Genesee, King County
Chimney repair in Genesee is quoted from $425. At that level expect something contained: a few courses reset or a short run of joints remade. Bigger scopes cost more, and the estimate prices each one on a line of its own. We photograph every defect first. You decide with the pictures in hand, never on our word alone.
Typical investment
From $425
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 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
Learn more
Full-height brushing of the flue with a head sized to its shape and material
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.
West Seattle is the one part of the city where chimney damage was counted block by block. HistoryLink reports that surveyors walked 188 blocks of the peninsula after the earthquake of April 29, 1965 and tallied 5,005 chimneys, 1,712 of them damaged. That is 34 percent. No published table says how Genesee's own blocks fared, and the 2001 study was read here only as a summary. So we make no claim about your street. What the count does establish: a brick stack on this peninsula that predates 1965 has been through at least two strong shocks, and some were patched in a hurry afterward.
FEMA published a recovery advisory on masonry chimneys broken by earthquakes. Its point is blunt: an old unreinforced stack with tired mortar is the kind most likely to fall, and a brick-for-brick rebuild inherits the same weakness. The advisory ranks the alternatives. Cap the chimney at the roof. Or keep the firebox and rebuild above it with a metal flue, often paired with an insert. Or replace firebox and chimney together.
Where masonry is rebuilt, Seattle's residential code asks for steel in the seismic design categories it lists: four continuous No. 4 vertical bars in a chimney up to 40 inches wide, with straps tying the stack to each floor, ceiling or roof line that sits over 6 feet up. We have no sourced category for any Genesee address, so that question goes to SDCI with the plans. For an owner, the practical choice is between a like-for-like patch that buys time and a rebuild that changes how the chimney behaves in the next shock.
Every chimney repair we do in Genesee includes:
Smoke coming back into the room, or a smell that won't go? Book the inspection first.
Book nowHurried patches are what we meet most. Hard gray cement smeared over soft old joints. A top section relaid out of plumb. A crack bridged with caulk. Each one holds for a while, then lets water in behind it. Repair done properly means cutting back to sound material, matching the mortar to the brick, and rebuilding only what has failed.
Schmitz Preserve Park borders this part of West Seattle. Seattle Parks says the land was given between 1908 and 1912 to keep a remnant of old-growth forest. Big trees are the neighborhood's pride and, in a gale, its hazard: in Seattle's windstorm study, West Seattle ranks high for wind losses because of how many trees it has, and toppled trees cause most of the harm.
Even a modest limb can wreck a chimney top. It snaps a cap, chips the crown, or knocks the upper courses loose, and the damage sits out of sight until rain finds it. After a major blow, look at the stack from the yard with binoculars. If the outline has changed, call before you light anything.
Every face of the stack is photographed, top to flashing, plus whatever the attic shows of the chimney passing through.
Defects are ranked by urgency. Each carries its own price, so a tight budget can start with the worst.
Unstable brick comes down by hand. Nothing gets mortared over if it moves.
New work is laid plumb, joints are struck to shed rain, and the mix is chosen to suit the existing brick.
You receive after-photos, plus how many days the mortar must cure ahead of any fire.
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 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 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.
Our floor is $425. Resetting a few courses or remaking a small area of joints lands near it; rebuilding the stack above the roof costs a good deal more, and we itemize.
Yes: $99 plus tax per chimney, camera included. Go ahead with the repair we price and the first $99 of it is covered by that payment.
Seattle's residential code, section R105.2, exempts chimney repointing and small repairs valued under its stated limit where no loadbearing support is touched. Before a rebuild, SDCI hears from us and you hear their answer.
Sometimes that is the sound choice. A FEMA advisory lists taking the stack down to the roofline and capping it as an acceptable option after earthquake damage. We explain what it would mean for the appliance below.
A $99 on-site inspection, a written quote before any work, and photos of every item we touch.
