April 28: Gutters!

When we did the house inspection during the purchasing process, it was raining -- perfect timing for us to see whether the gutters worked or not. The answer was the latter. They were clogged and the weight of the leaves had pitched them outward. The worst spot was right where you walk onto the porch - you had to duck through a waterfall to get to dry land. 
We had them cleaned and considered trying to repitch them, but they were old and very determined to stay non-functional. So as much as we were loathe to add yet another surprise project to our renovation - new gutters were necessary. And they were so worth it. We got the leaf-protector kind, so we don't ever have to worry about them clogging and they look so neat and tucked away. Very good idea.