Christmas Light Installation Tips

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year but installing Christmas lights can be a tedious and dangerous task if done incorrectly. Each Christmas season there are over 15,000 related accidents that result in injuries due to holiday decorating and far more accounts of hair pulling, stressful people who are untangling lights, ruing back and forth to the store for clips, cords, and accessories.

Christmas Wonderlights wants to ensure as a professional Christmas light installation company that we help do it yourselfers in Katy and Fort Bend to take the proper safety precautions while decorating your home and working with electrical equipment, starting with sharing our tis on ladder safety. Every season ER see thousands of people injured and hundreds killed while using a ladder.

The first step is to check your local weather report as standing on a ladder during high winds can cause you to lose your balance, in addition rain and light drizzles can cause your ladder to become slippery so when your installing your Christmas lights make sure to pick a dry day with little to no wind. Ext you wat to properly inspect your ladder, may ladders do not get much use. Take your ladder out of the garage ad give it a once over to make sure its in good shape ad that you have the appropriate size ladder for the job. Different jobs require your ladder to be different heights. If your ladder is only tall enough to clean gutters or windows and your having to stand on the top steps you will want to invest in a taller ladder. Standing on the top step is not recommended for Fort Bend homeowners. Your ladder can become too unstable and one wrong move can send you to the ER. The ladder should extend three feet above the roof elevation without having to stretch. Over stretching on a ladder can cause the ladder to kick out from under you ad leave you hanging on the gutters. We also recommend ladder stabilizers, a ladder stabilizer, you want to make sure when installing your Christmas lights that the ladder is firmly at the top to prevent it from slipping sideways or the foot from slipping outwards, you ca do this by bracing or tie off the ladder near the base. If there is no structure to tie off too, use a stake in the ground. Also take extra precautions near doorways that ca open towards the ladder, let your family know not to use the door when your stringing the holiday lights and always make calculated moves when working on a ladder to hanging your Christmas lights. Before making your next move, THINK! You want to move slowly as sudden jerks can cause you to lose your balance.

It’s also important to THINK how you will operate while working from your ladder. Don’t risk a fall by being careless!

· Choose a location that is not close to any power lines. Coming into contact with live power lines can be deadly!

· Place your ladder in an obstruction free zone and keep your ladder on level ground when hanging lights. Also avoid slippery surfaces like wet grass.

· Always face towards the direction of the ladder, never try to walk yourself up backwards.

· Make sure the rungs are dry and wear slip resistant shoes when working on ladders and rooftops.

· On an extension ladder stand on the 4th step this is the safest level.

· Move the ladder when necessary but don’t overreach. If your belt buckle crosses to ether side of the ladder your reaching too far.

· Keep the distance between the foot of the extension ladder and the wall to no more than 1/4 to 1/3 of the height of the wall that you are scaling.

Next week we will cover more on safely installing your holiday décor and Christmas lights in the Katy and Fort Bend area or if you would like to avoid all the hassle call your professional Christmas light installers for a free quote. 281-545-7740 or www.ehehomes.com