As Fall comes into view, it is a good time to start thinking of preparing our homes for winter. Since the warm days of fall go by so quickly a few simple tasks to prepare the outside of our home for a hopefully rainy season should start with getting the gutters around your home cleaned. When your gutters are full of grime and debris, the rainwater cannot be channeled away from your home. This leaves your roofline, your siding, your windows and even your foundation vulnerable to water damage. Overflowing gutters will damage your property’s landscaping and gardens you worked so hard on during the spring and summer months. The overflow will settle around your foundation seeping under the house or into basements or lower levels of the home. Clogged gutters that do not have gutter guards can also become comfortable nesting sites for birds, mice and insects. If you have not already installed some type of gutter guards on your gutters, now is the perfect time to tackle that project yourself or hire someone to do it all for you. Don’t wait until a rainstorm and you have a waterfall feature as part of your new landscape. Find everything you need to clean, repair and replace your gutters at Pete’s Hardware. Keep in mind, gutter cleaning is one of the best things you can do to keep your home protected.