Lakewood, Pierce County
Chimney relining in Lakewood starts at $1,900 for a stainless steel liner run in one continuous length. That starting figure covers a straightforward single flue; an oval or offset flue, a tall two-story stack or a liner that needs an insulation wrap raises it, and the written quote tells you by how much before anything is ordered.
Typical investment
From $1,900
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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 Lakewood home — we'll point you to the right fix.
What we do
The same crew, the same written quote — for Lakewood 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 stainless cap sized to your actual flue dimensions
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Burner, pilot assembly and valve cleaned and adjusted
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Crown patched, or recast entirely if it can't be saved
Learn moreRanges shown for orientation — the exact figure is written up on-site, after the inspection.
In Lakewood the relining calls tend to follow a change of appliance. A 1970s fireplace gets a wood insert, a gas insert replaces a leaky open fire, or an owner wants to bring back a fireplace that has been unused since the house was bought. In each case the old clay flue was sized for something else, and the appliance needs a liner matched to its own outlet to draft properly.
The median Lakewood house dates from 1975, and about 22.3% of the housing stock is older than 1960, according to Census estimates. A clay flue from those decades was sized for an open fire. Drop a modern insert into it and the smoke has to travel up a passage several times larger than the insert's outlet, where it cools and leaves creosote along the way.
Washington's residential code, under R1003.11, requires masonry chimneys to be lined with clay, a listed lining system or another approved material able to resist corrosion and cracking up to 1,800°F. A stainless liner matched to the insert meets that and restores a draft sized to the appliance.
Every chimney relining we do in Lakewood includes:
Smoke coming back into the room, or a smell that won't go? Book the inspection first.
Book nowThe other trigger is damage. Clay flue tiles that have sat through decades of wet winters, the odd chimney fire and the 2001 earthquake can crack, spall or shift at the joints. Those defects hide above the smoke chamber, and the only honest way to find them is a camera. When the footage shows a flue that can no longer contain heat and smoke safely, a new liner is usually far less work than taking the chimney down.
Pierce County sat right above the source of the Nisqually quake of February 2001, a 6.8 that the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network places about 52 km below Anderson Island. In its aftermath, FEMA's inspectors recorded chimney damage in a third of the 30,000 homes they visited, according to the USGS report on the event.
NFPA 211 names two relevant triggers for a Level II inspection: a seismic event, and any planned relining. So before quoting a liner we film the old flue anyway, and if the damage turns out to be in the brick rather than the tile, you learn that before paying for the wrong repair.
The flue is filmed from bottom to top and measured, so the liner is sized to the appliance it will serve, not guessed.
You see the footage and get an itemized price covering liner, insulation, top plate and cap. Nothing is ordered until you approve it.
The liner is fed down from the roof in one piece, connected at the bottom to the appliance or smoke chamber, and sealed at the top.
We check the draft with the appliance running and walk you through the finished connections at both ends.
What this work is quoted at for Lakewood homes — the exact figure comes from the $99 on-site inspection, credited toward the work.
| Service | Price in Lakewood | What that covers |
|---|---|---|
| Chimney Relining | From $1,900 | Full-length stainless liner, sized to the appliance |
| 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 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 |
Ranges are what these jobs are quoted at in Lakewood. 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 liner is often ordered because a new wood stove or insert is on the way. In Washington, selling an uncertified wood stove is illegal, and for wood and pellet stoves the state now applies the EPA emission limits: 2.0 grams per hour tested with crib wood, or 2.5 with cord wood. Factory-built fireplaces have their own ceiling, 7.5 grams per hour.
Ecology leaves installation to local building departments, and Puget Sound Clean Air Agency's rules still govern how the stove is burned once it is in: dry, seasoned wood or manufactured logs only, and no plume thicker than 20 percent opacity for six minutes in any hour. A liner sized to the stove helps it burn clean enough to stay inside that limit.
Lakewood is a city incorporated in 1996 around a string of lakes where Tacoma families first built lodges in the late 1800s, on American Lake, with homes with a median build year of 1975, about 59% of them built before 1980.
LakewoodPierce County, WA · 47.172, -122.519
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.
It starts at $1,900. Flue shape, height and whether insulation is needed move the price up; you get the figure in writing after the camera has run.
Yes. The state residential code requires masonry chimneys to be lined, with clay tile, a listed lining system or another approved material that resists corrosion and cracking.
Not always. If the brick and crown outside are failing too, the liner is only part of the fix, and the quote will say so.
A $99 on-site inspection, a written quote before any work, and photos of every item we touch.
