The Junction, King County
Repairing the flashing around a chimney in the Junction costs $375 to $1,500. Sound metal that only wants resealing, with new sealant along the counter flashing and a few fasteners reset, sits at the low end. Tearing out tired metal and fitting new step flashing, a fresh counter flashing let into the mortar joints and a cricket on the uphill side sits at the top. The inspection photos tell us which of the two your roof needs, and the quote says so in writing.
Typical investment
$375–$1,500
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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 The Junction home — we'll point you to the right fix.
What we do
The same crew, the same written quote — for The Junction 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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Measurement of each flue tile, or of the whole crown for a multi-flue cap
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Burner, pilot assembly and firebox cleaned; logs or media put back in the layout the manual shows
Learn moreRanges shown for orientation — the exact figure is written up on-site, after the inspection.
The Junction's skyline has long stayed modest. When the City Council voted 5 to 4 in March 1986 to allow buildings up to 85 feet along California Avenue, HistoryLink notes, most of what stood there was about 35 feet tall, with the 90-foot Alaska House of 1979 the exception. The houses on the blocks around the business strip are lower still, and on a pitched roof the seam where shingles meet a brick stack is one of the places rain tests first.
When Booth, Wells and Givler mapped chimney damage after the 2001 Nisqually earthquake, they tested the obvious explanations and set them aside. Distance from the epicenter did not predict it in West Seattle, nor did soft soil, the terrain or the direction a slope faced. What tracked the worst losses were the mapped strands of the Seattle fault zone, and past the end of a strand, damage faded out over a distance of only one or two blocks.
A modeling page from the USGS hazards program points the same way: in 2001, it says, two recording instruments a short way apart differed almost threefold in peak sideways ground acceleration. For flashing this matters in a practical way. A stack that rocked even slightly can open the joint between brick and roof, and the leak may appear years after the quake. We check the counter flashing reglet for cracked mortar whenever we work on a chimney of that age.
Every chimney flashing repair we do in The Junction includes:
Smoke coming back into the room, or a smell that won't go? Book the inspection first.
Book nowMoss is the other problem on roofs here. Oregon State University Extension describes it as unavoidable in the damp Pacific Northwest: it holds soil and debris, keeps roofing wet and can lift shingles enough to let water under. The same extension guide steers people away from zinc sulfate wherever copper is present, in flashing, gutters or downspouts alike, since the zinc eats the copper; a soap-based treatment made from potassium salts of fatty acids is its gentler alternative. We check what your flashing is made of before any moss treatment goes near it.
We look at the attic side and the roof side together, because a stain can travel along a rafter before it shows.
Old caulk, tar patches and corroded metal come off so the new flashing starts from clean brick and decking.
Each step piece is tucked under the shingle above and over the one below, so water runs downhill past the joint.
Counter flashing is set into a groove ground into the mortar, then sealed, so it sheds water over the steps.
A hose test on the finished joint confirms it before we leave, and you get photos of the new metal.
Section R105.2 of the 2021 Seattle Residential Code lists two roofing jobs that need no building permit: a new covering laid over an old one, and a roof replaced with the same kind of roof, provided neither the sheathing nor the structure is changed. SDCI's remodel page says the same in everyday terms, and adds chimney repointing to the list.
Flashing work on a Junction chimney normally stays inside those lines. It becomes a different question if rotten decking around the chimney has to be cut out, or if the chimney itself is being rebuilt. In that case, we ask SDCI about your house before scheduling, and you hear the answer from us before work begins.
What this work is quoted at for The Junction homes — the exact figure comes from the $99 on-site inspection, credited toward the work.
| Service | Price in The Junction | What that covers |
|---|---|---|
| Chimney Flashing Repair | $375–$1,500 | Reseal at the low end, full flashing replacement at the high |
| 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 The Junction. 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.
The Junction is the commercial heart of West Seattle, named in 1907 when two streetcar lines met at California Avenue SW and SW Alaska Street, with brick and terra cotta storefronts from the 1910s and 1920s on California Avenue and residential blocks on every side. We work every part of it — the Alaska Junction included.
The JunctionKing County, WA · 47.561, -122.387
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.
$375 to $1,500. A reseal costs least; new metal all around plus a cricket costs most.
Caulk alone buys a season or two at best. If the metal underneath has failed, we replace it rather than coat it.
Usually not. We reset or replace the shingles right around the chimney ourselves; wider roof damage goes to a roofer.
No. The camera visit, $99 plus tax, is subtracted from the flashing invoice after you approve our quote.
A $99 on-site inspection, a written quote before any work, and photos of every item we touch.
