Walking or driving through your neighborhood during the Holidays can be a joyous and uplifting experience. Besides the myriad of lights and decorations to admire, it is a time to celebrate togetherness and generosity. If you want your home to add to the Christmas spirit, there are plenty of ways for you to show it. The look of your holiday display will modify even your opinion of gutter shingle light clips.
While you might be pleased to see the festive rooftop decor, the danger involved with installing lights at roof height can be overwhelming for many homeowners! To assist you, we will share our tips on how to securely hang Christmas lights on your house. You will also be able to put up your Christmas decorations without a ladder and without stress so you can stay in the spirit!
There is a lot of misinformation out there about the lights being bolted or stapled to the pole. No matter how thin, you can never poke a hole in your asphalt shingles or any other part of your Indianapolis roof. We’ll teach you how to protect your roof by installing your Christmas lights without scratching your shingles.
We also have some ideas about how to make your roof light show look amazing, whether your chosen theme is classic, contemporary, or crazy rainbow lights!
How to Hang Decorations for Christmas
Create a personalized schedule
You’ll need to evaluate the roof and decide where you will want to place your lights. Using this method, you’ll realize precisely how many strings of light you need to purchase. Before you start, it can be wise to brush up on ladder protection, particularly if you are not accustomed to using them. If a standard ladder isn’t enough, extension ladders will give you a much needed boost. Instead you should measure the roof size and purchase more lights than you think you will need. During the season, extra lights can typically be returned to the shop. Often, note that it may be a safety threat to get so many lights powered by one socket. Take the time now to decide which lights will use which outlets. Consult an electrician if you are not sure how many lights can be securely operated by your outlets.
Collect The Resources
You can switch on the lights for an hour or two after you’ve ordered them in order to make sure there are no broken or defective bulbs. When the lights are up on the roof, it becomes even more difficult to replace bulbs. Here are a few supplies you should gather before you begin:
- Clips with roof display.
- Outdoor cables for extensions.
- Tape for the cables to be attached to the ground.
- Robust sneakers.
Disclaimer: Every year, hundreds of injuries arise from hanging Christmas decorations. Always have somebody with you during the entire installation process. If there is clear snow or ice on the field or roof, or it is raining, never hang lights. Let us repeat that: if the weather is bad, NEVER HANG LIGHTS. Local construction regulations, fire codes and ladder safety are still observed. As well as hardware to avoid ladder harm to the building, home improvement shops sell accessories for personal ladder protection.
How to Hang Your Lights
Phase One: Please have an assistant with you when hanging lights. Believe us and every professional, you may require one. Attach the first few clips to the bulb or string (depending on what sort of clips you purchased) before you get on the ladder. Acting with a short string is faster, but don’t attach the next string before you’ve run out of rows.
Phase Two: Find the power outlet, connect the extension cords, and begin with any part of the roof that is closest to the outlet. Don’t switch on the lights until they’re hanging up, as they may get really heavy.
Phase Three: Place and mount the ladder carefully. With one hand, tie the clips to the gutters, so that you still retain three touch points with the ladder. Get your assistant to patch it if a clip falls loose.
Phase Four: Hold the clips near enough together, particularly if you are using icicle lights. This ensures that the line is taut and clear. Make sure the lights perfectly follow the roof line.
Phase Five: Operate around the roof, being vigilant never to hit the stage where you take the center of gravity off the ladder. Shift the ladder about at regular intervals.
Phase Six: When you are on stable land, add more clips or another string, allowing you to operate with both hands.
Phase Seven: Mount the clip carefully to the drip edge or shingle if you hit a roof edge that may not have gutters, like a gable edge. Never puncture staples or screws on some sections of the roof.
Phase Eight: You have many choices if you need to go further. A larger ladder, or a light-hanging rod, may be used. You may also try using special equipment such as a bucket lift. Never stand or walk on the roof.
How to Hang Christmas Lights Without A Ladder
There are a few ways to install Christmas decorations without the use of a ladder. A light-hanging pole is the first and easiest option.
Mount the clip to the lights in order to use these poles, then position the clip in the grip of the stick. Stretch the arm and loop the clip over the gutter. Presto!
You should hire a bucket lift to get you up there comfortably without a ladder if you find this procedure too frustrating, or the roof is too far for the pole to handle. Rental prices are always not as costly as you think, but keep in mind that you will have to rent one to take the lights down, too. A bucket lift is the only way to securely get to the top of high-pitched roofs.
Many on ladders or at heights that are profoundly insecure can choose to employ others to put their Christmas lights up. Make sure you choose a reputable firm that deals in Christmas decorations, respects the roof’s protection policy and has insurance. When the installers fall or harmed themselves, the last thing you might like is to be accountable. A roofing contractor will be able to locate you who will hang your lights for a fee. Find a contractor in your region using our Contractor Locator app.
After the holidays, how to pull off the lights and decorations
Although certain individuals like to leave their lights on all year, the sun will begin to damage them. In reality, if one side of your house has more exposure to light than the other side, the Christmas lights may dim unevenly, impacting your holiday display’s overall appearance.
It is important not to simply tug on a cord when unplugging your lights. Although it may save you time, it can easily pull your gutters down or otherwise damage your shingled asphalt roof. Alternatively, bring the lights off the same way you placed them on: gently, firmly and one clip at a time.
You should be mindful of how you wrap the light strings as well. They can kink and look weird next year if they twist, particularly if you use clips that hook to the line rather than to the bulb.
To all of us here at Richmond Exteriors, Christmas roof decorations are a special feature of the holidays. If we have our roofs to show off and share holiday joy, yeah, that’s a win-win! We hope you and your family can happily appreciate your decorations and the whole holiday season.
By the way, you can use the roofing professionals at Richmond Exteriors to dial if you find an issue with your asphalt shingles when putting Christmas lights on your roof!
