Ah, fall. It's a beautiful season marked by colorful leaves, pumpkins, and cooler temperatures. It's also a really important season for home maintenance. After all, the weather is only going to get harsher as the months go on. Time spent preparing and maintaining your home in the fall will save you from damage and repairs in the winter. This especially applies to your gutters. 

Why Fall Gutter Care Is So Important

Your gutters exist to protect your home — multiple parts of your home. By giving water a way to drain off your roof, they keep your roof dryer and prevent water damage. Caring for your gutters in the fall will ensure they don't fill with ice and water once winter comes. In effect, this will guard against roof damage and roof leaks.

Gutters also protect your home's foundation. The water is meant to run through the downspouts and be deposited a few feet away from the base of your home. This keeps your home's foundation and the area around that foundation dry. As a result, your basement stays dryer, and you're less prone to problems like pest infestation and mold growth.

Gutters protect your siding, too. They ensure water does not run down the siding, causing stains. This is particularly important in the winter, when water running down the siding could freeze, expand, and damage the siding in the process.

Finally, gutters exist to protect your landscaping. If water were to instead tumble over the edge of your roof, it could wash mulch and soil out of your garden beds, leaving you lots of cleanup work to do in the spring.

Of course, do do these jobs well, your gutters need to be clean and in good repair. Thus, you should clean them and look them over for damage every autumn.

How to Clean and Maintain Your Gutters

Cleaning gutters is pretty simple as long as you're comfortable climbing up on a ladder. Have someone hold the ladder for safety. Bring a bucket with you, and wear a vinyl or latex glove on one hand. Reach into the gutter, and grab any debris you come across. Put it into your bucket. Move a bit further down, and remove more grime. Keep going until you have cleared the whole gutter. Then, rinse any final debris out by dumping a bucket of water down the gutter.

While you're cleaning your gutters, keep an eye out for these common gutter problems:

• Holes in the gutters
• Detached downspouts
• Clogged downspouts
• Missing gutter hangers
• Sagging gutters

If you notice any of these issues, have a gutter contractor come fix them before winter comes.

A little gutter maintenance can go a long way in the fall. If you are looking for someone to come clean, inspect, and make minor repairs to your gutters, contact Hassle Free Home Services. Our helpful technicians can make sure you and your home are taken care of this season.