Mount Baker, King County
Mount Baker chimney inspections are $99 plus tax apiece; approve the work we recommend and those $99 come off its quote. On the visit we look at firebox, damper and smoke chamber, run a camera up the flue, climb to the crown and flashing, and check the framing beside the chimney from the attic when there is a hatch. Photos and a written report come to you even if nothing needs work.
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 Mount Baker home — we'll point you to the right fix.
What we do
The same crew, the same written quote — for Mount Baker homes.
Full-height brushing with a head chosen for clay tile or metal liner
Learn more
Photo assessment sorting surface wear from structural failure
Learn more
Video survey and flue measurements taken before ordering anything
Learn more
Flue-by-flue measurements, or the whole crown for a multi-flue hood
Learn more
Cleaning and testing of the burner, pilot assembly and igniter
Learn more
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.
Of the three South Seattle ZIP areas we have census figures for, 98144, which covers Mount Baker plus north Beacon Hill and some streets beyond, has the oldest homes: 31.3 percent of its 16,873 units date from 1939 or before, against 22.8 percent citywide, according to 2020–2024 census estimates. Inside the Mount Baker Park Historic District, Seattle Magazine reported in 2018 that roughly 85 percent of the surviving properties were built before 1929. On a house that old we expect a century of small changes: a furnace swapped from oil to gas, a fireplace closed off and reopened, a room added against the chimney wall. An inspection is mostly about finding where those changes meet the flue.
The slope down to the lake has a history. In 1898 a slide destroyed mill workers' houses on the hillside in what is now Mount Baker, the city's Mount Baker survey notes, and HistoryLink describes about 75 acres moving some 100 feet toward the water that year. We have read nothing that maps slide risk street by street today, so we make no claim about any particular lot.
What it changes is our method. On a sloping lot we photograph every crack in the stack and the firebox with a scale beside it, and we note where the chimney meets the roof and the siding. If you call us again in a few years, the comparison shows whether something has moved or simply aged.
Every chimney inspection we do in Mount Baker includes:
Smoke coming back into the room, or a smell that won't go? Book the inspection first.
Book nowSeattle wrote its chimney rule, Director's Rule 5-2004, after the 2001 quake left many unreinforced masonry chimneys cracked and liable to fall. Of 30,000 homes FEMA looked at afterward, one in three had a damaged chimney, a USGS report says. Damage of that kind can sit for years above a ceiling or behind a mantel. So on a pre-war house we look for mortar that has opened at the roofline, flue tiles offset at a joint, and gaps between the chimney and the framing. NFPA 211, as CSIA relays it, wants that look taken yearly, even on a flue that sees a fire twice a winter.
We note what burns in each flue now, what burned there before if you know, and what has changed in the house recently.
Firebox and smoke chamber first, then the camera from bottom to top, then the roof and the attic.
Cracks are photographed with a scale and offsets at tile joints are recorded, so a later visit can compare like with like.
The report lists what is sound, what needs work and what can wait, with a written quote for any repair we recommend.
What this work is quoted at for Mount Baker homes — the exact figure comes from the $99 on-site inspection, credited toward the work.
| Service | Price in Mount Baker | 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 Mount Baker. 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.
Oregon State University Extension notes that moss does not eat roofing directly but can lift asphalt shingles until water runs underneath. The uphill side of a chimney, where needles and leaves pile against the brick, is a natural spot for that. Our roof check therefore includes the shingles a foot or two around the stack, not only the metal.
Drying time is short here. Winter in the Puget Sound lowlands brings a mere handful of sunny or half-sunny days per month, between 4 and 8 by the WRCC's tally. A chimney base that stays green and damp from November to March shows up in the report with a photo, and with a note on whether the flashing above it is still tight.
Mount Baker is a Seattle neighborhood laid out in 1907 as the Mount Baker Park Addition, on the lakeshore, with houses built mostly in two waves, 1905 to about 1920 and then 1920 to 1929, a good share of them designed by Seattle architects. We work every part of it — the Mount Baker Park Addition, the York Addition included.
Mount BakerKing County, WA · 47.579, -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.
Per chimney. If you are not sure how many your house has, for instance a fireplace at one end and a furnace stack at the other, we count them with you before anything starts.
Yes, as a deduction: approve the quote and the $99 comes off its total. Choose to wait, and the photo report stays with you all the same.
If there is a hatch, yes. The places where chimneys touch wood framing are often visible only from the attic, and that is where we look for heat marks and gaps.
A $99 on-site inspection, a written quote before any work, and photos of every item we touch.
