Hillman City, King County
In Hillman City, flashing repairs cost $325 to $1,500, the lower end being a reseal of good metal on a side or two. New step flashing, counterflashing cut into the mortar joints, and a cricket behind a wide chimney sit at the high end. Which of the two your roof needs depends on the entry point of the leak, and we pin that down first.
Typical investment
$325–$1,500
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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 Hillman City home — we'll point you to the right fix.
What we do
The same crew, the same written quote — for Hillman City homes.
Level 1: every reachable component checked, with a Level 2 camera run added if something stays unclear
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Full-height brushing with a head chosen for clay tile or metal liner
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Photo assessment sorting surface wear from structural failure
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Video survey and flue measurements taken before ordering anything
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Flue-by-flue measurements, or the whole crown for a multi-flue hood
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Cleaning and testing of the burner, pilot assembly and igniter
Learn moreRanges shown for orientation — the exact figure is written up on-site, after the inspection.
A house that has stood in Hillman City since the railway years, when the neighborhood grew up along the Rainier Valley line in the 1890s, has worn through several roofs. Each reroof is a moment when the metal around the chimney can be reused, bent back badly, or buried under a bead of roofing cement. Seattle's permit rules lean the same way: the 2021 Residential Code counts like-for-like roof replacement among exempt work, so a new roof often goes on with no city inspector ever looking at the chimney joint. When we trace a leak here, the flashing left from an earlier roofer is the first suspect.
Every chimney flashing repair we do in Hillman City includes:
Smoke coming back into the room, or a smell that won't go? Book the inspection first.
Book nowThe weather does the rest. WeatherSpark finds Seattle's wind arriving out of the south in every stretch of the year except early July to late September, and the regional climate center in Reno describes the same southerly pattern for the rainy months in the lowlands around the Sound. Rain therefore hits one side of a chimney far harder than the others, and runs down the stack into the joint where brick meets roof. A slow leak there can stain a ceiling only after weeks, long after the storm that started it.
Seattle's residential code does not leave the chimney-to-roof joint to habit. Its section R1003.20 wants a cricket (roofers often call it a saddle) built on the uphill face of a chimney whose width along the ridge line exceeds thirty inches, unless the chimney sits right on the ridge. Skip it on a broad stack and rain, needles and moss collect in the pocket behind the brick. The saddle's own seam against the chimney gets the same treatment as every other side, metal under and metal over.
On the permit side, the same 2021 code exempts reroofing like-for-like, which is why most flashing repairs here need no permit. The picture changes when the brick itself has to be rebuilt to set new counterflashing: at that point Seattle's 2004 chimney rule and its permit thresholds come into play, and we tell you before work starts.
We look from the attic for wet wood, then on the roof for the gap that feeds it.
Old cement and loose metal come off so the brick and decking can be seen.
Step pieces are woven with the shingles, and counterflashing is cut into a joint and lapped over them.
On a dry day a garden hose plays over the finished joint while someone watches the attic side for drips.
What this work is quoted at for Hillman City homes — the exact figure comes from the $99 on-site inspection, credited toward the work.
| Service | Price in Hillman City | What that covers |
|---|---|---|
| Chimney Flashing Repair | $325–$1,500 | Reseal at the low end, full flashing replacement at the high |
| 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 Hillman City. 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.
Hillman City is a Rainier Valley neighborhood of Seattle platted in 1888 and renamed by its developer in 1902, with homes on streets laid out in the electric-railway era, in a ZIP code area (98118) where 18 percent of the housing predates 1940.
Hillman CityKing County, WA · 47.551, -122.287
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.
Sealant alone weathers and cracks within a few seasons. It has a place at the very edge of counterflashing, but layered metal is what keeps water out.
Yes. Many reroofs reuse the old chimney flashing or cover it with cement. We check how the pieces are actually lapped.
Leak tracing happens during our Hillman City visit, priced $99 plus tax, and that amount is netted out of the flashing quote if you accept it.
A $99 on-site inspection, a written quote before any work, and photos of every item we touch.
