Kirkland, King County
Put a stainless cap on a Kirkland chimney and the bill falls somewhere from $235 up to $850, fitted and fastened. One clay flue taking an off-the-shelf cap is the $235 kind of job; a broad crown carrying three flues, or a hood we have fabricated to its footprint, is the $850 kind. Either way, the cap is fastened so a December windstorm does not leave it in your yard.
Typical investment
$235–$850
Book an inspection
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 Kirkland home — we'll point you to the right fix.
What we do
The same crew, the same written quote — for Kirkland homes.
Level 1, or a Level 2 when needed, which means a video camera travels the full flue
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Rotary or rod brushing of the full flue, with the hearth covered and a HEPA vacuum running
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Replacement of cracked or spalled brick with a close color match
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Camera scan and flue measurement before anything is ordered
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Burner, pilot assembly and thermocouple or thermopile cleaned and checked
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Crown rebuilt with a slope and a drip edge that throws water off
Learn moreRanges shown for orientation — the exact figure is written up on-site, after the inspection.
The Washington State Fire Marshal advises capping every chimney, and in Kirkland that advice earns its keep. An open flue here takes months of rain straight down into the firebox, draws birds and squirrels looking for a nesting spot, and catches needles from nearby firs and cedars fall in. A chimney with no cap, or with a rusted one that has lost its screen, lets all of that in.
WeatherSpark's wind record for Kirkland shows air moving up from the south for most of the calendar, from around mid-September until late June, before it swings around out of the north for July and August. In the state climate summary kept by the Western Regional Climate Center, the hardest blows of late fall and winter are southerly or southwesterly ones.
A cap on a lake-facing roof is hit from the same direction storm after storm. We fasten it to the flue or crown rather than relying on a friction fit, and on wide crowns we choose a cap design that sheds wind instead of catching it.
WSU Extension notes that removing overhanging branches is part of controlling moss, and that most moss problems begin under or near the eaves. Oregon State University Extension adds that moss traps soil and debris, holding moisture against the roof.
Under tall trees, that debris ends up on the chimney as well. A capped flue keeps needles, cones and nesting material out of the smoke chamber, while the screen catches what the wind drops. We size the mesh so it keeps litter out without clogging after one fall.
Every chimney cap installation we do in Kirkland includes:
Smoke coming back into the room, or a smell that won't go? Book the inspection first.
Book nowThe cap calls we get most often start with something falling: rust flakes in the firebox, a cap found on the lawn after a storm, or a bird that came down the flue into the living room. The second most common is a chimney that drips into the firebox after every heavy rain, which a cap solves when the crown itself is still sound.
We measure each flue's outside size and height above the crown, since a cap that fits loosely will rattle, then lift in the first strong gust.
One flue gets a cap that clamps to its tile or liner; a crown with several flues is usually better served by one wide cap covering all of them.
Nests and debris come out of the flue first. The cap then goes on and is secured with fasteners made for masonry or metal.
A short test fire or smoke test confirms the new cap is not restricting the draft before we leave.
November is Kirkland's rainiest month on WeatherSpark's figures, with measurable rain on roughly 17 of its 30 days. By the Western Regional Climate Center's account, the two months after it are no kinder west of the Cascades: 20, 25 or more days of precipitation in each is common.
An uncapped flue collects all of it. Rain running down the tiles wets the smoke chamber, corrodes the damper and mixes with soot into a sour-smelling slurry. A cap costs little next to the damper, smoke chamber and masonry it keeps dry.
What this work is quoted at for Kirkland homes — the exact figure comes from the $99 on-site inspection, credited toward the work.
| Service | Price in Kirkland | What that covers |
|---|---|---|
| Chimney Cap Installation | $235–$850 | Stainless cap fitted; multi-flue and custom at the top |
| 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 |
Ranges are what these jobs are quoted at in Kirkland. 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 1996 USGS paper concluded that the southern Whidbey Island fault could produce earthquakes of magnitude 7 or greater. Surveying chimneys after the 2001 Nisqually quake, USGS documented repeated damage to the area's unreinforced brick chimneys, in 1949, 1965 and 2001.
When a cap is fastened to the crown, we look at that crown and the top courses of brick first. If they are cracked or loose, anchoring a cap to them does not help, and we will say so and show you the photo before putting anything up there.
Kirkland is an 18-square-mile city on the east shore of Lake Washington, on Lake Washington, with homes with a median build year of 1984, more than a third of them put up in the 1960s and 1970s. We work every part of it — Houghton, Juanita, Rose Hill, Finn Hill, Kingsgate included.
KirklandKing County, WA · 47.677, -122.206
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 $235 to $850 installed. Price depends on the number and size of flues, on whether a stock cap fits, and on the pitch and height of the roof.
If water is coming straight down the flue, yes. If it is getting in through a cracked crown or the flashing, a cap alone will not fix it, and the inspection photos will show which it is.
Yes, the mesh can clog with soot and needles. It is checked and cleared as part of each sweep, and the code requires it to be removable for that reason.
A $99 on-site inspection, a written quote before any work, and photos of every item we touch.
