Phinney Ridge, King County
Chimney repair on Phinney Ridge has a $425 floor, which buys one limited fix, say three or four top bricks that have come loose and are bedded again. Beyond the floor, three things scale the cost: the number of courses taken down and relaid, the difficulty of reaching them, and scaffolding where the lot falls away. The diagnosis comes first, with photos, and the quote lists each item separately.
Typical investment
From $425
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$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.
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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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.
Brick has a long history up here. HistoryLink records that John B. Allen School opened on top of the ridge in 1905 with 278 pupils and gained a two-story brick building in 1917; the Phinney Neighborhood Association has occupied the site since 1981. Houses from the same decades stand all around it, and a chimney from that period has been through more than a century of wet winters. Reaching it is a job in itself on some blocks. One stretch of NW 60th Street, between 2nd and 3rd avenues NW, climbs at a 28% grade according to Wikipedia, and a ladder or scaffold on ground like that has to be planned, not improvised.
Every chimney repair we do in Phinney Ridge includes:
Smoke coming back into the room, or a smell that won't go? Book the inspection first.
Book nowHeight rules decide how far a rebuilt top must go. The Seattle Residential Code, R1003.9, makes the top of a chimney clear two marks. One is the roof at the point of exit, by 3 feet. The other is whatever the house has standing nearer than 10 feet, by 2 feet. A stack shortened by an earlier repair may no longer meet that. As for permits, SDCI's own list exempts repointing, but the same guide warns that work outside that list generally does need a permit, fireplace work included. Where a repair goes past repointing, we check with SDCI before work starts.
WeatherSpark's Seattle record shows wind coming mostly out of the south from September 20 to July 3, and a windy season, October 15 through April 24, some 6.3 months in all. On a ridge, where the Seattle Office of Emergency Management says wind accelerates, that means rain is thrown at the same side of a chimney for most of the year. These are Seattle figures; no station measures the ridge.
It shows in the brick. Joints on the weather side erode first, then the faces of the bricks begin to flake, while the sheltered side can still look sound. A repair that only patches what is visible from the street often misses this. We photograph all four faces and quote the worn side for what it actually needs, which is sometimes more than the rest of the stack combined.
We find out why the damage happened, not only where. Water entry, movement and age leave different marks.
The quote separates what must be done now from what can wait, each with its own price.
For anything beyond repointing we ask SDCI and pass on the answer before scheduling.
Damaged masonry is taken down to sound material and rebuilt, with the roof and yard protected.
You get photos of every stage, including the parts hidden once the job is finished.
FEMA's chimney advisory argues against reconstructing a damaged masonry chimney exactly as it stood, its reasoning being that a like-for-like rebuild barely lowers the next round of damage or the danger to occupants. It adds that the reconstruction options it describes always require a building permit.
For new masonry chimneys, the Seattle Residential Code spells out the reinforcement: under R1003.3.1, vertical No. 4 bars, four of them and unbroken, in a chimney no wider than 40 inches, and under R1003.4.1 two steel straps of 3/16 by 1 inch tying the chimney to the framing, each fastened to four joists. An old stack has none of this. When a repair grows into a rebuild above the roof, we raise the question of reinforcement and of the permit with SDCI before a single brick is laid.
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 Repair | From $425 | Masonry repair — brick and mortar, scoped after diagnosis |
| 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 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.
From $425 for a limited repair. The quote grows with the amount of masonry rebuilt and with access; a full rebuild above the roofline is a different order of work and is priced after measurement.
The visit is our standard inspection at $99 plus tax per chimney. Accept the repair quote and we credit that fee against it.
Not reliably. A lean means the masonry or its support has moved, and the sound fix is to take the affected section down and rebuild it.
Fresh mortar must set before rain soaks it or frost reaches it. Small repairs can be protected and done in the wet months; large rebuilds are better scheduled for the drier part of the year.
A $99 on-site inspection, a written quote before any work, and photos of every item we touch.
