.

1. Clean Your Gutters First

One of the first vital steps comes before you pull your lights out of their boxes. You first need to clean your gutters. Cleaning gutters is not a glamorous task most homeowners look forward to. Unfortunately, failure to do so may do more than cause water to back up under the eaves of your roof.

Some older light bulbs heat up when they are on. If they lie against dry leaves and debris in your gutters, they could become a fire hazard. Cleaning the trash from your gutters is the best way to prevent this potential problem.

2. Watch Your Step

Each year, more than 10,000 people are injured while decorating for Christmas. While the statistics show a wide range of injuries, ladders and step-ladders are commonly involved. When hanging Christmas lights outside, you need to be careful going up and down your ladder and anytime you step onto your roof. 

Stepping onto your roof not only puts you at risk of slipping and falling but also puts you at risk of damaging your roofing materials. Stepping on your roof can damage the granules found on your shingles.

The granules built into your shingles help protect your roofing materials from excessive solar damage. When you damage these granules, you make it easier for the natural elements to create deterioration and shorten the life of your roof.

3. Use The Proper Clips

When stringing lights across the face of your roof, there is a right and wrong way to do so. While you may feel the easiest way is to staple the lights directly to your roofing materials, this is the last thing you want to do. Even minuscule holes can cause excessive roof damage.

You can use several types of light clips on the market on your shingles and on your gutters. These clips will not only hold your lights securely throughout the season but are easy to install and remove without causing damage to your roof. 

For more information, contact a local roofer


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