Fife, Pierce County
Masonry repair on a Fife chimney begins at $425. That covers work like a crown recast on a single-flue stack or repointing a limited area of joints; bigger surfaces or several faces of brick are priced by what we measure. You see the cracks and open joints in photos before any quote is written.
Typical investment
From $425
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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 Fife home — we'll point you to the right fix.
What we do
The same crew, the same written quote — for Fife 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.
Brick chimneys are the exception in Fife rather than the rule. About 22.5% of the city's homes were built before 1980, against roughly 42% for Pierce County overall, so most houses here were framed with factory-built fireplaces and never had a mason on site. The brick stacks that do exist sit on the older houses, some dating back to the decades when Fife was still mostly farms. They are also the ones now old enough for their original mortar to be giving up.
In Fife, wood is the main heating fuel for only around 1.2% of occupied households, based on the newest Census Bureau five-year data for 2020 to 2024.
Many of the homes that burn wood are also watching every dollar. A 2013 EPA case study counted 13,792 low-income households using a wood-burning device in the part of the county that was then out of compliance for fine particles. For a family like that, a failing crown or loose brick is a safety repair first; we can split the work so the urgent part comes first.
Masonry repairs often happen around a stove or insert, which brings the county's stove rule into the room. Inside the county's Smoke Reduction Zone, putting an uncertified unit back after it comes out has been barred since October 2015, so an old stove removed for chimney work may have to stay out.
Washington's Department of Ecology adds that it does not oversee how stoves are installed; that falls to local building departments. So if rebuilding the chimney goes together with a new stove, the City of Fife is the place to ask about a permit before the installation date.
Every masonry repair (crown / repointing) we do in Fife includes:
Smoke coming back into the room, or a smell that won't go? Book the inspection first.
Book nowMortar joints and crowns wear from the top down. Water pools on a crown that is flat or cracked, works its way in, and in a cold snap the water inside the brick expands. In Fife that freeze is brief, but it repeats most winters, and each round widens the cracks a little. Left long enough, the face of the brick pops off, a condition masons call spalling, and the repair goes from repointing to replacing units.
Snow in Fife tends to be confined to roughly December 18 to January 18 in WeatherSpark's records, while the wet season runs close to seven months. The combination is what wears brick: water in, a few cold nights, water in again.
Moss adds to it. Oregon State University's extension service describes moss mats trapping wet debris against a roof, and on a masonry chimney the same mat keeps the lower courses and the flashing joint damp for weeks. Clearing it is part of our repair visit, and trimming back overhanging trees is the best long-term cure, according to OSU.
All four sides of the stack get looked at, crown included, then photograph and measure what needs work.
Mortar is mixed to suit the age and softness of your brick, since mortar that is harder than the brick around it can make the brick crack.
Crown first, then joints and damaged units, working down so water cannot get behind fresh work.
You get after-photos and advice on when the new mortar is ready for a water repellent, if you want one.
What this work is quoted at for Fife homes — the exact figure comes from the $99 on-site inspection, credited toward the work.
| Service | Price in Fife | What that covers |
|---|---|---|
| Masonry Repair (Crown / Repointing) | From $425 | Crown work, repointing and tuckpointing by surface area |
| 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 Fife. 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.
Fife is a city incorporated in 1957 on farmland just south of the Port of Tacoma, along I-5, with mostly newer homes — a median build year of 2000, about 22% built before 1980.
FifePierce County, WA · 47.239, -122.357
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.
From $425. A crown on a small stack or a patch of repointing sits near that figure; a full repoint or several replaced bricks on a tall chimney costs more, and the written quote spells it out.
Around here the two terms mean one job: raking out worn mortar and packing in new. The skill is in matching the mortar so it lasts without harming older brick.
Fine surface cracks can often be sealed. A crown that is broken through, loose or sloped the wrong way is better recast, and we show you which case you have.
A $99 on-site inspection, a written quote before any work, and photos of every item we touch.
