Genesee, King County
A chimney cap installed in Genesee runs $235 to $850. A stock stainless cap on one standard flue is the low figure. Several flues under one cover, an odd size or a made-to-measure piece sit toward $850. Small part, three duties: shed rain, bar animals, and blunt a gust before it dives down the flue.
Typical investment
$235–$850
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Book your $99 inspection
$99 plus tax, deducted when you approve the repair
Not sure where to start
Pick what you're seeing at your Genesee home — we'll point you to the right fix.
What we do
The same crew, the same written quote — for Genesee homes.
Level 1 examination of everything reachable, with a Level 2 camera pass when the reachable parts leave a question open
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Full-height brushing of the flue with a head sized to its shape and material
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Assessment of the stack from roofline to crown, with a photo of each defect
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Camera survey and measurement of the existing flue before anything is ordered
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Burner, pilot assembly and firebox cleaned; logs or media put back in the layout the manual shows
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Joints cut back to firm mortar and repointed (tuckpointing) to match the existing profile
Learn moreRanges shown for orientation — the exact figure is written up on-site, after the inspection.
Genesee is high ground. Seattle Parks describes Ercolini Park, at 4542 48th Avenue SW, as land where Joe and Julia Ercolini grew produce for sale over several decades from the 1930s, a reminder that this hilltop was open and farmed before it was built up. Open hilltops catch weather. The peninsula's western side was called exposed, with high winds, in the account Wikipedia gives of why the 1851 settlers moved across Elliott Bay. A flue standing above a roof here takes that wind and the rain it carries, every winter.
Housing in the Census ZIP code area around Genesee spans a wide range of ages: a median year built of 1974, close to a quarter of units from before 1940, and nearly a fifth from 2010 or later. What sits on top of a chimney varies just as much, and the house's age does not predict it.
A clay flue tile takes a cap that clamps to the tile. A flue that was later relined for an insert ends in a steel top plate, and its cap attaches to the liner collar instead. A factory-built fireplace in a framed chase is a third case: under section R1005.2 of Seattle's residential code, a decorative shroud may be used only if it is listed for that chimney system. We identify which of the three you have before ordering anything.
Every chimney cap installation we do in Genesee includes:
Smoke coming back into the room, or a smell that won't go? Book the inspection first.
Book nowLeave a flue bare and whatever the sky sends goes in. Water runs down the liner, soaks the smoke shelf and rusts the damper. Starlings and squirrels move in during spring. Leaves pack the top. A cap that is the wrong size is nearly as bad: too small and it chokes the draft, too loose and the first storm takes it off.
Puget Sound is sheltered water, yet Seattle's hazard analysis records sustained winds of 60 to 70 mph there and gusts reaching 90. Its example: on December 12, 1995, a vessel near the mouth of Elliott Bay recorded a gust of 90 mph. Power-outage history kept by the same office mentions West Seattle by name for a windstorm in 1958.
For a cap on a hilltop flue, that record sets the standard of fastening. Pressure-fit caps held by four small screws work loose. We use clamping bands on tile and masonry anchors on the crown, and we choose a low-profile lid where the stack stands tall and alone. The mesh matters too: the code's spark arrestor rule calls for openings that stop a half-inch sphere, which also stops birds.
Outside dimensions of the flue tile or liner are taken on the roof, and we count how many flues share the stack.
Single-flue, multi-flue or custom. You get the price for each workable option.
The cap is clamped or anchored so it cannot rock, with enough open area left for the flue to breathe.
Where there is a fireplace below, we confirm smoke still rises cleanly with the cap on.
What this work is quoted at for Genesee homes — the exact figure comes from the $99 on-site inspection, credited toward the work.
| Service | Price in Genesee | What that covers |
|---|---|---|
| Chimney Cap Installation | $235–$850 | Stainless cap fitted; multi-flue and custom at the top |
| Chimney Sweep | $189–$449 | Full flue swept, Level 1 inspection included |
| Chimney Inspection | $99 plus tax | Level 1 visual; Level 2 adds a full camera scan |
| Chimney Relining | From $1,900 | Full-length stainless liner, sized to the appliance |
| Chimney Repair | From $425 | Masonry repair — brick and mortar, scoped after diagnosis |
Ranges are what these jobs are quoted at in Genesee. The exact figure is set on site after a $99 inspection (credited toward the job if you go ahead), and you approve it before any work starts.
Genesee is a hill neighborhood between SW Genesee and SW Charlestown streets, from 46th to 56th Avenues SW, with homes from before and after World War II, about 23% of those in its ZIP code area built before 1940 and 16% in the 1940s and 1950s.
GeneseeKing County, WA · 47.564, -122.372
Before and after
Illustrations of what each repair changes on a typical chimney — not photos of a specific job.
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
Four steps, each one on paper — so you always know what happens next.
Choose a genuine opening on the crew's calendar. Confirmation is immediate.
Liner, crown, cap, flashing and masonry examined in order — each finding photographed.
One document, plain numbers, covering only the work your chimney genuinely needs.
The repair is completed, then handed over with before-and-after photos of every item.
$235 to $850 installed. One ordinary flue is at the bottom; shared or custom covers are at the top.
Seattle's residential code, section R1003.9.3, requires the open area under a rain cap to be at least four times the area of the flue outlet. We size to that.
We fit stainless. It costs more than galvanized on day one and outlasts it under Seattle rain.
Not for a plain cap swap. If the top looks damaged, the $99 plus tax inspection comes first, and that fee is knocked off whatever work you then approve.
A $99 on-site inspection, a written quote before any work, and photos of every item we touch.
