Festive holiday lights bring joy to all who behold them, and decorating your home for the season is a fun tradition that many love. With some simple precautions, you can spice up your home exterior for this special time of year and ensure your roof isn’t damaged in the process.
Here are our favorite tips to keep your roof (and you!) safe while you light up your home for the holidays just ahead.
Common Causes of Roof Damage Due to Holiday Decorations
When it comes to roof damage that can come from decorating your home exterior for Christmas, there are some common culprits:
1. Foot traffic
A major cause of roof damage occurs from walking on your roof. Not wearing the proper footwear can damage your roof as you put up your holiday lights.
2. Gutter clips and roof shingle clips that hold your lights in place
While clips are a convenient way to secure lights onto your home exterior, they take their toll on your roof shingles and gutters over time.
- Gutter damage is mostly cosmetic and consists of scrapes and markings from their contact with clips and lights over the holiday season.
- Roof shingle damage from holiday decor includes removing protective granules off your asphalt shingles (making them vulnerable over time, and decreasing their lifespan). Harmful ultraviolet rays can damage roof shingle matting when granules are removed.
- Torn roof shingles are another liability when it comes to clips and lights. When your home’s shingles become torn, the seal can break between them, compromising your home’s protective layer.
3. Lights or Garland
When suspended from roof shingles, decorative lights can attract moisture. As a result, ice dams can occur on your roof when lights or garlands cause water to dam and reform as ice rather than run off your roof. When water dams on your home’s protective layer, it can build up under your roof shingles and eventually infiltrate your home, causing costly damage.
How to Prevent Roof Damage over the Holidays
If your holiday lights are a DIY project, take appropriate precautions to prevent damage to yourself and your home.
- Plan ahead—Before you get onto your roof, map out what will go where on your home and ensure you have all your necessary supplies ready to go. Planning ahead lessens frustration.
- Use LED lights—These long-lasting lights come in warm or cool tones, use up to 75 percent less energy, and can last up to 10 times longer than traditional light strings.
- Avoid electrical shock—Use an external portable outdoor circuit for safety. If you’re unsure of how to use electrical circuits properly, hire the pros to install your lights. It’s not worth putting yourself or your biggest investment in danger.
- Prevent house fires—Don’t overload your circuit breaker, or you could end up endangering your home.
- Test your lights—Before you get up on that ladder, untangle last year’s lights and plug them in to ensure they are all working well. Replace any bulbs that have burned out.
- Safeguard yourself from falls—Ladder climbing can be dangerous if you don’t take precautions. Plan on doing ladder climbing and light installation with the help of a friend or family member.
- Avoid damage—Don’t rush while putting up or removing your decorations from your home exterior, or you may accidentally cause damage to your roof and gutters.
If you hire professionals to install lights, ask questions first.
While it’s fun to decorate your home both inside and out for the holidays, it’s important to keep your home exterior protected in the midst of the festivities. So if you hire professionals to decorate your home exterior, ask some basic questions before allowing them on your roof. Here are some ideas to start with:
- Tell me about your installation techniques. What do you do to ensure my roof doesn’t get damaged during the process or after you decorate it?
- Do you wear appropriate shoes or boots that have soles that are designed to walk on a roof without causing damage?
- What type of clips do you use to secure holiday lights onto my home?
- Where do you attach the clips—to the roof shingles, gutters, or eaves?
Expert Roof Replacement
If your Kansas City area home has a roof that’s aging, it can compromise your largest investment’s protection. At Christian Brothers Roofing, we install gorgeous roofing with precision, ensuring you get the long-term performance you deserve.
When you have our qualified team install your next roof, we help you avoid the hassle and file your warranty for you! (Be sure to watch for your warranty letter from GAF in the mail.)
Homeowners and business owners in the Kansas City Metro area have expressed sincere gratitude and satisfaction with the new roof we installed for them (and their experience with our team!). Don’t take our word for it—hear what others are saying about their experience with Christian Brothers Roofing.
Check out reviews from our recent customers.
