Christmas Lights Do's and Dont's

Christmas Lights - Roofing Nightmare Style

Okay, so you're heading outside to hang your Christmas lights! Congrats! You've got some keen ideas about how to hang them this year, and you're outfitted with such items as: hooks, shingle clips, maybe even a staple gun and some hot glue.
What's wrong with that picture?
Everything!

Let's go over some fun but hazardous ideas:

This guy got up on his roof and used gutter/shingle clips.

Have you watched it? What's wrong with that picture? Well, #1: those clips that he used can easily crack a shingle if you're not careful. How likely are you to crack a shingle? In cold weather? You'll probably mess up a couple just because you're rushing and freezing cold.

#2: Are you capable of getting up on your roof like this guy? See how he's rolling around, trying to get the gutter clips on? Eeek. Not safe.

#3. He had no spotter. He said it! And he said he knows you won't have one, either! No, no. Don't. Just don't. Even I have a spotter every day, every minute.

#4. Some of those attachments were in the gutter. I can only think: electrical plus water equals electrocution. Don't put the electric plugs in the gutter.

Let's think now. before we even consider getting on a ladder, lets untangle our strands.

Frustrating, no doubt! 

Now let's consider how some professional light hangers do it, and what they're doing wrong.
Here's one:

What is he installing those cute little hangers in? That's the fascia. It's made of wood. Note the crack? Each time you drill into your fascia you're setting yourself up for damage from water. I see they don't even have a gutter on this. Now you're getting into more electrocution problems, with the water streaming off the roof and right smack dab onto the lights.

Finally, there's a website out there saying that you can hot glue your lights to anything. Oh, dear.
If you do this on asphalt shingles you'll ruin them when you remove the lights by stripping the protective layer off the shingles.

Why not use a staple gun? For the same reason that you shouldn't use nails. Don't put holes in your wood - your fascia, your soffits, or your shingles. Each hole can cause thousands of dollars of damage down the road.

Now let's talk safest lighting practices.

Yes, it's okay to use gutter clips. Be careful to string the lights outside the gutter, or at least above it;  take care and do not lean on the gutters.
Always string electrical plugs away from the gutters, and not like this:

Ouch....Using a plastic box, overloading it with plugs, it's just not safe. 

Try a proper outdoor electrical cord to a grounded outlet - preferably a GFI, so that it will pop if not properly grounded or overloaded, without burning down the house! 

Lastly, I want to stress the need for safety. Please don't climb up a ladder without a spotter, and please secure your ladders before climbing them.  If you're not a contractor, don't go on your roof. You can cause serious damage to your roof - not to mention, if your roof is questionable, you may fall through, damaging yourself! 

Be safe and smart this Holiday season.