Keeping Snow And Ice Off Your Roof While Keeping Your Holiday Lights On: A Handy Guide

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Christmas lights and snow look so pretty together, especially when the lights are sparkling rainbow colors off the snow. When you put lights on your roof, you can enjoy the same effect, except that snow and ice on your roof is not exactly good for this part of your home. You want to keep the snow and ice to a bare minimum in order to protect your roof, and subsequently, the rest of your house. Here is a guide that will help you keep snow and ice off your roof, according to most roofing contractors, while still keeping your holiday lights on the house and all aglow. 

Secure the Lights with Special Light Hanging Clips

A lot of people do untold damage to their roofs by using nails and metal hook fasteners to hang holiday lights on their roofs. The problem with these methods is that it opens up your roof to leaks, which then lead to damaged wood underneath the shingles. Use special light clips designed for holding the lights in place while simultaneously clipping onto the roof and lower shingles themselves.

Use a Roof Shovel to Pull Down Heavy Snow

Roof shovels are unique devices. They have very long handles to provide greater reach up to the roof of most second-story homes and are great for single-level homes too. One side of the shovel is equipped with wheels so that as you pull the snow down with the shovel, the wheels prevent the edge of the shovel from pulling shingles off of the roof. (If you have a flat roof that you can get to safely, you can scoop snow off the roof, but be careful not to dig too hard at the accumulated snow and ice on the flat roof.)

Ask a Roofing Contractor to Install Roof Heating Cables

Roof heating cables can be installed all the way around the bottom edge of your roof. This keeps snow and ice melted and prevents accumulation and ice dams. As an added bonus, it also prevents your holiday lights from getting buried under mounds of accumulated snow hanging off of the roof.

The cables loop back and forth vertically and can be plugged into the nearest outdoor outlet. The cord is grounded so that you do not have to worry about melted ice and snow causing an electrical catastrophe. If you want a more permanent solution, the roofing contractor can install heating cables underneath your shingles that you can switch on with a flip of an electrical switch in your home's electrical box at the start of each new winter season.

For more information about roofing, contact a company like Ray's Harford Home Improvement Contractors Inc.

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