Kenmore, King County
Chimney work in Kenmore is mostly about houses from the postwar decades. Brick fireplaces built for open fires in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s now often hold an insert or a gas unit, and the flue behind them was never designed for that. Add a long wet season at the head of the lake, and the questions homeowners bring us become fairly predictable. This page gathers what is particular to Kenmore, with the sources behind each point.
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$99 plus tax, deducted when you approve the repair
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Pick what you're seeing at your Kenmore home — we'll point you to the right fix.
What we do
The same crew, the same written quote — for Kenmore 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 — Kenmore, WA. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Kenmore began as a mill town in 1901, when John McMaster opened a shingle mill and named the settlement after a town in Canada. Logging carried it until the local forests were gone in the 1920s; the road to Bothell was bricked in 1913 and 1914, and the suburbs followed after the Second World War. Voters approved incorporation in 1997 by about 70 percent, and the city became official on August 31, 1998, the 39th in King County. Its roughly 6.1 square miles now hold about 23,741 residents by Census estimate, spread from the waterfront up the hills and along the river.
Kenmore Air Harbor was founded in 1946 on a former shingle-mill site and swamp at the north end of Lake Washington, on ground firmed up with fill dirt from the Bothell Way road work. It has since grown into one of the largest seaplane operations in the world.
That history is typical of the Kenmore waterfront: low ground, reworked many times, between the lake and the Sammamish River. Homes near it and on the hillsides above share the same damp winters, which shape most of the chimney problems we are called about.
Kenmore's fire service, formerly the Northshore Fire Department, merged with Shoreline Fire in a voter-approved regional fire authority that began on May 1, 2025. It serves Kenmore, Lake Forest Park and Shoreline, and its fire prevention division also covers Woodway.
Drawing on national data, the Washington State Fire Marshal traces 77 percent of 2024's residential heating fires back to chimneys, flues and fuel burners, and its advice is a professional inspection and cleaning every year.
Kenmore's winter burn bans are King County-wide calls, made by Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. A Stage 1 call means open wood fireplaces, and stoves or inserts that lack certification, stay unlit; a Stage 2 call adds certified wood units and pellet stoves to the list, with an exception only for a home whose device is its sole adequate heat and whose exemption was approved ahead of time.
To check before lighting, use the agency's website, its alert sign-up, or the recorded line, 800-595-4341. Summer fire safety bans come from the King County fire marshal.
A King County survey in 2010 and 2011 documented 93 mid-century homes in Kenmore, mostly Ranch and Split Level, and in Uplake Terrace alone, a hillside plat from 1953, it recorded 80. Census estimates date roughly 28 percent of Kenmore homes to 1960 through 1979, and place the median one in 1985.
Those decades set the pattern for Kenmore chimneys: brick stacks with clay-tile flues, built for open fires, many of them since fitted with an insert or converted to gas. Assessing whether the original flue still matches what burns in it is the most common job we do here.
Kenmore holds the northernmost shore of Lake Washington, which King County lists as the biggest of its three major lakes and the state's number two natural lake by size. The Sammamish River enters the lake here, and Kenmore is among the cities with a Shoreline Master Program on it.
WeatherSpark puts the city's wet season at roughly October 10 to April 30 and places its gustier months over nearly the same span, with southerly winds most of that time. For chimneys, that means months of rain, often driven against the same faces of the stack.
Kenmore is a member of MyBuildingPermit.com, the regional portal for permit applications, inspection scheduling and status. King County moved to the 2021 Washington State Building Code in March 2024, and the state's code council has picked May 3, 2027 to bring in the 2024 IRC, IMC and IFGC.
Washington L&I also requires every construction contractor to be registered, and anyone can check a registration with L&I's Verify tool before hiring. Rules for stoves, inserts and gas units can vary from one city to the next, so we confirm Kenmore's requirements for each job before any work starts.
The grid we quote from for Kenmore homes — the $99 inspection comes first, the written quote before any work.
| Service | Price in Kenmore | 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 Kenmore. 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, all of it: the slopes of Uplake Terrace and Arrowhead, the streets near Inglemoor, and the low ground by the Sammamish River and Swamp Creek.
Every chimney is inspected for $99 plus tax, whatever level of inspection it needs. Approve the repair quote and that $99 is credited against the work.
The flue liner and whatever now vents into it. Many fireplaces of that era have been given an insert or a gas unit since, and a camera run tells us whether the original tile flue still suits it.
Not a wood one. Stage 1 rules out wood fireplaces, plus stoves and inserts without a certification label; Stage 2 adds certified devices and pellet stoves, except for approved only-heat-source homes. The agency's list names wood and pellet devices; if you are unsure about yours, check its status line before lighting.
Choose a genuine opening on the crew's calendar. We inspect, quote in writing, and hand over a photo record of every repair.
