Fircrest, Pierce County
Most chimneys in Fircrest went up in the same few decades. The town's median home was built in 1966, and roughly three houses in four predate 1980, so the brick stack on a typical Fircrest street has now seen well over fifty heating seasons. Many have also changed jobs along the way: an open hearth that later took a wood insert, or a flue that now serves a gas appliance instead of a fire. We start by finding out which of those stories your chimney tells, then put the answer in writing.
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$99 plus tax, deducted when you approve the repair
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Pick what you're seeing at your Fircrest home — we'll point you to the right fix.
What we do
The same crew, the same written quote — for Fircrest homes.
Top-to-bottom brushing of flue and firebox under drop cloths, with a HEPA vacuum pulling the dust
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Level 1 or Level 2 as needed; Level 2 includes a camera run through the entire flue
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A full-length stainless-steel or cast liner, firebox to chimney top
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Loose or damaged brick, open joints and firebox panels repaired
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A stainless cap sized to your actual flue dimensions
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Crown patched, or recast entirely if it can't be saved
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A breathable repellent that lets masonry release moisture
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Resealing of flashing that's still sound; replacement where it isn't
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Burner, pilot assembly and valve cleaned and adjusted
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Staging of the buildup, from flaky Stage 2 to glazed Stage 3
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Cleaning of the full duct run, dryer to exterior hood
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Supply and return ductwork cleaned end to end
Learn moreRanges shown for orientation — the exact figure is written up on-site, after the inspection.
Service-area map — Fircrest, WA. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Fircrest is a small, inland city on Tacoma's western edge, not a waterfront town. It began as the Regents Park subdivision, bought in 1907 by a group of San Francisco financiers that included Major Edward J. Bowes, and its 306 residents voted to incorporate as the Town of Fircrest in September 1925. Very little of what stands today is that old, though: only about 3% of the housing predates 1940. The building wave came after the war, which is why so many Fircrest chimneys share a similar age, a similar clay-tile flue and similar wear. Gas is now the main heating fuel in about 59% of homes here, well above the county share of about 34%, so a fireplace in Fircrest is more often a second heat source or an evening fire than the furnace of the house.
When we sweep a Fircrest chimney, the soot is only half the visit. The other half is working out what the flue is connected to today. A house built in the 1960s with an open masonry fireplace may since have received a wood insert, a gas log set or a sealed gas unit, and each of those asks something different of the same clay liner. An insert pushed into an old firebox without a full-length liner, for example, leaves a large, cool flue that collects creosote quickly.
So a sweep here ends with a camera look up the flue and a plain statement of what we saw: liner tiles intact or cracked, joints open or tight, the damper working or rusted shut. If the chimney only needed cleaning, you hear that. That on-site inspection is priced at $99 plus tax, and we deduct it from any job you approve on the written quote.
Chimney repair in Fircrest tends to follow age rather than weather extremes. Mortar joints near the top soften first, the concrete crown on a mid-century stack often shows fine cracks, and flashing that has been resealed more than once starts to let water in behind the brick. None of that is dramatic on its own; left alone for several wet seasons, it becomes a rebuild.
We photograph the crown, the joints and the flashing from the roof, mark what is urgent and what can wait a season, and quote each item separately. You decide what gets done, and nothing starts before you have the price on paper.
Census figures for Fircrest describe a town built largely in one burst. The median home dates from 1966, about 34.8% of housing units were built before 1960 and about 74% before 1980, while only around 3% predate 1940. Fircrest itself started as the Regents Park subdivision in 1907 and incorporated in 1925, but the houses most people live in are post-war.
Heating has shifted since those houses were built. Utility gas is now the main heating fuel for about 59% of Fircrest homes, against about 34% across Pierce County. In practice that means many original masonry flues have been adapted to a gas appliance or fitted with an insert, and we check that the liner matches the appliance now connected to it rather than the one the house was built with.
On February 28, 2001, a 6.8-magnitude quake broke loose roughly 52 kilometers down, under Anderson Island. In the damage review later published by the USGS, FEMA inspectors had found cracked or broken chimneys at about one house in three of the 30,000 they visited, and chimney repairs took $15 million of the disaster aid.
A mid-century Fircrest chimney that came through that event may still carry a hairline crack in the flue or a loose course near the roofline. We look for exactly that kind of old, quiet damage during an inspection and photograph it, so you can see it rather than take our word for it.
Puget Sound Clean Air Agency decides when Pierce County fires have to go out. Stage 1 sends open wood fireplaces cold, and any stove or insert without certification goes cold with them; Stage 2 widens the order to certified stoves and inserts, pellet stoves included. A home with no adequate heat besides wood may burn only under an exemption granted in advance, which few households in gas-heated Fircrest will need.
The rules have a history behind them. In 2009 federal regulators found the Tacoma-Pierce County area over the fine-particle limit, with home wood heating named as the chief source, and only lifted that finding in 2015. Old uncertified stoves and inserts are also barred inside the smoke reduction area that the agency maps for Tacoma and Pierce County, so before firing one up again in Fircrest, look up your street on that map.
A Fircrest relining job answers to the state's 2021 residential code, in force everywhere in Washington from March 15, 2024. Its chapter on chimneys refuses a bare masonry flue: the lining can be clay tile, a listed system or some other approved material, provided it holds up against corrosion and cracking to 1,800°F. Slide an insert or a new appliance into an older Fircrest flue and that is usually the first requirement on our list.
The national chimney standard, NFPA 211, calls for a deeper Level II inspection when an appliance is added, removed or swapped for a different type, and before a flue is relined. We follow that sequence, and we tell you before work begins if the city's building office needs to issue a permit for your job.
The grid we quote from for Fircrest homes — the $99 inspection comes first, the written quote before any work.
| Service | Price in Fircrest | What that covers |
|---|---|---|
| Chimney Sweep | $189–$449 | 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–$750 | 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–$260 | 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 Fircrest. 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.
Before and after
Illustrations of what each repair changes on a typical chimney — not photos of a specific job.
Before
After
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After
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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.
You pay $99 plus tax for the visit itself. Say yes to our written quote and those $99 come off the Fircrest repair bill; say no and you still keep every photo and the report.
Sometimes, often not. An insert usually needs its own liner running the full height of the chimney, connected to the stove outlet. We check whether yours has one, how it is sealed at the top, and whether the old clay tiles behind it are cracked, then tell you what we found.
Yes, though less often than a wood-burning flue. Gas appliances do not leave creosote, but a flue can still be partly blocked by debris or nesting, and an old masonry chimney can be oversized for a small gas appliance. An inspection confirms the vent path is clear and suited to what it serves.
Fircrest is a few minutes from the rest of our routes on Tacoma's west side, so it rarely needs a special trip. Pick an open slot on the online calendar and the crew confirms it with you.
Often, yes. When the damage is limited to the crown and the upper courses of brick, we quote that part alone rather than the whole stack, with photos showing where sound masonry begins.
Choose a genuine opening on the crew's calendar. We inspect, quote in writing, and hand over a photo record of every repair.
