Ballard, King County
A chimney cap installed in Ballard costs $265 to $850. The low end is one flue under an off-the-shelf stainless cap. A cover made for two or three flues at once, an odd size or a difficult roof takes it higher. If we have not yet seen the chimney, we start with the inspection at $99 plus tax, and that sum is credited on the cap invoice when you approve the quote.
Typical investment
$265–$850
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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 Ballard home — we'll point you to the right fix.
What we do
The same crew, the same written quote — for Ballard homes.
A Level 1 review of everything reachable, raised to a Level 2 camera scan when a question stays open
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The whole flue brushed, using heads picked for the liner's size and shape
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A photo assessment that distinguishes surface wear from structural damage
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Camera survey and measurements taken before any liner is chosen
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Glass removed, cleaned and checked for a sound gasket
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Crown and all four sides photographed before any work
Learn moreRanges shown for orientation — the exact figure is written up on-site, after the inspection.
Ballard has salt water on two sides: Shilshole Bay on Puget Sound to the west and Salmon Bay to the south, where the Ship Canal locks opened in 1917. Wikipedia's description has the neighborhood running from the canal north to NW 85th Street, with Loyal Heights up on the bluff. No weather station record exists for this side of North Seattle, so we quote citywide figures only. On WeatherSpark's charts, Seattle is windier than its yearly average from October 15 until April 24, a little over six months, and a south wind is the rule from late September into early July.
Only about 40 households in ZIP area 98117 tell the Census Bureau that wood is their main heat, and in 98107 the estimate is none. Gas, electricity and oil do the work. A cap in Ballard is therefore rarely about sparks. It is about water and animals in flues that are fired a few evenings a year, or that carry furnace exhaust all winter.
The two cases call for different hardware. Over a wood-burning flue, a spark arrestor has to follow Seattle Residential Code R1003.9.2: its openings must hold back a ball half an inch across while letting a 3/8-inch ball through, and the mesh as a whole must offer the smoke four times as much clear area as the flue outlet has. Over a flue that vents a gas or oil appliance, the cap must not choke the vent, and the appliance maker's instructions govern the choice. We find out what is connected below before choosing what goes on top.
Every chimney cap installation we do in Ballard includes:
Smoke coming back into the room, or a smell that won't go? Book the inspection first.
Book nowA cap has three jobs: keeping rain out of the flue, keeping birds and squirrels out, and stopping sparks where wood is burned. An open flue takes in water with every storm of the wet season, and that water ends up on the smoke shelf, the damper and the firebox floor. Metal choice decides how long the fix lasts. A Seattle chimney company publishes its own life expectancies by metal. Galvanized steel gets 5 to 10 years. Stainless gets at least 15 to 20, and copper upward of 30. Stainless is what we install unless you ask for copper.
Flue tile, crown and any neighboring flues are measured and photographed. A stock size is used only if it fits properly.
Single-flue, multi-flue or top-mounted, with mesh openings that follow the code.
The cap is clamped or anchored so that wind cannot lift it, and sealed where it meets the crown.
With the cap on, we confirm that the flue still drafts as it did.
You get photos of the installed cap and of the crown around it.
What this work is quoted at for Ballard homes — the exact figure comes from the $99 on-site inspection, credited toward the work.
| Service | Price in Ballard | What that covers |
|---|---|---|
| Chimney Cap Installation | $265–$850 | Stainless cap fitted; multi-flue and custom at the top |
| Chimney Sweep | $209–$459 | 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 Ballard. 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.
Fitting a cap on a house chimney is small work, and Seattle's code exempts minor repairs and alterations under its value limit from a building permit, provided nothing structural is touched. The mesh and open-area rules still apply, since exempt work has to meet the code like any other.
Inside the Ballard Avenue Landmark District the question is different. The city requires a Certificate of Approval there for any change to the exterior of a building, down to paint, signs and awnings. A metal cap that was not there before changes how a roofline looks from the street. The district's guideline document could not be consulted for this page, so we make no claim about what the board accepts. An owner on Ballard Avenue should ask it before ordering, and we hold the order until the answer comes.
Ballard is a former mill town that joined Seattle in 1907 and runs from the Ship Canal north to NW 85th Street, on Shilshole Bay and Salmon Bay, with houses from before 1950 north and west of the old town and many newer buildings near the canal. We work every part of it — Loyal Heights, Whittier Heights, West Woodland, Adams included.
BallardKing County, WA · 47.668, -122.384
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.
$265 to $850. An off-the-shelf stainless cap over one Ballard flue is the floor; a fabricated hood sized over a multi-flue crown nears $850.
What the code calls a cap is the concrete, stone or metal top with a drip edge that finishes the masonry (R1003.9.1), the part the trade calls a crown. The metal rain cap above it is optional, but if one is fitted the code sets its open area.
Sometimes. A cap can calm wind-driven downdrafts, but smoke also comes from a short stack, a cold flue or one too small for the fireplace. We say which it is before selling you anything.
Stainless is our standard. Copper lasts longer, costs more and is mostly chosen for its looks.
A $99 on-site inspection, a written quote before any work, and photos of every item we touch.
