Genesee, King County
Relining a chimney in Genesee starts at $1,900. For that, a stainless steel liner runs the whole height of the flue, sized to the appliance below and finished at the crown by a sealed plate plus cap. Taller chimneys, wider liners and insulation raise the price, and the written quote lists each of those lines. Nobody should buy a liner on a guess, so the flue is filmed first.
Typical investment
From $1,900
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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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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
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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.
Fuel history is part of the story on this hill. Census estimates for 2020-2024 show fuel oil still heating about 4.7% of occupied homes in the ZIP code area shared by Alki, Admiral, Genesee and north Seaview, against 2.9% across Seattle. Electricity leads at 61.3% and utility gas follows at 31.3%. Those numbers describe main heating only, and they say nothing about a single address. They do explain why we ask what a flue has vented over the years: a chimney may have served an oil furnace, then a gas one, then nothing, and each change left a flue sized for the appliance before.
Seattle's mechanical code wants two things of an insert: a UL 1482 label on the unit, and an installation that follows the maker's manual. In practice the manufacturer's instructions give a flue size, and it is far smaller than the throat of an open fireplace. An insert pushed into a hearth and left to vent into the full-width flue behind it is the most common mismatch we find.
The oil-heat share above tells a similar tale for furnace flues. Where a house on the hill changed fuel, the flue kept its old dimensions. Relining is how the chimney catches up: the liner takes the diameter of the appliance collar, stays warm, and carries the gases out before they condense. We read the label on the unit, not the age of the house, to choose the size.
Every chimney relining we do in Genesee includes:
Smoke coming back into the room, or a smell that won't go? Book the inspection first.
Book nowA flue that is too wide for what it vents runs cool. Gases slow down, moisture condenses on the walls, and mortar joints between clay tiles wash out. Earthquakes add their share in West Seattle, where cracked and offset tiles are a regular camera finding. A liner solves the sizing problem and the cracked-tile problem at once, which is why it is so often the right repair and so rarely an optional upgrade.
A liner is fed in from the chimney top, by people standing on the roof with a long coil of steel. Seattle's hazard analysis puts the onset of structural wind damage at just 32 mph, and observes that air moves faster where it crosses a hill or a ridge. WeatherSpark places the breezier season between mid-October and late April, December being the windiest month on average.
On Genesee Hill we therefore plan relining around the forecast. The camera survey and the quote can happen in any weather, since both are done from inside. The installation day is confirmed when the wind allows safe handling on the roof, and we call ahead if the date has to shift.
Height, cross-section and offsets are recorded, and the appliance plate tells us the flue size its maker requires.
Liner grade, diameter, length, insulation and top hardware each get their own price. We order after you sign.
Soot and loose tile come out first so the new liner seats without snagging.
From the chimney top, one continuous length goes down and is joined at the bottom to the appliance collar or the fireplace throat.
The top plate is sealed to the crown, the cap goes on, then the camera travels down once more for the record.
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 Relining | From $1,900 | Full-length stainless liner, sized to the appliance |
| 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 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 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.
From $1,900 for a short, straight flue with one appliance. Height, diameter and insulation add to it, and every addition is itemized.
From camera footage, never from the outside. Filming the flue costs $99 plus tax; accept a relining quote from us and it shrinks by that sum.
No city page we read states a rule for liners in so many words. Before the job we check with SDCI whether a permit applies to your case and tell you the answer.
Most liners go in within a day. Poured insulation or crown repairs can add curing time, and we give that in writing.
A $99 on-site inspection, a written quote before any work, and photos of every item we touch.
