Tacoma, Pierce County
Chimney work in Tacoma is mostly about age. The city has the oldest housing of any we serve, with streets of Queen Anne, Craftsman and Foursquare houses whose brick stacks were built for coal and wood more than a century ago, then patched, converted and shaken by earthquakes since. On top of that come long wet winters, a strict local smoke rule and, in the historic districts, city review of visible changes. This page gathers what is particular to Tacoma, with the sources behind each point.
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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 Tacoma home — we'll point you to the right fix.
What we do
The same crew, the same written quote — for Tacoma 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 — Tacoma, WA. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Tacoma grew around Commencement Bay, the Puget Sound inlet that stretches from Point Defiance to Browns Point and receives the Puyallup River, with the Port of Tacoma at its southeastern end. The Northern Pacific Railroad chose the bay in 1873 as the western end of its transcontinental line, and the town jumped from 1,098 people in 1880 to 36,006 in 1890. By the turn of the century HistoryLink describes it as easily the lumber capital of the world. Today's census figures put the city's median home in 1967, and more than four in ten units (43.4 percent) were already standing in 1960.
Most of our Tacoma chimney visits land in the parts of town that filled in first: the North Slope and Stadium streets above the bay, Proctor and College Park further north, Buckley's Addition, and the Wedge, a middle-class district from before the Second World War.
Houses there often have more than one fireplace, a stove or insert added later, and a flue that has changed fuel along the way. Each of those needs its own look, which is why a first visit in Tacoma is usually an inspection rather than a straight job.
We start with the chimney itself: firebox, smoke chamber, flue, crown and roofline, with a camera where the flue cannot be seen. You get photos and a written list, sorted by what needs doing now and what can wait.
The inspection at your home is $99 plus tax, deducted from the job if you say yes to the written quote. Nothing is started without that approval.
Just over a quarter of the city's homes (26.9 percent in current census estimates) predate 1940. That is the top share in our twelve-town area, against roughly one home in ten for Pierce County overall. The city counts nine historic districts; the North Slope alone holds 1,285 resources on 228 acres, nearly 80 percent of them from before 1930.
Next door, the Stadium-Seminary district spans about 200 acres of buildings from 1888 to 1930. College Park counts 582 primary buildings and Buckley's Addition 592. Large houses of these eras were frequently built with several fireplaces sharing one massive stack, and each flue in it can be in a different state.
Windows, siding, porches, additions and chimneys: that is the list of outside features the City's preservation staff watch on contributing houses in its locally designated districts. A permitted change to any of them can be sent to the landmarks commission before work goes ahead.
The engineering side is state law. Washington's 2021 codes, binding since March 15, 2024, want every masonry chimney lined and set a minimum height for its top, three feet over its roof opening and two over anything nearby within a ten-foot reach. Their 2024 successors are due May 3, 2027.
The one people remember is Nisqually: magnitude 6.8, February 28, 2001, from about 52 kilometers under Anderson Island. Chimneys were its signature damage: FEMA found them broken or cracked in one of every three houses it looked at, 30,000 in all, and paid out about 15 million dollars toward fixing them.
The one planners worry about is closer to home. Washington's scenario for the Tacoma fault zone is a shallow magnitude 7.1, the fault's last large rupture dates to between 1,240 and 850 years ago, and unreinforced masonry, the material of most old chimneys, is rated prone to partial or full collapse.
Puget Sound Clean Air Agency calls burn bans in Pierce County. Stage 1 takes wood fireplaces and uncertified stoves and inserts out of use; Stage 2 adds every other wood and pellet appliance. Only households that have no other adequate heat, and hold an exemption granted in advance, may keep burning.
On top of the bans, the Tacoma-Pierce County smoke reduction zone has barred uncertified wood stoves and inserts outright since October 1, 2015. The agency pays $500 to owners who recycle a working uncertified unit. Outdoors, Tacoma Fire Department limits recreational fires to 3 feet across and 2 feet high, 25 feet from structures, and none during a ban.
The grid we quote from for Tacoma homes — the $99 inspection comes first, the written quote before any work.
| Service | Price in Tacoma | 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 Tacoma. 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
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.
The whole city, including the North Slope, the Stadium district, Proctor, College Park, Buckley's Addition the Wedge and every other part of the city.
Per chimney, $99 plus tax, Level 1 or 2. Should you accept our written quote afterward, those $99 come off its total.
Sometimes. A contributing house inside a locally designated district can see a permitted chimney change routed to the landmarks commission, so we raise it before quoting.
If it is certified, yes, outside ban days. From October 2015 on, running or reinstalling an uncertified stove or insert is barred in the county's smoke reduction zone, unless the home has no other adequate source of heat.
Choose a genuine opening on the crew's calendar. We inspect, quote in writing, and hand over a photo record of every repair.
