With Christmas coming just around the corner, people are putting up twinkling lights left and right. Your neighbors may have a decked-out exterior lights display, but you have yet to complete your outside holiday lighting. Attaching tiny bulbs that dangle two or three stories in the air isn’t always easy. While physical safety is of paramount importance, you should also consider your fastening strategy. Will Christmas lights damage gutter guards?
The Short Answer: Maybe
Christmas lights are a magical element of the holiday season, but they can be a pain to disentangle and hang up each year. While you may have years of experience hanging lights around your home, attaching them to your gutters requires more nuanced attention. If you just start stapling and nailing lights to your roof, fascia, and gutters, you could do more damage than you realize. The short answer to the prevailing questions is yes; you can damage gutter guards if you attach lights incorrectly. Otherwise, they’re safe and fun to place around your gutters.
Use Special Light Clips
If you want to hang your Christmas lights the right way, you need to use special light clips. Depending on your gutter guard system, you’ll have metal mesh or a pock-holed plate covering the gutter opening. This material is durable against gently falling leaves and pounding rain but doesn’t do well with haphazardly arranged nails, staples, or hooks that pull at odd angles. Since lights will pull in the wind and grow heavy when laden with rain and snow, they must fasten to the gutter with specially made light clips.
bove, On, and Below Attachment Styles
You can secure your Christmas lights to your gutters in three ways: above, on, and below. For the first option, you can attach lights above the gutter altogether and clip them to your shingles. Be careful not to nail or staple anything to your shingles, or you risk voiding your roof warranty. For the second option, you can attach the clips directly on your gutter’s lip underneath the gutter guard. This way, the lights don’t interfere with the guard, and the guard continues to keep debris at bay. The final option is to use an adhesive clip underneath the gutter, utilizing the gutter’s unique positioning without putting its structural integrity at risk.
As the holiday season gets into full swing, the question on many homeowners’ minds will be: “Will Christmas lights damage gutter guards?” Now, you have a quick and helpful answer to alleviate worries and avoid disaster. If you need help assessing or fixing your gutters before or after attaching your Christmas lights, reach out to our experts at Gutter Maid for professional gutter cover installation.
The post Will Christmas Lights Damage Gutter Guards? appeared first on GutterMaid.
Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.allamericagutter.com/?p=171
