If you're like most people in Rochester I'm sure that you have found the recent rain both good and bad. Lawns all around town getting greener and greener along with with many basements. One way to keep the rain in your yard and out of your basement is by keeping your gutters and downspouts properly maintained.

Gutters and downspouts filled with debris can back up, causing roof leaks, rot at the overhang, and structural damage.

Once a year, you need to get up on the ladder and give those gutters and downspouts a good cleaning. Gutters that have not been cleaned for a while may be filled with a mud-like substance, which you can scoop out with a small garden trowel or a putty knife. You may even want to invest in a gutter scoop (a plastic trowel-like scoop made especially for cleaning gutters).

After you remove the majority of the debris, flush the rest away using a garden hose with a spray nozzle. If the water pressure at your place is insufficient, you can rent a small pressure washer to help flush out debris.