Chimney sweeping in Seattle, WA

Everything from 1910s Craftsman bungalows with original fir floors and a single area rug to glass condo towers with wall-to-wall carpet in the bedrooms. Old houses often have retrofitted ducts in the crawlspace; new towers have long dryer vent runs. A wood-burning fireplace or stove in Seattle that runs through a Puget Sound winter puts a season's worth of creosote on the flue, and creosote is what chimney fires are made of. We sweep with rotary rods and brushes sized to the flue, full containment at the firebox, and a visual inspection of the firebox, damper, smoke shelf and flue. Nothing about that is unusual for Seattle — we see it often.

What Seattle homes bring us

Around Ballard, Capitol Hill and Beacon Hill we sweep masonry fireplaces, wood stoves and inserts, factory-built metal fireplaces and pellet vents, and remove the occasional bird's nest before recommending a screened cap. We hear a version of this from Seattle every few weeks.

For chimney sweeping in Seattle that means dealing with older homes with masonry chimneys and wood stoves that run hard through the wet season. About three-quarters of a million people live here across zip codes 98101, 98102, 98103, 98104, 98105, 98106, 98107, 98108, 98109, 98112, 98115, 98116, 98117, 98118, 98119, 98121, 98122, 98125, 98126, 98133, 98134, 98136, 98144, 98177, 98178, 98199, and the neighborhoods we visit most are Ballard, Capitol Hill, Beacon Hill, Georgetown, Columbia City, Greenwood, Magnolia and Rainier Valley.

Older Seattle houses often have original fir floors under later carpet, retrofitted forced-air ducts snaking through the crawlspace, and a single wool rug in the living room that has been there for decades. Townhomes from the 2010s on have laundry closets with roof-vented dryers and long, kinked transition hoses. Condo towers have glued-down commercial carpet in the corridors and shared vent stacks.

Neighborhood by neighborhood

• A number of Ballard homes went through a remodel recently, and chimney sweeping calls from there are often about construction dust left behind in the system.
• Capitol Hill is far enough inland that wildfire smoke settles into the system every August, which is when we get the most chimney sweeping calls from that neighborhood.
• Beacon Hill customers tend to book chimney sweeping right after moving in, since nobody tells a new owner when the system was last serviced.
• A lot of Georgetown homes have not had chimney sweeping done since they were built, and the difference once it is finally done tends to surprise people.
• Homes in Columbia City tend to be larger, so chimney sweeping there is usually a longer job than in a typical single-system house.

From Seattle the van usually continues to West Seattle (about 12 minutes from our yard), Mercer Island (about 20 minutes from our yard), Yarrow Point (about 26 minutes from our yard), Bellevue (about 25 minutes from our yard) on the same day, which is how chimney sweeping in Seattle stays at our base rate: the drive is shared across the route.

Why it matters here

The NFPA recommends an annual inspection for any chimney in regular use. You get a written note of what we found, useful for insurance or a home sale, and a referral if something needs a mason. It is a familiar story on our Seattle route.

Winter calls are usually about smoke in the room or a fire that will not draw — both signs of a blockage that should not wait. It is the kind of job that brings us back to Seattle on a regular basis.

Jobs like yours

A bird's nest in a chimney cap was blocking the flue. We removed it and recommended a screened cap. Nothing about that is unusual for Seattle — we see it often.

Locally owned, not a franchise

The national carpet-cleaning brands you see advertised around King County are franchise territories run on a script: a low advertised price, a list of add-ons once the truck is parked, and a technician measured on ticket size. We run 3 vans out of a yard in South Park and a laundromat in Tukwila, and every review we have was earned one Seattle living room at a time. Local ownership is not a slogan on this site; it is why the phone gets answered on a Sunday.

How the visit goes

The tech starts with a protect the room and ends with a report; what happens in between is on the chimney sweeping page. What does not change from house to house in Seattle: you hear the price first, and it does not move. Chimney sweeps pair with carpet cleaning in the same room, because the hearth area is where soot ends up. We hear a version of this from Seattle every few weeks.

What we will tell you honestly

Gas fireplaces need a gas technician, not a sweep. We would rather say that up front in Seattle than surprise you at the door.

Pricing in Seattle

Seattle is about 15 minutes from our yard in South Park. That is close enough to quote at our base rate and close enough that same-day is realistic when you call before noon. The number the tech gives you on the walk-through is the number on the receipt, and the walk-through is free.