How to Hang Holiday Lights Without Damaging Your Roof

Every January we get a few calls about leaks that started the week after Thanksgiving. The lights went up, and something went through the roof to hold them. Here’s how to avoid being one of those calls.

The short version

• Clips, never fasteners. Plastic gutter and shingle clips hold a strand fine. Staples, nails and screws through shingles or flashing are holes, and holes leak.
• Work from the ground. A roof rake reaches most eaves; an extension pole with a clip attachment reaches the rest. If you have to be on the roof to do it, hire someone who does it for a living.
• Don’t walk a cold roof. Shingles get brittle below freezing, and a footprint can crack them. Frost makes a low-pitch roof a slide.
• Keep the ladder honest. Level ground, three points of contact, and nowhere near the service drop coming into the house.
• Outdoor-rated everything. Lights, cords and timers marked for outdoor use, with no cracked insulation.

Timers and outlets

Plug everything into a GFCI outlet, use one outdoor timer instead of a tangle of extension cords, and don’t run a cord through a window or door where it gets pinched. If the breaker trips when the lights come on, that’s the house telling you the circuit is full, not a reason to try a different outlet.

Where roofs get hurt

Ridge lines and the edges of the roof are the usual damage spots. Clips that get forced under the shingle edge lift it, and a lifted shingle is where wind and water get in. If a clip doesn’t slide on easily, it’s the wrong clip for that shingle.

If you find something while you’re up there

Loose flashing, a lifted shingle, a soft spot underfoot: don’t fasten through it to make the lights work. Take a photo, finish from the ground, and call us about a repair. A small fix in December beats a ceiling stain in March.

And if the roof is old enough that you’re nervous stepping on it at all, that’s worth a free inspection before spring.