Tacoma, Pierce County
Most chimney leaks in Tacoma come from the joint between the brick and the roof, not from the brick itself. Fixing that joint costs $330 to $1,500 here. Resealing sound metal that has only lost its sealant sits at the bottom; tearing out rusted or improvised flashing and installing new step and counter flashing, cut into the mortar joints, sits at the top.
Typical investment
$330–$1,500
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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.
Level 1 or Level 2 as needed; Level 2 includes a camera run through the entire flue
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Top-to-bottom brushing of flue and firebox under drop cloths, with a HEPA vacuum pulling the dust
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Loose or damaged brick, open joints and firebox panels repaired
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A full-length stainless-steel or cast liner, firebox to chimney top
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A stainless cap sized to your actual flue dimensions
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Burner, pilot assembly and valve cleaned and adjusted
Learn moreRanges shown for orientation — the exact figure is written up on-site, after the inspection.
On older Tacoma houses the flashing has usually been redone several times, and each roofer did it differently. We regularly find tar smeared over the gap, flashing nailed to the face of the brick, or counter flashing never set into the joints. Steep roofs and tall pre-war stacks make these weak spots take a lot of water.
The Stadium-Seminary Historic District spans around 200 acres between roughly 1st Street, I Street, 10th Street and the water, with houses built from 1888 to 1930 in Queen Anne, Châteauesque, Colonial Revival, Neoclassical and Mission styles.
Houses of that stature were often heated by several fireplaces, and their chimneys are correspondingly wide. A wide stack on a steep roof collects a lot of runoff on its uphill side, which is where flashing on these houses is most likely to give way.
Every chimney flashing repair we do in Tacoma includes:
Smoke coming back into the room, or a smell that won't go? Book the inspection first.
Book nowSigns we trace back to flashing in Tacoma: a damp patch on the ceiling or wall by the chimney that spreads during long rains, water dripping in the attic along the chimney's sides, rotten decking on the uphill side of a wide stack with no cricket, and rusted metal pulling away from the brick.
A chimney and a roof move differently in an earthquake. After Nisqually in 2001, FEMA's inspectors found chimney damage at about one home in three among the 30,000 they checked, and roughly 15 million dollars of assistance went to chimney repairs.
Look ahead and the picture is similar: state planners modeling a 7.1 rupture on the city's own fault expect plain, unreinforced brick to suffer most. Even a small shift of the stack can open the flashing joint, so after any felt quake the roofline is one of the first places we look.
Washington's residential code, section R1003.20, calls for a cricket, a small ridged diverter, on the high side of any chimney more than 30 inches wide that does not straddle the roof ridge. Skip it and every rain turns the uphill face of the stack into a dam, with leaves and needles collecting behind it and the flashing asked to hold back standing water.
That requirement is part of the 2021 state codes that took effect on March 15, 2024. Many older Tacoma stacks predate it, and adding a cricket is often the lasting fix where resealing has failed more than once.
Stains inside are matched to the roof above; if that is not conclusive, a hose runs over one section at a time until the drip shows.
Tar, caulk and loose metal come off, down to the shingles and brick we are actually going to seal against.
Each shingle course gets its own step piece, the upper metal is let into freshly cut mortar joints, and wide stacks get a cricket framed behind them.
The finished work is hose-tested and photographed from the roof and, where reachable, from the attic.
What this work is quoted at for Tacoma homes — the exact figure comes from the $99 on-site inspection, credited toward the work.
| Service | Price in Tacoma | What that covers |
|---|---|---|
| Chimney Flashing Repair | $330–$1,500 | Reseal at the low end, full flashing replacement at the high |
| 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 |
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.
A leak is often discovered when the fireplace goes back into use in fall. During a burn ban, though, that fireplace may only be lit if the home has no adequate heat besides wood and Puget Sound Clean Air Agency approved an exemption in advance. High heating bills or a furnace awaiting repair do not qualify.
Stage 1 bans shut open wood fireplaces and uncertified stoves; Stage 2 adds certified stoves, inserts and pellet stoves. Visible smoke stays prohibited even with an exemption.
Tacoma's water arrives spread over many months: a yearly average of 39.76 inches at the city's long-term station, most of it between fall and early spring, with November alone near 7 inches.
Days of steady water running down a roof will find any gap where the flashing meets the brick. Frost is less of a factor, at about 31.8 freezing nights a year, but when it comes it lifts sealant that was already failing.
Tacoma is the port city the Northern Pacific Railroad chose in 1873 as the western terminus of its transcontinental line, on Commencement Bay, with the territory's oldest housing — about 27% of homes built in 1939 or earlier, in Queen Anne, Craftsman and Foursquare styles. We work every part of it — North Slope, Stadium-Seminary, Proctor, College Park, Buckley's Addition included.
TacomaPierce County, WA · 47.253, -122.444
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.
$330 to $1,500. A reseal of good metal is the low end; new step and counter pieces all round, or a cricket added, is the high end.
Often the flashing, but a cracked crown or porous brick can send water down inside the stack and show up in the same place. We check both before quoting.
Tracing a leak is easiest while it is raining. The repair itself is booked into a dry window, a day or two without rain.
A $99 on-site inspection, a written quote before any work, and photos of every item we touch.
