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Securely mounting lights to the roof


olmsb4d2

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I want to add a large star to the peak of my roof and am unsure how to secure it without damaging the roof of the house. The roof is a typical asphalt shingle which happens to be brand new since a hail storm blew through here a few weeks ago. The star will be about 4 x 3 feet and is wire framed with 6 channels.



Thanks for the help

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olmsb4d2 wrote:

I want to add a large star to the peak of my roof and am unsure how to secure it without damaging the roof of the house. The roof is a typical asphalt shingle which happens to be brand new since a hail storm blew through here a few weeks ago. The star will be about 4 x 3 feet and is wire framed with 6 channels.



Thanks for the help


Check out this link!

http://www.holdman.com/christmas/star/

Richard Holdman has a great way to do what you want. I think its just what your looking for.

Good Luck...


Attached files 255178=13995-starwork-04.jpg
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Great star and great directions on his website. Thanks...I was hoping it didn't entail hauling sandbags up on the roof but I should have known better.

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I used the same wooden frame as Holdman but had one of the wire frame stars on my roof and did not use any sand bags and had no problems. The wire frame stars have much less wind resistence

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I purchased a non-penetrating roof-mount satellite dish stand and attached my 5' star to that. Expensive but worked very well.

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ny_yankee_25 wrote:


Note that it requires a concrete block ballast, which you would still have to carry up on the roof!
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Thats my error. I also see its designed for flat roofs, too. They did not have one, but was there one out there for peaked roofs?

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One of these is the peak-mount model I have.

Baird Mounts

My star is a wire frame so howling winds don't exert a lot of force on it. I did attach 4 one gallon milk jugs fill with water (which froze) to the base but probably didn't need them. The weight of the frame was enough to keep it stable.

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I just screw that frame into my roof, chaulk when I take things down. Most times I end up using he same holes! Never ever had a leak. The chaulk will out live the shingles. Upm that doesn't answer your question....:)

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CKSedg wrote:

ny_yankee_25 wrote:

Note that it requires a concrete block ballast, which you would still have to carry up on the roof!


I would strongly recommend avoiding concrete blocks on the roof. It they ever let loose, it could be disasterous for folks on the ground...

If going the ballast route, you are safer using sandbags..
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Anyone ever use dryer vents on the roof?

I have M5 bulbs that I am using on my roof and since I can not get them all to face forward, I was thinking of mounting them on the roof inside a dryer vent, like folks are using with the arches.

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David Rise wrote:

I have M5 bulbs that I am using on my roof...

I hot-glued my C5 LED bulbs to the roof. Most were good for 3 years; they're practically invisible unless you look hard (unlike icicles which are seen on some houses around here all year); I don't have to worry about storage or crawling on a wet roof in October.
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Steven wrote:

David Rise wrote:
I have M5 bulbs that I am using on my roof...

I hot-glued my C5 LED bulbs to the roof. Most were good for 3 years; they're practically invisible unless you look hard (unlike icicles which are seen on some houses around here all year); I don't have to worry about storage or crawling on a wet roof in October.

Steve, how well do you think the wiring is holding up to the UV, given the amount of sun you guys get?
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Guest Don Gillespie

I happen to have a metal roof ( which I installed specifically for Christmas lights) so I can loosen the screws and attach anything I want, and when I am done I just retighten the screws, however if you have a roof with shingles the best thing to do is with a flat bar you can loosen the tabs on the shingles ( it has to be warm to do this) then lift the shingle up as long as you put a screw in the middle of the shingle it will not hurt your roof do not put a screw through the shingle you lifted only the shingle under that.

when you have the item attached that you want you can retab the shingle using blackjack this would be an extreme case and you have to be comfortable on a roof other wise I would use some of the other suggestions that the guys have offered on this thread.

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Greg Young wrote:

Steve, how well do you think the wiring is holding up to the UV, given the amount of sun you guys get?

I replaced one of the strings this year (because the old string used removable (socketed) bulbs that rusted; I won't make that mistake again!) The old string is still sitting in a wastebasket in the garage. I'll have to take a closer look at it this weekend.

Most of the UV damage I've seen makes the wire get "powdery." It still works as long as I don't flex it much.
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Steven wrote:

Greg Young wrote:
Steve, how well do you think the wiring is holding up to the UV, given the amount of sun you guys get?

I replaced one of the strings this year (because the old string used removable (socketed) bulbs that rusted; I won't make that mistake again!) The old string is still sitting in a wastebasket in the garage. I'll have to take a closer look at it this weekend.

Most of the UV damage I've seen makes the wire get "powdery." It still works as long as I don't flex it much.


That's been my experience also, and I don't get near the amount of sun you guys do!

We know most light strings are "officially" only rated only for seasonal (3 months or less) continuous use.
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I actually used angle steel... way easier to haul up on the roof and way more flexible in terms of what you can use to mount to it. Because it's got all the slots and holes, you can basically create infinite angles. If you have a pitched roof, secure one piece of angle steel to the roof (roofing sealant the hell out of it)..then take 2 other pieces and make a triangle. hinge at the 3 points with some bolts with locking washers. Then adjust the triangle to the angle you need. Paint it black and you can't see it. (the bottoms of my triangles are permanently attached to my roof year round). To hold up each of those fireworks in my 4th of july show, i used 2 of the triangles described above about 6 inches apart from one another. Worked great.

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