10 Holiday Roof Decorating Safety Tips
There will be many holiday decorations this time of year. For the majority, this entails decking out homes with lights both inside and out. You should use caution when adding decorations to your roof. Winter implies ice, snow, and chilly weather, after all. Pay heed to these holiday decorating safety advice from Fast Roofing to keep you safe and sound—and your home looking festive as ever. After all, the last thing you want for the holidays is to fall off the roof and damage yourself.
Choose Good Weather
Many homeowners experience snow, ice, and blustery winter winds at this time of year. When the weather makes climbing onto your roof hazardous, use common sense and refrain from doing so. It is never a good idea to stroll around on the roof in bad weather, regardless of the amount of safety equipment you own or the number of people that are watching you from the ground.
Don’t Be Alone
Always have a friend, family member, or neighbor spot you from the ground when performing any roof maintenance, whether it be gutter cleaning, shingle inspection, or hanging seasonal roof decorations. Your spotter can help you out by making sure you’re safe if something were to happen while you’re adorning your roof.
Ladder Safety
On a nice and moderate day, once you start working on installing the roof decorations, keep in mind that safety doesn’t just pertain to the temperature. Follow all of the typical safety precautions when using a ladder, such as making sure it is firmly placed on level ground, keeping three points of contact at all times, and checking the ladder’s stability and quality before you climb.
Check All Bulbs
Untangle your lights and make sure all of the bulbs are functional before you start! Making sure the bulbs are in order before hanging them will save you the hassle of dealing with them later, and ensuring there are no tangles before hanging will reduce the chance of mishaps when using your ladder.
Don’t Overload Your Outlets
During this holiday, stay away from crowded outlets and protect your family and house. Per extension cord, you should only use three sets of standard lights; also, the extension cord should be made for outdoor use.
Check all Lights
Checking your lights and all of the little bulbs on the various strands might be tiresome, but by doing so, you can make sure nothing will spark and, in the worst-case scenario, cause a house fire or result in an electrical shock. By inspecting your strands, you should find any frayed wires, broken bulbs, or missing bulbs with exposed sockets. It is better (and faster) to completely replace a strand if it meets the criteria for all three issues. Making this a yearly ritual will make it less irritating the next year.
Avoid Your Power Lines
You may believe that you can simply avoid the nearby electricity poles and lines, but if you are mistaken, the results could be fatal. You should avoid areas where power lines are close to your trees or roof. Keep yourself, your ladder, and your decorations far enough away from those power wires when decorating your roof.
Use GFCI Outlets
When it comes to preventing fires this season, make sure to put all of your outside lights (or inflatables) into GFCI-protected circuits. Ground fault circuit interrupters, or GFCIs, are devices. These outlets help to break the divergent currents of the hot and neutral wires, preventing electric shock. This not only makes it safer for you, but these GFCI circuits also help safeguard your house.
Anchor Your Lights
Christmas light hooks are the ideal accessory to use when securing your lights. Avoid using tiles or shingles as anchor points because doing so could result in broken or curled shingles. These hooks are reasonably priced and can be purchased from a few retailers, including Target, Home Depot, and Amazon.
Be Careful
When decking out your home for the holidays, we advise against going along the roof. But if you must, go with caution! Rushing or taking big steps can seriously jeopardize your safety while also damaging your roof.
We Can Help!
Your old roof can be replaced with a new roof by our skilled personnel. You’ll receive triple-layer protection, outstanding wind resistance, and a gorgeous design with the new roof, all of which will significantly raise the value and curb appeal of your house. Talk to one of our experts right now.