Let's talk about gutters. Specifically, let's talk about the gutters you have been meaning to check since last fall and somehow still haven't gotten around to. No judgment — life got busy, winter came and went, and the gutters just kind of… stayed up there, quietly doing whatever gutters do when no one is watching.

Here is the thing though. What gutters do when no one is watching is collect every leaf, twig, shingle granule, seed pod, and mystery debris that your yard and the sky above it have to offer. And once enough of that accumulates, your gutters stop doing their actual job — which is to move water away from your home — and start doing a completely different job, which is to hold water against your home and cause a truly impressive amount of expensive damage.

The good news is that checking and cleaning your gutters is one of those home maintenance tasks that sounds more intimidating than it actually is. It does not require special skills. It does not require expensive equipment. It mostly just requires a free afternoon, a ladder, some gloves you don't mind getting dirty, and the knowledge that it actually needs to be done.

So let's start there.

How Do You Know If Your Gutters Actually Need Cleaning?

You don't have to climb up on a ladder to get a general idea of whether your gutters need attention. There are several signs you can spot from the ground — or just by paying attention to what happens when it rains.

Watch them during a rainstorm. This is the easiest check you can do, and you can do it in your pajamas from the window if you want to. When it rains, water should be flowing out through your downspouts. If instead you are seeing water pouring over the sides of the gutters like a waterfall, or if no water seems to be coming out of the downspouts at all, that is a very clear sign that something is blocking the flow. And if your gutters have screens or guards on them, don't assume you're in the clear — debris can still accumulate on top of the screens and block the flow just as effectively.

Look for plants growing in your gutters. If you can see grass or weeds sprouting out of your gutters from the ground, that means there is enough dirt and decomposed debris up there to literally grow things. That needs to go.

Check for sagging. Gutters that are full of wet, packed debris are heavy. Walk around your home and look at your gutters from below. If you notice any sections that appear to be pulling away from the house, drooping in the middle, or visibly sagging, the weight of the debris is likely the culprit. This is the kind of thing that turns into a bigger, more expensive fix if you wait too long.

Look at the ground near your foundation. If you notice water stains on your siding, erosion in the soil right next to your house, or areas where the ground stays perpetually soggy after it rains, that is often a sign that water is overflowing from clogged gutters and draining straight down alongside your home instead of being directed away from it. This is the kind of thing that leads to foundation problems, and foundation problems are nobody's favorite kind of problem.

Know your timeline. As a general rule, gutters should be cleaned at least twice a year — once in the spring after everything has bloomed and dropped, and once in the fall after the leaves are done falling. If you have a lot of trees near your home, especially pine trees (those needles get into everything), you may need to clean them more frequently. If it's been longer than six months since you've done it, it's probably time regardless of what the gutters look like from the ground.

What Happens If You Just… Don't?

Great question. Let's say life gets busy again and the gutters go another season without being cleaned. Here's the short version of what you could be looking at:

Water that can't flow through clogged gutters has to go somewhere, and it almost always goes somewhere you don't want it to. It overflows down your siding, which leads to rot and water stains. It pools at your foundation, which leads to cracks, moisture intrusion, and the kind of basement flooding that requires a shop vac and some choice bad words you know you shouldn't be using. It backs up under your roof line, which leads to fascia damage, soffit rot, and in the worst cases, water finding its way into your attic and walls. (Foreign words to you? Soffit is  the horizontal board located beneath the roof's overhang, which helps  with ventilation and protects the rafters from moisture. Fascia is the vertical board at the edge of the roof that supports the gutters and protects the roofline from weather damage.)

All of this from not cleaning out some leaves. It sounds dramatic until you're looking at a repair estimate, and then it sounds exactly right.

How to Clean Your Gutters Safely

Alright, you've confirmed the gutters need cleaning. Here is how to do it without turning a simple maintenance task into a trip to urgent care.

What you'll need:

• A sturdy ladder (more on this in a moment)

• Work gloves — thick rubber or leather ones if you have them

• A gutter scoop or small plastic trowel

• A bucket or trash bag

• A garden hose with a spray nozzle

• Someone to spot you from the ground if possible

Ladder safety first — and yes, this matters.

The ladder is where most gutter-cleaning injuries happen, and not because people fall off — it's because people set them up wrong. Use a sturdy, stable ladder that is tall enough to reach your gutters without you having to stand on the top two rungs. Set it on firm, level ground. If the ground near your house is soft or uneven, use a ladder leveler or stabilizer — they are inexpensive and make a real difference. Never lean the ladder directly against the gutter itself, because gutters are not designed to bear that kind of weight and they will bend or pull away from the house. Use a ladder stand-off or place the ladder against the fascia board instead.

If you have a two-story home, this is the part where it might be worth calling a professional rather than tackling it yourself. There is no shame in knowing where your comfort level with heights ends. Your gutters are not worth a broken wrist.

Scoop the big stuff out first.

Put on your gloves — you will be very glad you did — and start scooping. Work from the end of the gutter that is farthest from the downspout, moving toward it. This way you are pushing debris in the direction it needs to go rather than packing it tighter as you go. Toss the debris into your bucket or bag as you go. Honest warning:  it will likely be wet, heavy, and smell about as unpleasant as you would expect something to smell after sitting in the dark accumulating for months.

Flush with the hose.

Once the bulk of the debris is out, use your garden hose to flush the gutter from the far end toward the downspout. This does two things: it clears out the smaller debris and residue left behind, and it lets you see whether the water is flowing freely through the downspout. If water is backing up or draining slowly, you may have a clog in the downspout itself.

Do a final inspection while you're up there.

Since you're already on the ladder, take a few minutes to look things over. Check for any sections of gutter that are pulling away from the fascia, sagging, or visibly rusted or cracked. Look at the caulking at the joints between sections — if it's cracked or missing, that's where leaks happen. Check that your downspout extensions are still directing water at least three to four feet away from the house. These are small things to spot now that become much bigger things if they're ignored.

The Bottom Line

Cleaning your gutters is one of those maintenance tasks that never feels urgent right up until the moment it becomes very urgent. The good news is it takes a couple of hours, costs almost nothing, and doing it consistently twice a year can save you from some genuinely expensive headaches down the road.

If climbing a ladder isn't your thing, or if your home is more than one story, this is also an extremely easy task to hire out. It is not expensive to have someone come clean your gutters, and knowing it gets done properly is worth every penny.

We would love to come take over the risk and the hassle for you! Go to www.readymyproperty.com or call 

(866) 770-5546 to get started.

Either way — get them done before summer gets here. Your foundation, your roof, and your future self will all thank you.