Something is living in there
Birds, squirrels and windblown branches pile up just above the damper. A blocked flue does not vent — it pushes smoke and carbon monoxide back into the room.
Removal and a cap: $200 – $850
Professional chimney services in Seattle & Washington State
Your local chimney experts — safety, quality and reliable service.
Sweeping, inspection, repair, restoration and rebuilding for Seattle and the surrounding communities. You get the findings in writing before anyone quotes a repair.
Built for Washington homes
- Licensed · Bonded · Insured
- Serving Seattle and Washington State
- Findings in writing, every visit
- Floors covered, nothing left behind
Your local chimney experts
Evergreen Chimney Experts provides professional chimney sweeping, inspection, repair, restoration and rebuilding throughout Seattle and the surrounding communities.
Our team works with every kind of chimney and fireplace system, from traditional masonry stacks to modern prefabricated units. Whether yours needs routine maintenance, a repair, a new liner, leak protection or a major restoration, the job is to find the right solution for your home — not the biggest one.
Most people have never seen the inside of their own chimney.
This is a drawing, not a photograph — a cutaway of a typical Washington masonry flue. Scroll to go down it. Everything labeled here is something we find in Puget Sound homes every week.
Flaky, and it brushes off
Dry and crumbly, the residue of a normal burning season. This is exactly what an annual sweep exists for, and it is the least expensive problem in this whole flue.
Sweep and inspection: $200 – $400
Glazed — and this one starts fires
Hardened into a tar-like shell that a brush slides straight over. It burns hot and fast if it ever lights. Removing it takes a different process, and a much more careful quote.
Priced after inspection — never over the phone
The gap you cannot see from below
Freeze-thaw cycles and past chimney fires both crack clay tile. A broken liner lets heat and combustion gases reach the framing behind the wall.
Relining: $4,600 – $8,000
What we find inside Puget Sound chimneys
Three conditions we run into every week. None of these is unusual, and every one of them was invisible from the living room.
Nest and debris
Something is living in there
Birds, squirrels and windblown branches pile up above the damper and block the draft, pushing smoke and carbon monoxide back into the room.
Removal and a cap: $200 – $850
Degree 3 creosote, glazed
This is the kind that starts fires
Degree 2 is dry and flaky and brushes off — that is what the annual sweep is for. This is the other one: hardened into a tar shell that a brush slides straight over.
Priced after inspection — never over the phone
Cracked clay liner
The gap you cannot see from below
Freeze-thaw cycles and past chimney fires both crack clay tile. A broken liner lets heat and combustion gases reach the framing behind the wall.
Relining: $4,600 – $8,000
Chimney Maintenance & Cleaning Packages
Keep your chimney clean, maintained and ready when you need it. Stop deciding every autumn — regular maintenance finds small problems while they are still small. A cap caught this year costs a few hundred dollars; the same cap ignored for three winters is water in the masonry and a four-figure repair.
A maintenance and cleaning package makes it predictable — sweeping, inspection and the seasonal checks on a schedule built around your chimney and how you actually use it.
Our chimney services
From routine maintenance through major restoration — one company for the whole system.
Chimney sweeping
Soot, ash, creosote and debris build up inside a chimney over time. Sweeping removes that buildup and keeps air moving through the flue the way it should. We inspect the accessible parts while we clean, and tell you about anything visible that needs attention.
- Chimney and flue cleaning
- Soot and creosote removal
- Firebox, smoke shelf and damper
- Removal of loose debris
- Visual condition check and cap inspection
- Draft and airflow concerns, in writing
Chimney & masonry repair
Your chimney takes rain, wind and temperature swings all year, and mortar joints, bricks and crowns deteriorate. Small problems get considerably more expensive when they are left alone — we inspect the damage, explain the options, and recommend based on what the chimney actually needs.
- Cracked masonry and damaged brick
- Deteriorated mortar joints
- Chimney crowns and caps
- Flashing problems
- Water-damaged and loose sections
- Firebox masonry
Chimney relining
The liner carries smoke and combustion gases out of the house and protects the structure around the flue from both. When it cracks, or is no longer right for the appliance connected to it, relining is the fix. We evaluate what is there before recommending anything.
- The existing liner is cracked or deteriorated
- An older chimney needs an updated liner
- The fireplace or heating appliance changed
- The chimney is being renovated
Rebuilding, renovation & restoration
Some chimneys need more than a repair. Years of moisture, settling or previous improper work cause damage that patching will not solve. We preserve as much of the existing chimney as is practical and rebuild what has to be rebuilt — and we explain the scope, the materials and the process before anything starts.
- Partial and complete rebuilding
- Brick replacement and mortar restoration
- Chimney crown rebuilding
- Fireplace and exterior masonry restoration
- Historic-style restoration
- Removal and replacement of deteriorated sections
Chimney leak repair
Water is the single biggest enemy of a masonry chimney. A leak can reach the firebox, the attic, the ceiling. We inspect to find where the water is actually getting in, instead of covering the stain it left behind.
- Damaged flashing and roof-to-chimney joints
- Cracked crowns and missing caps
- Deteriorated mortar and cracked masonry
- Porous brick and improper sealing
Not sure you actually need us?
Six questions, sixty seconds. If your chimney is fine, this will say so — we would rather keep your number than sell you a service you do not need.
Result
Result
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Market range for the Puget Sound area, shown so you can sanity-check anyone's quote — ours included.
Market range for the Puget Sound area, shown so you can sanity-check anyone's quote — ours included.
Our approach
Good chimney work starts with understanding the problem. Most homeowners are not chimney experts, and they should not have to be — that is our job.
Inspect
We evaluate the chimney and identify what is actually there, before anyone talks about price.
Explain
We tell you what we found and what your options are, in language that does not require a trade background.
Recommend
We recommend the service the condition calls for. Not every chimney problem is a major project, and we will say so.
Perform
Once you approve it, the work gets done properly and with attention to detail.
Protect
The point of all of it is to protect the chimney, the fireplace and the house for years — not to close a job.
Safety first
A chimney is not decorative. It carries smoke and combustion gases away from where you live. If we find a concern, we raise it before going any further.
Drag to see the difference
Two real jobs, photographed from the same spot before and after.
Crown rebuild and new cap
The crown had cracked through and the cap was long gone, so every storm was pouring straight down the flue. Rebuilt crown, new stainless cap.
Before
After
A season of wood fires, swept
Nothing structural here — just a firebox that had done its job all winter. This is what a standard sweep looks like from the living room.
Before
After
Animal stuck in your chimney?
Scratching, movement, chirping — a bird or an animal may have gotten in and become trapped. It is not a problem that waits, and it is not one to poke at from the firebox. We keep room for ASAP calls precisely for this.
We inspect the chimney, work out what is causing it, and recommend the next step without doing unnecessary damage to the chimney or the fireplace. Once it is resolved we check the cap and the other entry points, so it does not happen again.
Experts in all types of chimneys
Every property is different, and not every chimney needs the same solution. We work out the actual condition before recommending anything.
Masonry and brick
Traditional stacks, including the pre-war brick that fills Seattle and Tacoma.
Modern systems
Prefabricated fireboxes and framed chases, common across the Eastside suburbs.
Wood-burning fireplaces
Residential fireplaces and stoves, from occasional use to full-season heating.
Systems needing restoration
Older chimneys, liner problems, and anything the weather has been working on.
Why choose Evergreen
Homeowners should understand what their chimney needs, why it needs it, and what the options are — before any work begins.
Licensed, bonded & insured
A professional company, not a truck and a brush.
The whole system, one company
Sweeping, masonry, liners, leaks, rebuilding and restoration. You are not handed off halfway through.
Clear explanations first
You hear what we found and what it means before anyone quotes a number.
ASAP service options
We keep room for the problems that will not wait until next week.
Built for Washington homes
This climate is hard on masonry. Repeated moisture is what takes mortar, brick, crowns and flashing apart here, and that is what we plan around.
Local Washington service
Serving Seattle and the surrounding communities, with the travel policy stated up front.
Serving Seattle and surrounding Washington communities
From routine sweeping to masonry restoration and rebuilding. Each of these has its own way of wearing a chimney out — pick yours and see what we run into there.
Local chimney professionals you can depend on
Evergreen Chimney Experts was created with a simple goal: give Washington homeowners professional, dependable chimney service and straightforward answers.
When we inspect a chimney we take the time to explain what we found, what may need attention, and which service actually fits the condition. We do not believe every chimney problem is a major project — the job is to identify the problem and recommend a practical solution.
Questions we get every week
How often should a chimney be swept?
The NFPA standard is an annual inspection for every chimney, with sweeping
as needed. A wood-burning fireplace used most winter days usually needs
sweeping once a year. A gas fireplace may go longer between sweeps, but it
still needs the annual look — most gas-appliance problems are venting
problems.
How do I know if my chimney needs cleaning?
Smoke pushing back into the room, a strong smell from the fireplace in warm
weather, sounds or debris in the firebox, and buildup you can scrape off the
flue with a fingernail. Any one of those is worth a look.
What is the difference between Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 inspections?
Level 1 is the annual visual check of the readily accessible parts. Level 2
adds the areas you cannot see directly, and it is the one required when a
home is sold, after a chimney fire, or when you change the appliance or the
fuel. Level 3 means opening up part of the structure and is only done when a
serious hazard is suspected.
Will the cleaning make a mess?
It should not. We cover the floor and the surrounding area, seal the
fireplace opening and vacuum as we work. If we leave soot in your living
room, we have not finished the job.
How long does the appointment take?
A straightforward sweep and inspection usually runs an hour to an hour and a
half. Heavy buildup, a second flue or difficult roof access takes longer, and
we tell you before we start rather than after.
Can you work in the rain?
Interior work goes ahead in almost any weather — this is Washington. Roof
work depends on how wet and how steep the roof is. If it is not safe to be up
there we reschedule that part instead of rushing it.
Do you provide reports for a home sale?
Yes. A property transfer calls for a Level 2 inspection under NFPA 211, and
you get the findings in writing so your agent and the buyer can both read
them.
How are repair estimates prepared?
We inspect first, write down what we found, and then quote. You approve the
work before anything starts. We do not diagnose and sell in the same breath —
that habit is exactly why this industry has the reputation it has.
Sweeping · Repairs · Relining · Rebuilding · Restoration · Leak repair
Routine maintenance or a real problem — we are ready.
Contact Evergreen Chimney Experts to schedule your chimney service. Peak season here runs September through November, and the good slots go first.