A lot of people have a notion that a chimney built of stone or brick does not need any upkeep. They picture these materials as being very tough and able to take care of themselves. Regrettably, this is not really the situation, and these house owners at some point end up confronted with deteriorating mortar and disintegrating chimneys. Most of this damage is caused by water. Being on the outside of your home , a chimney withstands many bad weather conditions, from hurricane-force winds to torrential rainfall to raging snow storms. Chimney waterproofing is a vital step in preserving the strength of the structure.

Your chimney is among the most prone spot of your home, because it sticks up above the the surface of the roof line and has no protection. This susceptability can result in staining, freeze-thaw damage, loss of insulation value, structural damage, and ultimately complete failure of the chimney altogether. Hence, you can see that it’s much simpler to perform preventive maintenance before any issues take place than it is to tidy up the mess after. There are a number of good waterproofing sealers offered that you can coat your chimney with from the beginning that will help it be in good repair.

If your chimney has already begun to weaken, you have to begin by taking a close look at what is going bad with it. Check to ensure that all your mortar joints are in good repair. If they haven’t been coated with water sealer before now, they could be cracking and breaking. Even if a past owner did use a waterproofing product, there could still be problems if the wrong type was utilized. Certain sealers cause water vapors to be trapped under the coating. This will cause wear on the mortar. If your mortar is in such poor shape that it is actually falling apart, you may need to get some tuckpointing done prior to using an appropriate waterproofing product.

Your chimney is an essential part of your house, and you have to spend time maintaining it just like you do everything else. A good water sealer only needs to be used every five to ten years, so it isn’t a task that has to be done very often. Although waterproofing products are not inexpensive, the amount you spend for chimney waterproofing will be a lot less than if you have to totally reconstruct the chimney. In addition, preserving your chimney in prime condition will help you preserve the value of your largest investment, your house.

You can get away from paying the high cost of a home contractor by doing maintenance / repair for your home whenever possible.. But you shouldn’t tackle certain jobs by yourself, unless you happen to be an expert.

In some instances the local building code may prohibit anyone but an authorized contractor from doing the work. In other cases, even though it may be legal, it isn’t worth taking a chance on trying to fix something that might endanger your home, or even your life.

A good example of this would be fixing gas appliances. How many of you know that most gas connections are threaded backwards to the usual direction? It isn’t “righty-tighty”, its “righty-loosey”! Little things like that make it wise for you to bite the bullet and call an experienced and licensed gas repairman.

Electrical repairs fall under two classes. Some are simple enough that most of us have done them ourselves many times – like replacing a faulty plug in a lamp. There are electrical plugs which are made specifically for the do-it-yourselfer that don’t even require a screwdriver to connect.

And there are jobs like replacing the power supply on your television that should be left to a TV technician, if you can locate one these days. And replacing faulty wiring in your walls is not a task most people want to attempt. An electrical contractor not only has the experience, he has tools that most of us don’t want to buy for ourselves.

There are many kinds of home maintenance / repair projects that are easily doable by the typical homeowner. Two examples will be sufficient to get you thinking about things you can do for your own home.

1. Painting: I don’t think there’s anyone who has not made use of a paint brush or roller at least one time in their life. Though it might not be your favorite task, and is usually kind of a messy task, it’s one way in which you can certainly avoid the expense of a home contractor.

2. Cleaning: I’m not referring to dusting and mopping here. I mean a thorough “spring cleaning” of certain areas of your home that will deteriorate badly if left alone for too long. Your cabinets and shelves, for example, could probably benefit. Don’t just dust them – take them down, and even take them apart, so the joints can have the grime completely washed off. You’ll be surprised at how new they’ll look when you’re done!

Keeping up with what you are able to do for your own home maintenance / repair will not only keep you busy on the weekends, it will undoubtedly be good for both your home and for your pocketbook. See the paragraph below for more interesting ideas on keeping your home in good shape.

The article has shown you two types of home maintenance / repair projects that many of you can probably do yourself, and save the cost of paying a licensed contractor. Would you like to learn about other things you could do? Take a look at Ezra’s website, home maintenance / repair, and start making yourself a list of things you could be doing right now.