As leaves fall, they accumulate in your gutters and create clogs that send falling water over the top of your gutters, rendering them useless. In addition, the outlet holes attaching downspouts to your gutters can become clogged with a wad of debris as small as a tennis ball. If the outlet hole is plugged, or your downspouts are clogged (usually at the elbows), your gutters will fail to drain — even if the gutters are free of debris. So to put it simply, cleaning your gutters isn’t just about leaves near your roof. In some cases, downspouts may even need to be disassembled, cleaned out, reassembled and re-secured before your gutters can operate properly.