Columbia City, King County
Chimney repair in Columbia City starts at $425. For that floor price the work stays small: loose bricks bedded again, a damper replaced, a yard or so of joints ground out and packed again. A rebuild above the roofline is a bigger job, priced only after a site visit, with labor, materials and permit fees listed apart.
Typical investment
From $425
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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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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.
Brick has a long history on these blocks. The National Register file for the district records that the wood-frame stores of the 1890s along Rainier Avenue were often torn down or moved so brick buildings could take their place, and it quotes a 1915 newspaper annual boasting that Columbia had more brick buildings than almost any other Seattle suburb. Those are the storefronts. For the houses on the side streets no source describes the chimneys, so we start every repair from what the stack in front of us shows: the brick, the mortar, and how the two have aged together.
Every chimney repair we do in Columbia City includes:
Smoke coming back into the room, or a smell that won't go? Book the inspection first.
Book nowTwo forces work on a chimney above the roof here. One is weather: Since Seattle's prevailing wind is southerly for about 9.5 months a year by WeatherSpark's count, a stack's south and southwest sides get wet first and shed mortar first. The other is the ground. In the 2001 Nisqually quake, EERI's report says, wood-frame houses mostly held up and their chimneys took most of the damage. A stack that cracked then and was only patched over deserves a careful second look.
The city text that governs this job is Director's Rule 5-2004. Its first lines look back at 2001, when the earthquake left many unreinforced brick stacks as falling hazards, and the body of the rule sets out five ways to repair one. A crew may relay the stack in steel-reinforced brick starting at the floor level under the roof, or starting at the highest course of the smoke chamber; may relay it from a point just beneath the roofline and brace it to the roof from outside; may swap the upper section for a listed metal chimney; or may build to an engineer's drawings. Only the top 2 feet can go back in plain brick, matching the old work. Once a stack rises over 3 feet above the roofline it must be braced at two points, and above 12 feet its rebuild is an engineer's design.
On permits, the rule states that work costing the owner under 4,000 dollars needs none, provided the rule itself is followed. The 2021 Seattle Residential Code (R105.2) puts its exemption for minor repairs at 6,000 dollars over six months. One dates from December 2004 and the other from the 2021 code cycle; SDCI decides between them for each job. When a permit is issued, the rule requires three inspection calls: after demolition, before the bond beam is poured, and at completion.
Columbia City adds a step of its own. Within the Landmark District, designated in 1978, a Certificate of Approval comes before any permit for an exterior change. A five-member review committee, which the city says typically meets on the first Tuesday of the month, advises the Landmarks Preservation Board, and the board decides. A rebuilt stack is visible masonry, so on a district address we allow for that calendar in the schedule.
We establish how deep the damage goes: surface, above the roof only, or down into the smoke chamber.
The repair is matched to one of the methods Seattle's chimney rule allows, and the quote says which.
Failed masonry comes down to sound material and goes back up with the steel and anchorage required.
Flashing and crown are finished, city inspections are called where needed, and you get photos of each stage.
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 Repair | From $425 | Masonry repair — brick and mortar, scoped after diagnosis |
| 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 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.
Not reliably. Masonry that has rotated has broken its bond. The durable fix is to take it down to solid brick and rebuild, with reinforcement if the rule requires it.
Yes, and the city's rule lists removal among the answers for a damaged stack. It also warns to confirm first that the chimney is not venting another appliance, a gas water heater for example.
The on-site inspection that precedes a repair quote is $99 plus tax. If you sign the quote, the $99 is credited against the work.
A $99 on-site inspection, a written quote before any work, and photos of every item we touch.
