Columbia City, King County
Relining a chimney in Columbia City starts at $1,900. At that price, a straight flue on a one-story house gets a stainless run from the damper area up to the crown. Length, diameter, offsets in the stack and the insulation the appliance requires all add to it, so we fix the price once the flue has been filmed, not before. For comparison, in the Seattle market one company, Mad Hatter Chimney Sweep, lists an installed stainless liner at $1,200 to $2,500; that is their published figure, not our quote.
Typical investment
From $1,900
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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 Columbia City home — we'll point you to the right fix.
What we do
The same crew, the same written quote — for Columbia 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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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.
HistoryLink counts 40 to 50 residences in Columbia by 1892, and the National Register file puts roughly 32 houses in the original plat in 1891 and 1892 alone. Building went on through the streetcar years, which ended in 1937. We cannot tell you from the curb what lines a flue in a house from that span: no public record describes the chimneys of this neighborhood. On a house of that age the camera looks for three things: clay tiles that have cracked or shifted at the joints, sections where tile is missing, and flues that were never lined in the first place.
Every chimney relining we do in Columbia City includes:
Smoke coming back into the room, or a smell that won't go? Book the inspection first.
Book nowA liner is a safety part and a moisture part at once. It keeps heat and flue gas away from the brick and the framing beside it, and it keeps acidic condensate off mortar joints. Seattle's wet season, by WeatherSpark's count, lasts from October 10 to April 30. Brick that stays damp for that long and is then heated by a fire is hard on old tile. Adding a stove or insert to a fireplace usually means relining as well, since the new appliance wants a flue matched to it rather than the broad passage built for an open fire.
An unlined masonry flue is not an option under Seattle's 2021 Residential Code. Four linings satisfy R1003.11: ASTM C315 clay tile, a UL 1777 listed lining system, a factory-built chimney carrying a listing for that use, or some other material the building official approves. The stainless liners we fit are of the second kind, and the listing sheet travels with the job file.
Whether a permit is needed is less clear, and we would rather say so than guess. Among the SDCI pages and Tips that could be read, none is devoted to chimney liners. Two dollar thresholds exist side by side: 4,000 dollars for chimney repairs in Director's Rule 5-2004, written in 2004, and 6,000 dollars for minor repair work in R105.2 of the 2021 code. A relining quote can land under one and over the other. Before scheduling, we take the scope of work to SDCI and ask.
A liner changes little that can be seen: a top plate and a cap. Inside the Columbia City Landmark District the city asks for a Certificate of Approval ahead of permits for exterior changes, and its page does not single out chimneys. When the house sits inside the district boundary, the Department of Neighborhoods hears from us, before the order is placed, about whether the new top plate and cap need review.
The camera records the flue's condition, shape and exact length so the liner is ordered to fit.
We sweep, then break out any tile in the way and clear it from the bottom.
From the roof, the wrapped pipe is fed down the flue, joined to the appliance below, then clamped at the crown.
The crown joint is sealed, the cap fitted, and draft is checked with the appliance running.
What this work is quoted at for Columbia City homes — the exact figure comes from the $99 on-site inspection, credited toward the work.
| Service | Price in Columbia City | What that covers |
|---|---|---|
| Chimney Relining | From $1,900 | Full-length stainless liner, sized to the appliance |
| 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 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 Columbia 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.
Columbia City is a former streetcar town in Seattle's Rainier Valley, founded in 1891 and annexed in 1907, with vernacular houses on the side streets of a brick commercial core, in a district whose buildings mostly date from 1891 to 1937.
Columbia CityKing County, WA · 47.560, -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.
Sometimes. A few open joints near the top can be resurfaced. Tiles cracked along their length, or missing, call for a liner, and the camera footage shows which case yours is.
A single flue is usually finished in a day. Offsets in the brick, or broken tile that must be chipped out before the pipe will pass, can push it to two.
The camera survey is our $99 plus tax inspection. Say yes to the liner and we take that $99 off its price.
A $99 on-site inspection, a written quote before any work, and photos of every item we touch.
