DIY home guide: Spring
How to protect the value of your property, cut energy costs, avoid costly repairs, and spiff up your surroundings this spring.
Make a clean sweep
Cost: $100 to $300 for an inspection and cleaning
After a winter of fires, your chimney should be swept and inspected -- doing so will help prevent fires and alert you to problems like a cracked flue.
Since many homeowners do this in the fall, you shouldn't wait long for an appointment and may even pay less, says Melissa Heeke of the Chimney Safety Institute of America. You can find a chimney sweep at csia.org.
NEXT: Clean your gutters
Last updated January 28 2011: 4:30 PM ET
