Renton, King County
Every job we take in Renton begins with the same visit: a chimney inspection at $99 plus tax, charged per chimney. A technician looks at the firebox, the damper, the flue interior by camera where it is needed, and the stack from the roof. You receive a written report with photos. Approve the quote that comes with it and the $99 comes off that bill.
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 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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An assessment in photos that tells weathering apart from structural failure
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Video scan and measurement of the flue before a liner is specified
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Each flue measured, or the whole crown when one cap will cover several flues
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Burner, pilot assembly and igniter cleaned and tested
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Photos of the crown and of all four faces before work begins
Learn moreRanges shown for orientation — the exact figure is written up on-site, after the inspection.
Renton is a city of hand-me-down houses. HistoryLink describes growth by annexation, with Kennydale, Earlington, Talbot Hill, Benson Hill and the Highlands each joining an older core, and each area brought its own decades of building. A buyer on Benson Hill and a long-time owner near the Cedar River downtown are rarely looking at the same kind of chimney, which is why the report describes your flue and nothing generic.
The median Renton housing unit dates from 1988 in the Census Bureau's latest five-year survey, against 1983 for King County as a whole. The median hides a long tail: 39.1 percent of units are older than 1980, and 14.5 percent are older than 1960.
HistoryLink dates the Highlands to May 1942, when the Federal Public Housing Authority started building homes for war workers on the hill east of town. A fireplace from those years has outlived several owners and often several heating ideas. The inspection notes what is in the flue today, lined or unlined, original or altered, since no survey records that house by house.
Every chimney inspection we do in Renton includes:
Smoke coming back into the room, or a smell that won't go? Book the inspection first.
Book nowThree things show up on Renton reports again and again. Water first: the city's hazard plan counts 154 precipitation days in an average year. Movement second, in a city whose own plan lists chimney damage from the 2001 earthquake. Then plain age, where mortar and flue tile have simply reached the end of a long run. The camera separates these, because a crack from settling and a crack from a flue fire call for different repairs.
Firebox walls, the damper and the hearth in front are examined first, since they are what the household touches.
Joints between flue tiles, or the seams of a metal liner, are recorded along the whole height.
Crown, cap, mortar joints and the seal against the shingles are photographed in daylight.
The report lists what is sound, what is worn and what is unsafe, with a quote for anything that needs work.
Washington's 2021 residential code, in sections R1003.3 and R1003.4, names three Seismic Design Categories, D0, D1 and D2, where a masonry chimney must carry reinforcing and be anchored wherever a floor, ceiling or roof line is more than 6 feet above grade.
That rule governs new construction. The city's hazard plan is frank that a large share of local houses went up ahead of any seismic code that took this region's risk into account, so an older stack may have no steel in it at all. From the attic and the roof we look for the straps and for cracks at the roofline, the point where an unanchored chimney tends to break.
What this work is quoted at for Renton homes — the exact figure comes from the $99 on-site inspection, credited toward the work.
| Service | Price in Renton | What that covers |
|---|---|---|
| Chimney Inspection | $99 plus tax | Level 1 visual; Level 2 adds a full camera scan |
| Chimney Sweep | $189–$459 | Full flue swept, Level 1 inspection included |
| 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 |
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.
A tape measure is part of the inspection. The state residential code wants a hearth extension to reach 16 inches out from the fireplace opening and 8 inches past each side, growing to 20 and 12 inches once the opening is 6 square feet or more. Wood framing has to stay 2 inches clear of a masonry fireplace's front and sides and 4 inches clear of its back.
Those figures come from the 2021 Washington codes, in force since March 15, 2024. We record them as measurements, not as a verdict on a house built decades earlier. They tell you how far a fireplace sits from current practice before you plan any change to it.
Renton is a city of 24 square miles at the south end of Lake Washington, incorporated in 1901, on Lake Washington, with homes with a median build year of 1988, more than a third of them built from the 1940s through the 1970s. We work every part of it — the Highlands, Kennydale, Benson Hill, Talbot Hill, Earlington, North Renton included.
RentonKing County, WA · 47.483, -122.217
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.
$99 plus tax for each chimney. Say yes to the quote and $99 comes off the job total. Turn it down and the visit fee simply stands.
Yearly. CSIA's homeowner page relays the NFPA 211 standard, which asks for a check of every chimney, fireplace and vent each year, covering structural soundness, deposits and clearances. Two fires or sixty, the interval does not change.
We come to Fairwood, but it is not inside Renton city limits. King County says its residents remain in the unincorporated area, so any permit that follows a report there goes through the county and not the city.
A $99 on-site inspection, a written quote before any work, and photos of every item we touch.
