Use clips that grip the front edge of the gutter, or clips that attach to the soffit below it, so nothing touches the guard. Alu-Rex, maker of the guards we install, recommends those two clip styles and no screws or nails. Plug the strings into a GFCI-protected outlet.
Leave the guard alone. Hang the lights from the front lip of the gutter or from the soffit underneath it.
Backed by Wood & Wood Seamless Gutters, more than 30 years in the gutter business.
Why the guard is the wrong place to clip
A clip pushed through a guard, or a hook bent over it, can lift the guard's edge out of its seat. A lifted edge lets leaves into the channel. Screws and nails let water into the fascia.
Option one: clips on the gutter's front lip
Holiday light clips made for the gutter's rolled front edge wrap around it and hold the string just in front of the gutter. Alu-Rex's own guidance for its guards is to use these clips, which let you hang lights without touching or damaging the protection system.
Check that each clip seats on the lip itself, not on the guard. If a clip will only stay on by gripping the guard, switch that run to soffit clips.
Option two: clips on the soffit
Soffit clips attach to the flat board under the overhang and hang the string below the gutter. Alu-Rex suggests this route because it avoids the gutter's fastening system and the guard entirely.
Safety on the ladder and the circuit
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's guidance: use lights certified for outdoor use. Plug outdoor lights into circuits protected by a ground-fault circuit interrupter. Keep away from the power line to the house. Turn the lights off when you go to bed. In January, CPSC says never to tug on the strings; unclip each by hand.
Call to install: every step
Three ways to start
- Call (617) 401-9301. It is answered any hour, and a missed call gets called back.
- Send the short form on the home page with your street address, and your number lands in your inbox.
- Text or chat through the chat window on this site.
Understand what you actually need
About fifteen minutes on the phone: the length of the roofline, the number of stories and the trees around the house. The roofline is measured remotely, so nobody comes to the house to sell. You get your price the same day, from the published per-foot rates.
- Gutters still in good shape: Gutter Clean Pro goes over the gutters you already have, from $18/ft.
- Gutters that need replacing: new gutters with the guard built in. T-Rex (continuous hanger) from $25/ft, or DoublePro (two filtration layers) from $30/ft.
- Fascia that cannot be drilled: Hover Pro, quoted for your house.
- Complex rooflines, third stories and copper are quoted separately, and we say so on the call, never after arrival.
Your plan, in writing
You get a written quote and your StormRail plan: photos of your house, the system, the gutter size and your color choices. The certified installer works from that same plan, so you and the installer are never on different pages.
A deposit capped at one third
Massachusetts law caps a home-improvement deposit at one third of the contract. We hold to that in every state we work in. Your quote names the exact figure before you pay anything.
Material ordered and confirmed
Your Alu-Rex system is ordered through the Alu-Rex distributor and confirmed before an install date is set, so the date you get is one the material can meet.
Scheduled with a certified installer in your county
A certified Alu-Rex installer working in your area takes the job, and you get the date without chasing anyone. In season we're typically booking four to six weeks out. We'd rather tell you that now than promise you Tuesday and send whoever happened to be free. Emergency work — a collapsed run, active water in the basement — gets triaged ahead of the queue.
Installed
The installer fits the system on the plan you already approved. Any balance is due as your quote states.
After the install
We check in after the job is done. Each system carries its own written Alu-Rex warranty:
- Gutter Clean Pro: manufacturing lifetime limited, clog performance lifetime limited, including coniferous areas
- T-Rex: manufacturing lifetime limited, clog performance 25-year prorated limited
- DoublePro: manufacturing lifetime limited, clog performance lifetime limited, including coniferous areas
Questions homeowners ask
Will hanging lights void my gutter guard warranty?
Alu-Rex's guidance is lip or soffit clips that never touch the guard, and no screws or nails.
Do you hang holiday lights?
No. We install gutter guards and seamless gutters.
What do your guards cost if I do not have them yet?
Gutter Clean Pro goes over sound gutters from $18 a foot installed. Call (617) 401-9301 and we price the roofline on the call.
Compare the systems before you call: all gutter guards, Gutter Clean Pro, T-Rex, DoublePro, and the full price list.
Sources
- Alu-Rex: Holiday lights and gutter guards alu-rex.com/en/blog/holiday-lights-gutter-guards
- U.S. CPSC: Holiday season decorating safety tips www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/News-Releases/2005/CPSC-Announces-Holiday-Season-Decorating-Safety-Tips
Get a number for your roofline
One call is enough to start: the address, how many stories, and what grows over the roof. The published per-foot rate is the starting point, and the full scope and total are confirmed in writing before you pay anything.
Call (617) 401-9301