Renton, King County
Renton sits where the Cedar River reaches the south end of Lake Washington, and its chimneys are as mixed as its history. A coal town became a factory town, the factory town tripled in a few war years, and decades of annexation added hillsides of later houses. For chimney work in Renton, three local facts shape nearly every visit: how old the house is, what the 2001 earthquake may have done to the stack, and which papers the city expects ahead of any alteration. This page lays those out with their sources.
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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 Renton home — we'll point you to the right fix.
What we do
The same crew, the same written quote — for Renton homes.
The flue brushed along its full height with heads chosen for its shape and material
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Level 1 review of the accessible parts, stepped up to a Level 2 camera pass when those parts cannot settle the question
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Video scan and measurement of the flue before a liner is specified
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An assessment in photos that tells weathering apart from structural failure
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Each flue measured, or the whole crown when one cap will cover several flues
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Photos of the crown and of all four faces before work begins
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Brick, joints and crown checked for defects before any product is opened
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The leak followed from the stain back to its entry point, in the attic where there is access
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Burner, pilot assembly and igniter cleaned and tested
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Video grading of the deposit and a note of where it sits
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The full duct brushed with rotary rods and flushed with air
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All supply and return branches agitated while the system is under negative pressure
Learn moreRanges shown for orientation — the exact figure is written up on-site, after the inspection.
Service-area map — Renton, WA. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Washington's Office of Financial Management estimated Renton's population at 109,800 on April 1, 2026, up from 106,785 in the 2020 column of the same table. The office counts 45,081 housing units, 986 of them mobile homes and the rest divided fairly evenly between one-unit structures and multi-unit buildings. The city covers 24 square miles according to its hazard plan. Census survey data gives a median construction year of 1988 and shows owners living in about 54.4 percent of occupied homes. The same hazard plan observes that single-family residences dominate the eastern and southeastern parts of the city, where most residential growth still occurs, while industry and commerce occupy the valley floor and downtown.
Erasmus Smithers filed the town plat on September 5, 1875, and Renton incorporated in 1901. The name honors Captain William Renton, who financed the coal mine rediscovered here in 1873. HistoryLink recounts an early economy of coal, timber and clay; the Renton Mine shut for good in 1920, and brick, briquette and tile plants operated in the town during the early twentieth century.
Boeing arrived in 1941 and built a plant near the lakeshore that turned out B-29 bombers at a peak rate of six a day. HistoryLink puts the wartime population at 16,000. To house the workers, the Federal Public Housing Authority began building east of the old town in May 1942, in an area developers had been calling Renton Highlands since the 1930s.
In 1911 a dam at Landsburg failed and the Cedar River swept through town. Renton responded by re-channeling the river straight into Lake Washington. Five years later the ship canal opened, the lake fell about 9 feet, and the Black River dried up. King County notes that the Cedar's final 1.25 miles through Renton are today the only stretch fully lined by levees.
Away from the river the ground climbs. WeatherSpark's topography summary shows 476 feet of elevation change within 2 miles of the city center, and the hazard plan describes steep slopes and erosion hazard areas throughout Renton. For a crew that means roof access differs sharply between a flat downtown lot and a view lot in Kennydale, and ladders, staging and time are planned per address.
HistoryLink lists North Renton, Kennydale, Benson Hill, Earlington, Talbot Hill and the Highlands among the areas Renton annexed. Benson Hill is the most recent large one: residents voted in November 2007 and the annexation took effect on March 1, 2008, King County records.
Fairwood went the other way. Its voters turned down joining Renton in 2010, and King County states that Fairwood residents remain in the urban unincorporated area. We take calls from there, but it is a county address, with county permits, and we do not describe it as part of the city.
Decade by decade, the American Community Survey estimates Renton's housing like this: 1,762 units from the 1940s, 3,074 from the 1950s, 5,320 from the 1960s and 5,154 from the 1970s. Those 15,310 units are 36.0 percent of the city. Another 1,327 units, 3.1 percent, predate 1940.
The surrounding unincorporated areas are older still by the same survey. East Renton Highlands has a median year built of 1974, with just over half its housing from the 1960s and 1970s. Fairwood's median is 1982.
Age alone does not tell us what a chimney is made of, and no public source breaks Renton's hearths down by type. What it does predict is alteration. A flue from 1955 has typically been through an appliance change or two, and the questions on site are whether it was relined when that happened and whether the liner fits what is connected now.
Two earthquakes appear by name in Renton's hazard plan. The 1965 Puget Sound earthquake, magnitude 6.7, severely damaged the Boeing plant. The 2001 Nisqually earthquake, magnitude 6.8, caused no deaths in the city; the plan describes its damage as mostly cracked masonry and fallen chimneys.
For the future, the Department of Natural Resources works with a 50-year horizon and gives 85 percent odds that the Puget Sound region sees a deep quake of 6.5 or larger in that span. The state residential code answers with a construction rule: in the three D-level seismic design categories, masonry chimneys are to be reinforced and tied to the structure at floor, ceiling and roof lines higher than 6 feet above grade. Renton's own design criteria use category D2.
Chimneys built before that rule are the ones we examine most closely, from the attic as well as the roof.
The grid we quote from for Renton homes — the $99 inspection comes first, the written quote before any work.
| Service | Price in Renton | What that covers |
|---|---|---|
| Chimney Sweep | $189–$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 $375 | Masonry repair — brick and mortar, scoped after diagnosis |
| Chimney Cap Installation | $265–$850 | Stainless cap fitted; multi-flue and custom at the top |
| Masonry Repair (Crown / Repointing) | From $425 | Crown work, repointing and tuckpointing by surface area |
| Chimney Waterproofing | $320–$795 | Breathable sealer — reapplied every 3–5 years in this climate |
| Chimney Flashing Repair | $330–$1,500 | Reseal at the low end, full flashing replacement at the high |
| Gas Fireplace Service | $189–$475 | Annual service and tune-up; repairs quoted after diagnosis |
| Creosote Removal | From $245 | Priced by creosote stage — glazed stage 3 is the heavy end |
| Dryer Vent Cleaning | $105–$259 | Full run cleaned; roof or upper-floor terminations at the top |
| Air Duct Cleaning | From $535 | Whole HVAC system — trunks, branches and every register |
Ranges are what these jobs are quoted at in Renton. 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.
The City of Renton's building permit FAQ sets the basic rule. Seven verbs trigger a permit for a gas or mechanical system under the construction codes: install, enlarge, alter, repair, remove, convert, replace. The FAQ also lists exemptions. Mechanical, electrical, plumbing and re-roof permits of the simple kind can be applied for online.
The technical rules come from the state. Washington switched to its 2021 building code editions on March 15, 2024, and the residential chapter on chimneys covers height, crowns, clearances and hearth dimensions.
One statewide rule concerns whoever does the work: construction contractors have to hold a registration from Labor & Industries, and its number has to appear on advertisements, estimates and bids.
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.
All of it: downtown and North Renton, the Highlands, Kennydale, Earlington, Talbot Hill and Benson Hill. We also travel to unincorporated addresses next to the city, such as Fairwood and East Renton Highlands, where King County rather than Renton issues permits.
Yes. Renton answers to the Clean Air Agency for the Puget Sound region, which declares air quality bans across King County and three counties next to it. A Stage 1 ban stops wood fires in open hearths and in uncertified stoves; Stage 2 extends to certified and pellet units. The agency notes that King County's windier weather often spares it a ban that neighboring counties get.
The city's hazard plan cites 38 inches of rain and 154 precipitation days a year. At the Kent cooperative station just south, the long-term record shows roughly 60 freezing nights a year (minimum 32°F or lower), and a January minimum that averages 33.2°F.
$99 plus tax for each chimney. That fee is subtracted from the work when you approve our written quote, and it is not returned on a quote you turn down.
Choose a genuine opening on the crew's calendar. We inspect, quote in writing, and hand over a photo record of every repair.
