Admiral, King County
Waterproofing an Admiral chimney costs $320 to $795, and stack size accounts for nearly all of that spread. The product is a clear, vapor-permeable repellent. Liquid water beads on it and rolls away, while moisture already inside the brick can still evaporate outward. Paint and film-forming sealers do the opposite and trap damp behind them, so we never use those on a chimney.
Typical investment
$320–$795
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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 Admiral home — we'll point you to the right fix.
What we do
The same crew, the same written quote — for Admiral 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.
WeatherSpark's profile of Seattle counts 6.6 wetter months, from October 10 to the last day of April. November is the peak, near 7.5 inches falling on 16 or 17 days of the month, and July the trough at about 0.7 inches. An Admiral chimney on the ridge spends more than half the year damp and gets one short dry window. That window, roughly July through September, is when a repellent can be applied to masonry that has truly dried out.
FEMA's recovery advisory on chimneys damaged by earthquakes is blunt about which ones come down: old stacks with no reinforcement whose mortar has deteriorated. Rebuild with the same bricks in the same pattern, it warns, and nothing has been gained. HistoryLink sets the toll of the 1949 earthquake, across the western half of the state, at around 10,000 chimneys in need of a mason.
Nobody can waterproof a chimney against an earthquake, and we make no such claim. The link is simpler. Water is what turns sound mortar into sand, joint by joint, over decades. Keeping an Admiral stack dry preserves the one thing that holds unreinforced brick together, and it costs a fraction of relaying the top third after the next strong shake.
Every chimney waterproofing we do in Admiral includes:
Smoke coming back into the room, or a smell that won't go? Book the inspection first.
Book nowBrick behaves like a hard sponge. Each storm pushes water a little way in, and on a north face in winter it never fully leaves. Over years the result is flaking brick faces, crumbling joints, white salts blooming on the surface and stains on the plaster indoors. A repellent slows the soaking. It cannot bridge a crack, which is why cracked crowns and open joints are dealt with before any spraying.
We book these jobs for a run of dry days. Product sprayed on wet brick is money washed down the gutter.
Moss, soot streaks and loose grit come off so the repellent reaches the pores.
Anything wider than a hairline is repaired beforehand, under a separate line on the quote.
Shingles, gutters and windows are covered. Then the stack is flooded from the bottom course upward until it stops drinking.
The product name and the date go on your invoice, since the treatment has to be renewed every few years.
Seattle's page on additions and remodels says some exterior upkeep can proceed without a permit: it names chimney repointing and the replacement of roofing or siding where the structure is left alone. A water repellent is not mentioned in the city texts we read, in either direction, and it changes nothing structural. We therefore treat it as maintenance and say openly that this is our reading and not a quoted rule.
One requirement is not in doubt. Washington's Department of Labor and Industries requires contractors to be registered and bonded, and it requires the registration number to appear on advertisements, estimates and bids. Whoever sprays your chimney, it is fair to ask for that number and look it up before work begins.
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 Waterproofing | $320–$795 | Breathable sealer — reapplied every 3–5 years in this climate |
| 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 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.
For a short stack with one flue, about $320. For a broad or tall one that drinks more product and takes more ladder time, up to $795.
Three to five years is the honest answer. The side facing the storms gives out before the others.
Only after several dry days in a row, which February rarely offers. Late summer is the dependable season.
Yes, unless someone checked it recently. The visit is $99 plus tax, and when you go ahead with the work we propose, $99 is subtracted from its price.
A $99 on-site inspection, a written quote before any work, and photos of every item we touch.
