Hillman City, King County
A chimney inspection in Hillman City costs $99 plus tax per chimney. For that, one of our people climbs to the stack, kneels at the firebox, sends a camera up the flue wherever it fits, and writes it all up with photos. Should the findings turn into a job you sign for, those $99 are subtracted from its price.
What we charge
$99 plus tax
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 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.
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
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Starting photos: crown on top, then each side of the stack
Learn moreRanges shown for orientation — the exact figure is written up on-site, after the inspection.
Few parts of Seattle mix house ages the way this ZIP area does. Census figures for 98118, the postal zone that HistoryLink's neighborhood essay says contains Hillman City, date 18.1% of its 20,459 homes to 1939 or before, while 28.1% went up in 2000 or later. The median home in the zone was built in 1968. Those numbers cover the whole ZIP area and say nothing about any single street between Dawson and Graham. On an inspection they translate into a plain habit: we identify what kind of system we are looking at before we judge it, because a 1920s clay-tile flue and a 2010s factory-built fireplace fail in completely different ways.
Every chimney inspection we do in Hillman City includes:
Smoke coming back into the room, or a smell that won't go? Book the inspection first.
Book nowTwo situations bring most inspection calls here. One is a sale: buyers and sellers want a written record of the chimney before closing. The other is a fireplace that has sat cold for years in a house where, as the census shows, gas and electricity do almost all the heating; only about 29 of 19,176 occupied homes in 98118 name wood as their main fuel. A flue that nobody has looked at in a decade can hold nests, fallen tile or old creosote, and it still deserves the yearly check NFPA 211 calls for.
Part of an inspection is a tape measure. Seattle's Residential Code sets two height tests for a chimney: three feet or more above its own roof penetration, and two feet or more above any piece of the building inside a ten-foot circle. Miss either and a south wind can roll smoke back down the flue, and we note it in the report with the measured numbers.
Clearances get the same treatment. The code asks for a 2-inch gap between combustible framing and a chimney that runs inside the house or in an outside wall, and 1 inch for a stack fully outside. When we find cracked or shifted brick, we also tell you what Seattle's 2004 chimney rule says comes next: since the 2001 earthquake, an old brick stack found damaged ends one of four ways, with steel added, with a brace, taken down, or swapped for a listed metal chimney. The inspection report is where that conversation starts, not where it ends.
Weather permitting, the technician walks or ladders to the stack and photographs each face, the crown and the flashing.
Drop cloths go down; the damper, firebox and smoke chamber are examined with a light and mirror.
Where the flue can be reached, a camera records the liner joints and any deposit from bottom to top.
You receive findings with photos; if work is needed, a separate written quote follows.
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 Inspection | $99 plus tax | Level 1 visual; Level 2 adds a full camera scan |
| Chimney Sweep | $189–$449 | Full flue swept, Level 1 inspection included |
| 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 |
| Chimney Cap Installation | $235–$850 | Stainless cap fitted; multi-flue and custom at the top |
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.
Once a year, which is what NFPA 211 and Washington's State Fire Marshal both advise, even for a fireplace you rarely light.
No. Say yes to our quote and the visit fee disappears into it: the repair total shrinks by $99, so that money is spent only once.
Yes. Vents, glass, burner area and the flue connection are part of the same visit and the same price.
A $99 on-site inspection, a written quote before any work, and photos of every item we touch.
