Phinney Ridge, King County
On Phinney Ridge the inspection fee never varies: $99 plus tax, chimney by chimney, be the visit a quick one or a painstaking one. The price does not move with roof height or the age of the house. What changes is the time on site: a second flue in the same stack, an attic to enter or a camera pass through a long flue all add minutes, not dollars. If the quote we write afterward gets your approval, those $99 come out of the price of the 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 Phinney Ridge home — we'll point you to the right fix.
What we do
The same crew, the same written quote — for Phinney Ridge homes.
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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Measurement of each flue, or of the crown when a single cap will span several
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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.
Ages are mixed along the ridge, and that is the reason to look before assuming. In ZIP area 98103, where Phinney Ridge sits with Fremont, Wallingford, Green Lake and the south end of Greenwood, the median year built is 1970 even though more than one housing unit in three predates 1940, and 13.8% went up in the 2010s. A bungalow and a recent townhouse can share a lot line. The city's survey of nearby Fremont dates the Craftsman style to 1900 through 1930 and names brick or stone chimneys among its defining features; that describes a style, not any particular Phinney Ridge address, which is why we identify the system at the visit.
Every chimney inspection we do in Phinney Ridge includes:
Smoke coming back into the room, or a smell that won't go? Book the inspection first.
Book nowNFPA standard 211 is the reference CSIA (the Chimney Safety Institute of America) gives homeowners: once a year, each chimney, each fireplace and each vent should be looked at for soundness, deposits and clearances, even one that is hardly ever used. Slope adds its own questions here. Wikipedia notes a block of NW 60th Street, from 2nd to 3rd Avenue NW, graded at 28%. On lots like that the downhill face of a chimney can stand far taller above grade than the uphill face, and the tall side is the one nobody sees up close from the yard.
Terrain shapes wind. The Seattle Office of Emergency Management says speeds increase over hills and ridges, and Phinney Ridge is some of the highest ground in this part of North Seattle. The same office describes major regional windstorms as sustained winds of 60 to 70 mph, gusting as high as 90.
For an inspector that sets the order of the roof check. The cap is tested by hand for loose fasteners. Crown edges are examined for the hairline cracks that let driven rain in. The upwind brick face gets a close look, since wet-season wind in the Puget Sound lowlands comes from the south or southwest, which is how the Western Regional Climate Center writes it up for Washington. Nobody keeps a wind record for the ridge itself, so we rely on what the chimney shows, not on a local statistic.
What burns in the fireplace, how often, and what prompted the call. The answers decide where we spend the most time.
Each side of the stack is photographed, along with the crown, the cap and the joint where metal meets shingles.
Firebox, damper and flue are examined, by camera when needed, and the attic passage is checked for stains or scorched framing.
You receive the photos, what each one means and what, if anything, should be done about it.
Eighty-six percent: those are the odds SDCI, the Seattle construction department, gives for an earthquake that does damage here within half a century. Which chimneys fail first? FEMA's advisory answers: unreinforced brick of some age whose mortar has gone weak. It also warns that modern chimneys built to code can be significantly damaged.
An inspection cannot make a chimney earthquake-proof and we do not pretend otherwise. What it can do is record the condition that FEMA describes: mortar that crumbles under a pick, a stack leaning away from the house, old cracks at the roofline. Those findings go in the report with photos, so that the decision about repair or rebuilding rests on evidence.
What this work is quoted at for Phinney Ridge homes — the exact figure comes from the $99 on-site inspection, credited toward the work.
| Service | Price in Phinney Ridge | What that covers |
|---|---|---|
| Chimney Inspection | $99 plus tax | Level 1 visual; Level 2 adds a full camera scan |
| Chimney Sweep | $209–$459 | 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 | $265–$850 | Stainless cap fitted; multi-flue and custom at the top |
Ranges are what these jobs are quoted at in Phinney Ridge. 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.
Phinney Ridge is a ridge-top neighborhood between Aurora Avenue N and 8th Avenue NW, named for Guy Phinney, with houses that followed the Phinney Avenue streetcar north between 1906 and 1909.
Phinney RidgeKing County, WA · 47.679, -122.355
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.
For each chimney, $99 plus tax. Say yes to the quote for the recommended work and we deduct the fee from that quote; refuse it, and the fee is all you will have spent.
No. The same flat amount applies whether the report goes to you, a buyer or an agent.
Plan on about two hours for a single chimney with ordinary roof access. Steep lots and multiple flues take longer.
Yes. The NFPA 211 yearly check covers vents as well as chimneys, and a gas appliance still relies on a clear, intact path to the outside.
A $99 on-site inspection, a written quote before any work, and photos of every item we touch.
