I have a confession to make.  My wife and I have lived in our little house on Butterville Road for almost four years, and I have yet to clean the gutters.  It's gotten so bad, a bush is growing in there!  If you're like me, instead of working you've been lying around dreading winter.  Trouble is, we're running out of time.  Before long, the first snow will be melting in the afternoon sun, either down the spout, as it should be, or back onto your roof, down your walls, and into your basement.  Time to get off the couch one last time and make the charge!

Gutters are an important part of your home's weatherproofing system.  They are also the most often neglected.  I'm not sure why that is, except, to my eye, they just look like they should work (which is precisely why my toilet hasn't worked properly for two years).  The fact is, you should clean and repair your gutters twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall.

Access is your first challenge.  (If you have a particularly steep or high roof, or happen to be one of the 46 million people in this country without health care, I recommend that you hire a professional.) If the ground around your house is relatively level, and you have a friend to help you, you may want to rent scaffolding.  Scaffolding comes in seven-foot sections five feet high, so you'll need two of them, which will cost you about $30 for the week.  (Be sure to get the kind with adjustable legs.) It's easy to assemble, and once you're up there, you'll marvel at just how smart you feel.  (You may even want to have lunch up there.) If the ground around your house is uneven, you'll have to go the ladder route.  You can rent one of those, too, if the one you have isn't big enough.  A couple of blocks of wood will serve to keep it off the gutter, which will dent if you lean against it, or you can buy a gutter attachment that will serve the same purpose with greater ease.

Now, if you want to do this right, the next thing you'll need is a power washer, which you can rent, along with the scaffolding and ladder.  An extendable wand will allow you to clean 10 feet in either direction.  A chemical injector will allow you to use a biodegradable cleaning solution to get rid of mold and Civil War - era dirt.

Before you start "terminating," you need to make sure that your downspouts are connected and running properly away from your house.  There is typically a screen at the top of the spout, which you should remove and clean.  (If you don't have a screen up there, install one before you come down.) Pay particular attention to your downspout.  If leaves and debris are clogging it, water won't drain properly, and along with mildew and mud you'll end up with sagging gutters.  If your spout is clogged, you may have to disassemble it to clear it.  Remember to use silicone sealer around the attachments before you refit them.

The last time I cleaned my gutters, I used a golf ball fetcher to drag out the big stuff.  If you're not a golfer, you can buy or rent an extension pole with a small rake attachment; otherwise, duct-tape a heavy rag to the end of a broom handle.  Drag the goop toward you and scoop it out into a bucket.  (Incidentally, decomposed leaves make great mulch or compost.)

Once you've got all the heavy stuff out, you're ready to start washing.  Make sure you're in a stable position before you pull the trigger, since a good power washer comes with a kick.  If you're not using a power washer, rinse the rag on the end of your pole, dip it in a light bleach solution, and scrub.

Next, check the spikes that attach the gutter to your house.  Keep a hammer with you to bang in the loose spikes, and carry a few extras with you to replace any that are missing.  Look for sources of any leaks while you're up there, including holes in the gutters and cracked caulking in the seams.  Use an old chisel to scrape the old caulking out and dry the area thoroughly.  Then use new bead silicon sealing to keep water from getting down behind the gutters and rotting the boards.  Check out the rivets on the downspout.  Frequently they'll be loose or will have dropped out completely.  You can buy a rivet gun for about $20 and repair them yourself (rivet guns are handy for all sorts of things, by the way), or just buy a new downspout for about the same amount.  But don't empty your pockets two months before Christmas!

November promises to be an interesting month.  When your gutters are done, don't forget to vote.