Admiral, King County
An inspection in Admiral costs $99 plus tax, charged per chimney. From the room we go over firebox and damper, we film the flue, then photograph the roof parts: crown, cap, upper brick, flashing. You leave with pictures and, when something needs fixing, a priced quote on paper. Say yes to it and $99 disappears from the bill. Say no and the report is still yours.
What we charge
$99 plus tax
Book an inspection
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 Admiral home — we'll point you to the right fix.
What we do
The same crew, the same written quote — for Admiral homes.
Full-height brushing of the flue with a head sized to its shape and material
Learn more
Assessment of the stack from roofline to crown, with a photo of each defect
Learn more
Camera survey and measurement of the existing flue before anything is ordered
Learn more
Measurement of each flue tile, or of the whole crown for a multi-flue cap
Learn more
Burner, pilot assembly and firebox cleaned; logs or media put back in the layout the manual shows
Learn more
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.
Admiral holds a cluster of the peninsula's designated landmarks. The list printed in a 2022 city nomination names Hiawatha Playfield (1911), the Admiral Theater (1919), the Sixth Church of Christ Scientist (1929) and West Seattle High School. The houses around them appear in no survey we could read, and no public record says what sort of chimney each one has. An address therefore tells us nothing, while a camera tells us nearly everything.
Admiral has its own earthquake record. On April 13, 1949 the shaking wrecked the brick Lafayette School, a three-story building opened in 1893. HistoryLink's school history says three gables crumbled, bricks dropped to the sidewalk and sections of wall fell out; only the gym addition could be saved. It was spring vacation, so the rooms were empty. Children in grades 1 to 4 spent the following school year at the brand-new Genesee Hill School.
Old brick and old mortar standing above a roofline are what an inspection in this neighborhood studies hardest. Does the stack lean? Have upper courses shifted? Did flue tiles crack or slip where they meet? You cannot see any of that from indoors, and a chimney can stand for decades carrying an injury from a quake nobody thought to check after.
Every chimney inspection we do in Admiral includes:
Smoke coming back into the room, or a smell that won't go? Book the inspection first.
Book nowTwo situations make an inspection especially worth its fee: a house changing hands, and a fireplace nobody has lit in years. Either way the flue is an unknown. Buyers want its condition on paper ahead of closing; owners want to hear whether a first fire is wise. Footage of each tile joint settles both, where the look of the outside brick settles neither.
How old is the house, who repaired what, which fuel burns here, and why did you call this week?
Hands and a strong light go over firebox bricks, the damper plate and the smoke chamber walls.
Liner sections and their joints are recorded one by one, and the screen is turned toward you while it happens.
If the pitch gives safe footing, the top of the stack and its roof joint are photographed at close range.
The written report ranks each item: fix now, fix soon, or simply watch. Repairs come with a price.
Under Seattle's Department of Neighborhoods rules, a designated landmark, the Admiral Theater among them, needs a Certificate of Approval before anyone alters its exterior, and that holds even where the construction department asks for no permit. The 2022 nomination for Alki Elementary lists the designated properties in the Admiral area and cites the 1910 Carnegie library on 42nd Avenue SW as historically significant.
During an inspection we therefore ask one extra question: is this building designated? For nearly every house the answer is no and nothing changes. Where it is yes, our report says so, and any repair to the visible chimney waits for the board's certificate before a brick is touched.
What this work is quoted at for Admiral homes — the exact figure comes from the $99 on-site inspection, credited toward the work.
| Service | Price in Admiral | What that covers |
|---|---|---|
| Chimney Inspection | $99 plus tax | Level 1 visual; Level 2 adds a full camera scan |
| Chimney Sweep | $189–$449 | Full flue swept, Level 1 inspection included |
| 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 |
| Chimney Cap Installation | $235–$850 | Stainless cap fitted; multi-flue and custom at the top |
Ranges are what these jobs are quoted at in Admiral. 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.
Admiral is the oldest neighborhood in West Seattle, first platted in 1885 at the north end of the peninsula, with homes of many decades, close to a quarter of those in its ZIP code area built before 1940. We work every part of it — North Admiral included.
AdmiralKing County, WA · 47.581, -122.386
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.
Per chimney: $99 plus tax, and a deeper examination does not raise it. Once you approve the quote we write afterward, the work is billed $99 lower.
Yes, whenever the flue can take one. A flashlight held in the firebox shows a few feet at best.
Yearly at minimum. That is the NFPA 211 interval CSIA quotes, and it applies to vents as much as to fireplaces.
Nothing changes for you. The certificate rule described on this page binds a designated property only, never its neighbors.
A $99 on-site inspection, a written quote before any work, and photos of every item we touch.
