University Place, Pierce County
Chimney repair in University Place begins at $375 when the fix is contained, say resetting a few loose bricks or patching a small crown crack, and rises with stack height and the spread of the damage. The quote is written after we have seen the chimney up close, so the price reflects your stack rather than a guess.
Typical investment
From $375
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$99 plus tax, deducted when you approve the repair
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Pick what you're seeing at your University Place home — we'll point you to the right fix.
What we do
The same crew, the same written quote — for University Place 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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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
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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.
The median home in University Place dates from 1981, and close to half were built before 1980. On the older half, the mortar has been through several decades of wet winters, and a fair number have also been through the 2001 Nisqually earthquake. The repairs we quote here are rarely dramatic, but they are the kind that get more expensive every year they wait.
University Place is a shoreline city, with its own frontage on Puget Sound and the Chambers Bay course laid out along it. It was also a city late: it incorporated in 1995, from about 8 square miles that had been unincorporated Pierce County, so most chimneys here were built long before the city existed.
When the top of a stack has to be rebuilt, the height rules come with it. Under the state code, anything built within 10 feet of the stack, a dormer or an upstairs wall, has to sit at least 2 feet below its top. A rebuild is the moment to confirm yours still does.
Where branches shade a roof through a wet winter, moss follows; the nearest long-record station, Tacoma #1, logs close to 40 inches of rain and snow in a typical year. The best long-term control, according to OSU Extension, is trimming nearby branches so the roof gets more sun. The same source warns that zinc sulfate, a common moss treatment, corrodes copper roof parts.
That warning matters on a chimney repair: copper flashing or a copper cap next to a treated roof can be eaten away. When we repair the base of a stack, we check what has been sprayed on the roof and pick materials that will hold up to it.
Every chimney repair we do in University Place includes:
Smoke coming back into the room, or a smell that won't go? Book the inspection first.
Book nowTwo things drive repair work in town. Water is the slow one: it enters at the crown or the upper joints, freezes on the colder nights and loosens the brick from the top down. Shaking is the sudden one. Of the 30,000 homes FEMA looked at after Nisqually, about a third showed chimney damage. When the state later modeled a 7.1 event along the Tacoma fault zone, unreinforced masonry was among what it expected to come down, in part or entirely. A stack with loose top courses is exactly that kind of masonry.
An inspection on the roof and inside the flue shows how deep the problem goes. It costs $99 plus tax and comes off the repair once you approve the quote.
Each repair is listed with its own line, so you can do the urgent part now and plan the rest.
Brick is matched as closely as possible, mortar is mixed for the job, and the roof around the chimney is protected.
Photos of the finished repair, and a note on anything we saw that is worth watching.
Freezing nights are not rare near the Sound. The long-record Tacoma #1 station recorded 31.8 freezing lows in an average year between 1982 and 2012, 9.3 falling in December and 7.8 in January, which are also among its wettest months.
Wet mortar that freezes expands, and each cycle opens the joint a little more. That is why chimney damage here usually starts at the crown and the top few courses, and why fixing it early costs a fraction of rebuilding the whole upper stack later.
What this work is quoted at for University Place homes — the exact figure comes from the $99 on-site inspection, credited toward the work.
| Service | Price in University Place | What that covers |
|---|---|---|
| Chimney Repair | From $375 | Masonry repair — brick and mortar, scoped after diagnosis |
| 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 Cap Installation | $265–$750 | Stainless cap fitted; multi-flue and custom at the top |
Ranges are what these jobs are quoted at in University Place. 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.
University Place is a city incorporated in 1995 and named for a university campus planned in the 1890s but never built there, on Puget Sound, with homes with a median build year of 1981, about half of them built before 1980.
University PlacePierce County, WA · 47.250, -122.552
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 $375. Small resets and crown patches sit near that figure, while rebuilding the top of a tall stack costs more. Your written quote gives the exact number.
Yes, before the next fire. Both NFPA 211 and CSIA put earthquakes on the short list of events that call for the camera-level Level 2 check, since a cracked flue rarely shows from the room.
Sometimes. If the fireplace is no longer wanted, taking the stack down below the roofline can be an option. We price both so you can compare.
A $99 on-site inspection, a written quote before any work, and photos of every item we touch.
