How to Decorate for the Holidays Without Damaging Your House
Without holiday decorations in the fall and winter months, your house becomes the “Scrooge” of the block. What many homeowners don’t realize, though, is that decorating for the holidays potentially damages your home. Nails, staples, and other hanging solutions create permanent pinholes in your home’s exterior structure. These little holes might seem harmless, but they can lead to severe problems.
Thankfully, there are many easy ways to avoid damaging your home while still using all the decorations you’d like for this holiday season. Take the time to educate yourself and buy the necessary tools so you can be responsibly festive this year.
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Stop Stapling and Nailing On Your Lights
One of the most popular ways to decorate your home for the holidays is to hang string lights. Lights hanging along rooflines, windows, and doors highlight the architectural beauty of your house and create holiday joy for everyone in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, many homeowners unknowingly use staples to fix the lights onto their homes, which can cause serious damage. Many also screw or hammer in other installation solutions, which create holes and apply damaging blows to the materials.
Staples and other metal tools can rust easily, especially in the winter season when exposed to large quantities of rain, snow, and ice. Any holes in your shingles, siding, and trim are opportunities for cracks and water damage. Staples and nails are also temporary solutions, as they’ll need to be removed and reapplied every year, adding to the amount of damage.
Instead, try buying dedicated light clips that are designed to come on and off easily without altering the outside of your home. You can also try using clothespins if you can’t find clips. For railings and poles, try wrapping the lights around so that they naturally grip without needing extra support.
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Use Suction Cups and Over-the-door Hangers
Aside from lights, wreaths and other hanging decorations are very popular ways to dress up windows and doors. Hanging these decorations without damaging your home can be tricky without the proper equipment.
To decorate your windows, try using suction cups to avoid damaging your glass and trim. Make sure you invest in a high-quality suction cup, as they will be exposed to the outdoors and will need enough power to hold weight for a long time. For door decorations, buy over-the-door hangers instead of applying the decoration directly to the door or the door jamb. These hangers might be visible above the decoration you are hanging, so look for ones that are also decorative and you don’t mind seeing.
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Protect Your Exterior Walls With Clips
Instead of damaging your brick or siding to hang signs and other decorations, you can buy brick clips or siding clips. Homeowners can affix these clips between the slats in their siding or to the top of their bricks to hang decorations without creating holes. These clips are available in many different types of material and styles so that they aren’t noticeable or they enhance the look of your decorations.
Keep the Holidays Jolly With Advance Inc.
The last thing you need during your cozy fireside nights is to realize you’ve damaged your home’s exterior when decorating. To avoid needing to schedule a repair during the busy season, make sure you’re equipped with house-friendly decorating solutions. Of course, if there is any damage to your exterior that concerns you, don’t hesitate to call Advance Inc. for an expert assessment and quote.
Contact Advance Inc. right away to get your home’s structural integrity back on track after any holiday damage.