Christmas light clips for shingles and gutters.
What holds lights on a roof edge, and what puts a hole in it.
- Insured
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What two roofing makers say
No holes
No nail, staple or screw through roofing. IKO adds gutters and the fascia.
What clips should you use to hang Christmas lights on shingles and gutters?
Plastic clips that hook over the gutter lip, or grip the shingle edge where there is no gutter, never nails, staples or screws. IKO and CertainTeed, two roofing makers, both say a hole through roofing can leak, and IKO adds that holes in fascia can rot. We hang Christmas lights around Annapolis.
Sources: IKO and CertainTeed. Checked October 8, 2026.
Where a clip holds.
Over the gutter lip.
IKO says plastic clips that hug the gutter leave no lasting mark.
On the shingle edge.
With no gutter, on the drip edge or shingle, never lifting it.
Along the peak.
A peak clip perches on the ridge and grips the shingle edge.
Never under a shingle.
A clip tucked under a shingle can lift it off the one below.
Rather have them put up?
Seasonal Christmas lights
One payment: lights up, fixes all season, taken down after New Year's.
Tool Measure your roofline
Add up the edges you want lit, in feet.
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Hire an installer or hang your own
When a ladder job is worth handing over.
Questions
Can you staple Christmas lights to a roof?
No. CertainTeed's roofing product manager warns that any nail, screw or staple through roofing materials can lead to damaging leaks. One staple misfire can also ruin a whole strand of lights.
Do magnetic Christmas lights work on a house?
Only on iron and steel. CertainTeed notes that magnetic lights will not stick to aluminum.
How do you hang lights on vinyl siding?
With vinyl siding clips, which slide in under the siding and lift right off after the holidays, CertainTeed says. No nails and no glue.
What is the safe way to take Christmas lights down?
One clip at a time, the way they went up. Pulling on the string can pull down gutters and damage a shingle roof, IKO warns. CertainTeed adds that clips come off without the tugging stapled wires need. When we put lights up, we take them down after New Year's too.
What keeps roof lights safe to plug in?
Keep every connection clean and dry, CertainTeed says, and read the instructions that come with the lights.
Get a free estimate.
We put up Christmas lights around Annapolis and on Kent Island, and take them down after New Year's. Send the address.
