Alki, King County
Clearing a dryer vent in Alki costs $105 to $295. The bottom of that range is a duct a few feet long that leaves the house through a wall at yard level. The top is a run that climbs through a ceiling to a roof jack or an upper-story hood, a duct with a nest in it, or one with so many elbows that the rods have to go in from both ends. The price is set after we have found the outlet and counted the turns, and it covers the full length of pipe, not just the reachable stretch behind the machine.
Typical investment
$105–$295
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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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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.
Lint is light, dry and burns readily, which is why fire services treat a choked dryer duct as a household hazard and not a nuisance. Seattle Fire Department Station 29, which the department lists under the Admiral District, stands at 2139 Ferry Avenue SW in that neighboring part of the peninsula. Having engines nearby is reassuring. A duct that is never allowed to fill up is better, and a yearly cleaning costs far less than the smallest fire.
Seattle Parks keeps a record of what winter storms do to this shoreline. Its page on Alki Beach Park notes that part of the park's 2.5 miles is held in place by a seawall. Further down the peninsula, the department's page for the Emma Schmitz Memorial Overlook explains that a seawall from the 1920s on Beach Drive had to be replaced in 2020 and 2021 after erosion and storm damage.
Concrete built to hold back the Sound wears out under that weather; a plastic dryer flap wears out much sooner. Gusts slam it, rain beats on its hinge, and lint that collects at the outlet keeps it from seating. A flap stuck partly open lets wind push cold, wet air back down the duct, and invites birds to build inside. On Alki we look closely at the outside end: whether the damper closes on its own, whether the hood is sealed to the siding, and whether a sturdier hood would serve better on a wall that takes the weather head-on.
Every dryer vent cleaning we do in Alki includes:
Smoke coming back into the room, or a smell that won't go? Book the inspection first.
Book nowDryer exhaust is warm, wet air, and in an Alki winter it often travels through cold space on its way out: a crawl space, an unheated garage, an attic. The climate center's narrative for the Puget Sound lowlands puts January daytime highs at 41 to 45 degrees and nights at 28 to 32. Moisture condenses inside a duct that cold, lint sticks to the wet walls, and a damp mat forms that no lint screen could have stopped. Sagging runs collect it fastest, because water pools at the low point.
We follow the duct from the dryer collar to daylight, noting each elbow and any section that runs through cold space.
With the machine running on air only, an anemometer at the hood records how much air is leaving.
A rotating brush on rods works from the inside end while a collector at the hood catches the loosened lint; wet mats in sagging spots are scraped by hand.
The damper is cleared and tested so it swings open under exhaust and drops shut when the dryer stops.
A second reading at the same hood shows the change, and we note any sag or crushed section that should be replaced.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dryer Vent Cleaning | $105–$295 | Full run cleaned; roof or upper-floor terminations at the top |
| 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 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
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.
Most single-story runs are done within an hour. A roof outlet or a duct cleaned from both ends can take longer.
Warm, humid exhaust cools as it passes through an unheated space and leaves water behind. Insulating that stretch, or shortening it, cuts down on the problem.
No. The $99 plus tax inspection is for chimneys, and it is credited toward chimney work you approve. A dryer vent is priced on its own, within the $105 to $295 range.
Yes, when the duct serves your unit alone and we can reach its outlet. Shared building exhaust systems belong to the association.
A $99 on-site inspection, a written quote before any work, and photos of every item we touch.
