Holiday Decorating Tips that Won’t Ruin Your Home

As we push further into fall, and now that the holidays are right around the corner, homeowners will begin thinking about decorating their home for Halloween, Christmas and every other holiday the season brings. It’s an exciting time for those who love to decorate, but keep in mind that going overboard can cause some damage to your roof, siding, gutters and other exterior features of your home.

Here are a few tips to help you decorate this holiday season without causing any damage to your home.

Be Careful When Attaching Things to Your Roof

As a roofing company, it pains us to see people who attach excessive amounts of lights and other decorations to their roofs, especially the decorations that are placed directly on the shingles. While you can hang lights on your gutters and fascia of your home, it is not recommended to nail lights directly into the shingles on your roof. This can create holes and leaks in the roof that will allow water to seep into your home.

There are also small plastic clips that hook under shingles and can be used to attach lights to your roof, but these are also not recommended as they can detach shingles from your roof. It’s not worth it to risk damaging your shingles just to hang some lights or decorations on them! You could even end up voiding the manufacturer’s warranty on your roofing materials if you damage them while decorating.

Don’t Overload Your Gutters

Gutters are one of the best places to hang lights from, but just be careful with how many decorations you put on them. Overloading your gutters with decorations (when combined with wet leaves and other fall debris, can cause your gutters to sag and even detach from your home.

Before hanging lights from your gutters, make sure you clean out any loose debris to lighten the load. Also, avoid using screws or nails to hang any decorations. It’s never a good idea to put holes in your gutters!

Fire Safety

Always keep in mind where you are plugging in lights and how many are being plugged into a particular outlet. Your standard outlet is able to handle 15-20 amperes of electricity (be sure to check which types of outlet and circuit breaker you have), so don’t over load it. Use exterior extension cords if you need to run lights to a different outlet. Very few things will damage your home more quickly than an electrical fire.

Be Careful During Takedown

Make sure you take your time when removing decorations from your home. You can easily damage your gutters and fascia by pulling on and ripping lights off of the side of your house. Go easy, and you shouldn’t have any problem throughout the process.

 

Accidentally Damage Your Roof, Siding, Gutters or Windows While Decorating? Contact Schmidt Roofing Today for a Free Estimate!

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