Gutter maintenance is not a favorite household task for many homeowners - especially those who have a fear of heights. However, learning to inspect and clean your gutters now can save you plenty of money down the road. How? Clogged gutters allow water to spill over the edges and pool near the foundation of your home.

Soaker hoses that keep the soil around your foundation from drying out are a good thing. A flood of water that turns the entire area into mud can be very bad. Unstable soil conditions may cause your foundation to shift - repairs can cost thousands of dollars. To avoid this, follow these simple steps:

• Trim your trees so that the branches end 3 feet from the edge of your roof. This will limit the amount of leaf and twig debris that falls into your gutters.
• Put on your rain coat and do a full inspection of your gutters during your next heavy rain storm. Note areas where water is running over the sides instead of down the spouts. These are indications of clogging. Also, look for seams that are not properly sealed. These will be dripping.
• Set up your ladder and test it for stability before climbing up to look in your gutters. Have a friend or family member standing by just in case you fall. Only climb up far enough to peek over the edge of the gutter.
• Some home maintenance specialists recommend using a hose with a spray nozzle to wash clogged material out. Others say this can cause leaves and twigs to lodge in the drain pipes where they will be difficult to remove. Try to scoop out most of the debris by hand and then rinse the rest of it out with the hose.
• Use gutter caulk to fix any seams that need sealing. For more complex repairs or if you aren’t sure how to do this, call a handyman. The cost of repairing (or even replacing) your gutters is not high if you shop around.

If you are in need of money for a home repair, then you should check into a government grant. There is not need to go to the bank for a high interest loan when you might qualify to receive a grant that has been especially made for home repairs by homeowners. This is a great program to at least check out to see if you qualify. The worst that could happen is that you do not get the money, but you will not be any worse off then you were beforehand.

The government in the past has offered over a trillion dollars in these grants. These grants are the most common grants awarded every year. It was said that the average home across America was awarded four thousand dollars of grant money. The great thing about these grants is that there are no credit checks, so you cannot be denied because of a bad credit report. Banks will always check your credit and debt to income ratio, but with the grant you only have to apply and prove that you are a homeowner doing repairs to your home.

The money for these grants comes from private companies that will often pay around five percent of their profits to stay within the same tax brackets. This helps not only the private companies, but homes across America. The best thing about this grant is that you don’t have to pay it back.