Avoid Damaging Your New Gutters When Hanging Your Holiday Lights

Avoid Damaging Your New Gutters When Hanging Your Holiday Lights

4 October 2018
 Categories: Home & Garden, Blog


Once you've replaced your gutters, you want to do all that you can to protect their good condition. Unfortunately, many homeowners cause a lot of damage to roofing and gutters when they put their Christmas decorations up for the season. Here, you'll find a few tips that will help you protect your gutters and roofing from holiday decoration damage.

Think Safety

The first thing to consider before you go climbing around hanging lights is your personal safety. The last thing that you want is to find yourself in a full-body cast on Christmas Eve.

Make sure that the ladder is positioned properly – it should be placed on solid ground and extended at least 3 rungs beyond where you'll be working.

Wear rubber-soled boots with good traction. If you will be doing any walking on the roof, you must have good footing – don't slide your feet when walking on the roof or you'll damage the shingles.

Don't work when nobody else is around. This is a project that you should always do with at least one other person. You don't want to fall and have nobody around to call for help if you can't do it yourself.

Buy Light Clips

There are special light clips that mount right onto the edges of your gutters. When you mount these clips properly, you'll be able to clip the light strand right onto them and the lights will be supported through the toughest winter weather.

When placing the clips, make sure that you do not put too much strain on the gutter system. If you pull too hard or support your weight on the gutter, you could cause it to bend or pull loose – just be gentle and you'll be fine.

Secure the Extension Cords

Don't leave your heavy extension cords dangling from the gutters. Those extension cords will catch the wind and pull on the gutters. Instead, fasten the extension cords to something – it could be the downspout or just adding a few screw-in clips to the side of your home. Another thing that may work on vinyl or aluminum siding are the Command Hooks – clean the surface with some rubbing alcohol, apply the hook and secure the extension cord. At the end of the season, the hook can be removed and saved for next year.

Talk with a local gutter company like Raingutter Specialists to learn more about what you can do to protect your gutters from damage this holiday decorating season.