Alki, King County
Chimney repair in Alki starts at $425. Resetting five or six bricks that have worked loose up top is a job of that size. Rebuilding a stack from the roofline up, or repairing a firebox, costs several times more, and how much more depends on height, access and how far the damage runs. We write the quote only after the chimney has been examined from hearth to cap, because the visible fault is often the smaller one.
Typical investment
From $425
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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 Alki home — we'll point you to the right fix.
What we do
The same crew, the same written quote — for Alki 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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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
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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.
Every Alki chimney older than 1965 has a history worth asking about. It was spared that April, or patched afterwards, or rebuilt, and the brick generally says which: a color change partway up, a different mortar, a newer crown on an older base. We read those joins before we price anything, since a repair laid on a weak earlier repair will not last.
The Alki Elementary nomination draws the neighborhood with Puget Sound to the west and Elliott Bay to the north and east. Seattle's windstorm hazard analysis explains what that position can receive: the Sound, sheltered as it is, can blow a steady 60 to 70 mph and gust to 90, a figure one ship logged just outside Elliott Bay on December 12, 1995. Buildings need far less to suffer: 32 mph, the analysis says, is where structural damage may start.
The top three or four courses of a chimney carry that load with nothing above to hold them down. When their mortar has gone soft, a storm rocks them loose one winter at a time. A repair this close to the water starts there: we lift the cap, test each course by hand and rebuild downward until the brick no longer moves.
Every chimney repair we do in Alki includes:
Smoke coming back into the room, or a smell that won't go? Book the inspection first.
Book nowSeattle's Residential Code, section R105.2, lets small repairs proceed without a building permit when their value stays within the code's six-thousand-dollar ceiling over six months and no loadbearing support is removed, cut down, altered or moved. Larger chimney work may fall outside that exemption. For your address we ask SDCI before starting and put the answer in the quote. A designated landmark is a separate matter: the city requires a Certificate of Approval for any exterior change, permit or no permit.
Roof, attic where reachable, firebox and flue are all examined so the quote covers the cause and not one symptom.
You receive a written price with photos, and the permit question for your address answered.
Bad brick is removed until the courses beneath stop moving; the new brickwork is bonded to them and its joints shaped against rain.
Fresh mortar is protected while it sets, and we tell you the date a fire is allowed again.
The 1965 chimney survey took in 188 West Seattle blocks and 5,005 chimneys; 1,712 of those, 34 percent, were damaged. HistoryLink, which reports those numbers, adds that Alki Beach was beyond the surveyed blocks and lost nearly all of its chimneys.
The Seattle Residential Code now in force puts steel in such a stack. Which sites? Those rated D0, D1 or D2 for seismic design. What steel? Vertical bars, No. 4 size, four of them, unbroken from bottom to top of any masonry chimney 40 inches wide or less that is built new or rebuilt. And straps: the stack is tied to the framing at every floor, ceiling and roof line standing more than 6 feet off the ground. We have read no source that assigns a category to Alki addresses, so we state none; SDCI does that. When a rebuild is on the table, we price it with the reinforcement the department asks for.
What this work is quoted at for Alki homes — the exact figure comes from the $99 on-site inspection, credited toward the work.
| Service | Price in Alki | What that covers |
|---|---|---|
| Chimney Repair | From $425 | Masonry repair — brick and mortar, scoped after diagnosis |
| 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 Cap Installation | $235–$850 | Stainless cap fitted; multi-flue and custom at the top |
Ranges are what these jobs are quoted at in Alki. 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.
Alki is the beach neighborhood at the northwest tip of West Seattle, where the Denny party landed in 1851, on Puget Sound and Elliott Bay, with houses and duplexes that date mostly from the 1920s and the 1950s around the school, mixed with newer townhouses and apartments. We work every part of it — Alki Point, the Alki Avenue beachfront included.
AlkiKing County, WA · 47.576, -122.409
Before and after
Illustrations of what each repair changes on a typical chimney — not photos of a specific job.
Before
After
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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.
Sometimes the top can be taken down and rebuilt plumb. If the lean starts lower, or the ground is involved, an engineer has to weigh in first, and we tell you so.
Yes: $99 plus tax per chimney buys the on-site look. Sign the repair quote and those $99 are taken off its total.
We bring samples and choose the closest in size and tone. An exact match on brick laid generations ago is rare, and we show you the difference beforehand.
A $99 on-site inspection, a written quote before any work, and photos of every item we touch.
