Bothell, King County
Chimney work in Bothell comes with a detail most towns do not have: the city sits in two counties. Homes south of the line are in King County, homes in Canyon Park and the north end are in Snohomish County, and a few rules change with that line while others do not. This page sorts out which is which for your chimney, from burn bans to permits, and names where each point comes from.
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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 Bothell home — we'll point you to the right fix.
What we do
The same crew, the same written quote — for Bothell homes.
Rotary or rod brushing of the full flue, with the hearth covered and a HEPA vacuum running
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Level 1, or a Level 2 when needed, which means a video camera travels the full flue
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Camera scan and flue measurement before anything is ordered
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Replacement of cracked or spalled brick with a close color match
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Measurement of each flue and of the crown before fitting
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Crown rebuilt with a slope and a drip edge that throws water off
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Cleaning of the brick before any treatment
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Check of step flashing, counter-flashing and sealant around the base
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Burner, pilot assembly and thermocouple or thermopile cleaned and checked
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Camera check to confirm the stage and extent of the buildup
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Full-length cleaning of the duct from the dryer to the outside
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Negative-pressure cleaning of every supply and return run
Learn moreRanges shown for orientation — the exact figure is written up on-site, after the inspection.
Service-area map — Bothell, WA. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Bothell grew up in the Sammamish River valley. David Bothell bought 80 acres here in 1885, the railroad came through in 1888, and the town incorporated on April 14, 1909, with his son George as first mayor. An Easter Sunday fire in 1911 destroyed ten businesses downtown. After World War II, houses replaced farms and dairy pastures, and the 1992 Canyon Park annexation added about six square miles and some 10,000 residents across the Snohomish County line. Today the city covers about 13.66 square miles, 7.24 in King County and 6.42 in Snohomish, with a population near 49,600, and it borders Kirkland, Kenmore and Woodinville. Its median home dates from 1992.
The Bothell Fire Department covers the city and Snohomish County Fire Protection District 10 from three stations, numbered 42, 44 and 45. Its winter safety advice is practical: make sure the flue is open before lighting a wood fire, carry ashes outside in a metal can and keep them away from the house, and never leave a stove burning while you sleep or go out.
Every Bothell visit opens with an inspection, $99 plus tax per chimney examined; approving the written repair quote knocks that sum off the job. Photos and a plain-English report come with it, and no decision is expected that day.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers straightened and deepened the Sammamish River through Bothell in the 1910s. North Creek runs down from Everett through Mill Creek and the Canyon Park business park, then beside I-405 to join the river, and low spots along it flood in a minor way fairly often.
Higher up, the city's hazard plan maps about 7.88 percent of Bothell's land as potential landslide area, naming Norway Hill, Valhalla, Amber Ridge, Brentwood and Queensborough among neighborhoods with recent slides. On a hillside lot, we plan ladder placement and roof access around the slope.
The county line does not split Bothell's winter burn bans: King and Snohomish counties both belong to the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency's jurisdiction, so one ban reaches every Bothell address. Under Stage 1, open wood fireplaces and uncertified wood stoves or inserts must sit unused; Stage 2 extends that to certified wood units and to pellet stoves, except in homes holding an approved only-heat-source exemption.
Summer is where the line matters: a dry-season fire safety ban is the business of whichever county marshal, King or Snohomish, has jurisdiction over your street. On top of those, Governor Ferguson declared a statewide burn ban on August 1, 2026, in effect through September 30.
Bothell takes every permit application online through MyBuildingPermit.com, residential mechanical work included. Its residential mechanical form, number 9, has line items for wood and pellet stoves and inserts and for gas log inserts, so adding or replacing one of those is permit work. The permit center answers at 425-806-6400.
The code behind those permits is the state's. Washington's 2021 codes, including a residential code built on the 2021 International Residential Code, apply to every application found complete on March 15, 2024 or later, and Olympia's code council has pencilled in the 2024 residential, mechanical and fuel gas editions to replace them on May 3, 2027. One height rule carries across both editions: measure 3 feet up from where the chimney leaves the roof, and 2 feet above any part of the house standing within 10 feet, and the top must reach both marks.
The city's 2025 hazard annex puts the South Whidbey Fault closest among the major active faults, and it draws liquefaction zones on the Bothell map. The state's Emergency Management Division has modeled a magnitude 7.4 earthquake on that fault and now rates its potential at 7.5. In 2001, the Nisqually quake caused only minor damage in Bothell.
USGS surveyors found 1,556 chimneys damaged by that 2001 quake in a regional count of about 60,000. With about one Bothell home in four built before 1980, many brick stacks here are old enough to deserve a look after any quake you can feel.
WeatherSpark's model of Bothell's weather puts close to seven wet months on the calendar, from about October 9 through May 1, peaking in November at around 8.3 inches of rain. Cold weather settles in between roughly November 13 and March 1, December averages a 46°F high and a 38°F low, and snow usually falls only between about December 10 and January 21.
The Western Regional Climate Center fills in the regional picture: a December or January with wet weather on 20 to 25 or more of its days, and lowland snow that seldom lasts long. For chimneys, that means long soaking spells punctuated by nights near freezing, the pattern behind most crown and joint damage we see here.
The grid we quote from for Bothell homes — the $99 inspection comes first, the written quote before any work.
| Service | Price in Bothell | What that covers |
|---|---|---|
| Chimney Sweep | $189–$459 | 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 $425 | Masonry repair — brick and mortar, scoped after diagnosis |
| Chimney Cap Installation | $235–$850 | Stainless cap fitted; multi-flue and custom at the top |
| Masonry Repair (Crown / Repointing) | From $475 | Crown work, repointing and tuckpointing by surface area |
| Chimney Waterproofing | $285–$795 | Breathable sealer — reapplied every 3–5 years in this climate |
| Chimney Flashing Repair | $375–$1,500 | Reseal at the low end, full flashing replacement at the high |
| Gas Fireplace Service | $189–$479 | 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–$295 | Full run cleaned; roof or upper-floor terminations at the top |
| Air Duct Cleaning | From $525 | Whole HVAC system — trunks, branches and every register |
Ranges are what these jobs are quoted at in Bothell. 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.
Yes, the whole city, from the downtown streets near the river up through Canyon Park and the north end.
Each chimney costs $99 plus tax to inspect, whatever depth is needed, and the amount comes off your repair bill if you accept our quote.
Check before lighting. PSCAA announces winter bans on its site and its 800-595-4341 hotline, and this year a statewide burn ban runs through September 30, 2026.
Choose a genuine opening on the crew's calendar. We inspect, quote in writing, and hand over a photo record of every repair.
