Chimney Inspection · Bothell, WA
Which chimney inspection a Bothell house actually needs
Most chimney inspections in Bothell are booked because of a date rather than a symptom: a listing goes live, a sale closes, or the weather turns and nobody in the house has lit that fireplace before.
The national standard, NFPA 211, sets the levels. What a Bothell address adds is a set of clues about what the inspector is likely to find, and a couple of records that are easy to misread.
Reviewed by Chimney4u editorial team · Last updated
Which level a Bothell situation calls for
NFPA 211 devotes a chapter to inspecting existing chimneys and defines three levels. The circumstance chooses the level.
- Nothing has changed. Same appliance, same fuel, same system, in continued service. That is the annual Level 1: readily accessible parts of the chimney, structure, and flue, plus the appliance and its connection.
- The house is changing hands. A sale or transfer of the property is a Level 2 trigger. So is adding or swapping an appliance, changing fuel, a suspected chimney fire, or a windstorm or earthquake.
- A hazard nobody can see. Where a serious problem is suspected and cannot be evaluated without removing part of the chimney or the building, that is a Level 3, quoted on its own.
What the property record tells an inspector, and what it does not
Bothell sits in two counties at once, so the year-built figure on a Bothell listing comes from either the King County or the Snohomish County assessor. On the King County side, the assessor's area report puts the typical home in several sub-areas in the mid-to-late 1970s, and the typical home around Norway Hill and Promontory Point in the 1990s.
That is a useful prior and nothing more. A mid-1970s house probably has a site-built masonry fireplace with a clay tile flue and a crown that has taken about fifty wet winters, and clay tile cracks and separates at the joints where nobody can see it. A 1990s house more often has a listed factory-built system, where the questions are joint separation, corrosion, and whether the parts still match the listing.
Before the first fire in a house you just bought
The most common surprise in a fifty-year-old Bothell fireplace is not the fireplace. It is what somebody added to it. An insert or a freestanding stove pushed into an open masonry fireplace changes the venting completely, and the flue that suited an open fire is usually far too large for the appliance now attached.
Identify the appliance before you light it
Make, model, fuel, and whether it is listed. Washington does not require an uncertified solid fuel burning device to be removed when a home is sold, so an older stove can legally still be sitting there when you get the keys.
Check the flue against the appliance
Liner manufacturers cap the flue for a solid-fuel appliance at three times the appliance outlet collar and never smaller than the collar itself. An oversized or mismatched flue condenses, drafts poorly, and loads with residue faster.
Scan the liner
A camera on rods run through the flue is what shows cracked or displaced tiles, failed joints, gaps at an offset, and nesting material. It is also what a relining decision has to rest on.
Look at the top and the outside
The state residential code requires a masonry chimney to have a concrete, metal, or stone cap with a drip edge and a caulked bond break around the flue liners, sloped to shed water. On a fifty-year-old stack the crown and cap are often the first thing a report raises.
Who reads the report after you do
An inspection you cannot hand to somebody else is half a job. On a Bothell sale the report may go to a buyer, an agent, or an insurer; after a purchase it goes to whoever quotes the work. It should name the level completed, the flues and appliances covered, anything that could not be reached and why, photographs of the conditions described, and a plain separation of urgent from optional.
Local considerations in Bothell
- Bothell is located in both King and Snohomish counties, with the majority of the city in King County, and the city publishes a map of the divide. A Bothell year-built figure therefore comes from one of two different county assessors, which is worth knowing when a listing and a report disagree.
- On the King County side of the city, the assessor's 2024 area report characterises the typical home in several sub-areas as a mid-to-late 1970s build, with Norway Hill and Promontory Point typically 1990s. The first group points toward masonry and clay tile, the second toward listed factory-built systems — which are inspected differently.
- NFPA 211 defines three inspection levels, and a sale or transfer of the property is one of the circumstances that calls for a Level 2, including a video scan of the flue. CSIA and NFPA 211 both call for that scan before a chimney is lined or relined.
- Washington does not require an uncertified solid fuel burning device to be removed when a home is sold, so a stove or insert of unknown vintage can still be connected to the flue on the day a Bothell buyer takes possession.
- The Washington residential code requires a masonry chimney to have a concrete, metal, or stone cap with a drip edge and a caulked bond break around the flue liners, sloped to shed water — a routine finding on a stack that has stood since the 1970s.
- Findings that turn into work are reviewed by the city itself: Bothell runs one Permit Center for the whole city, on both sides of the county line, under the code it adopts in Title 20. An inspection report does not settle any of that.
What the job includes
- Deciding which NFPA 211 level your circumstance calls for, and saying why before the visit begins
- Examination of the readily accessible chimney structure and flue, the connected appliance, and the chimney connection
- At Level 2, the accessible runs in attics, crawl spaces, and basements that can be entered without demolition, plus a video scan of the flue's internal surfaces
- Verification at Level 2 that the liner material and flue size suit the appliances actually connected, rather than the appliance the chimney was built for
- A look at the crown, cap, and flashing from the roof where access and weather allow
- Photographs of the conditions described, from the same angles where that is practical
- A written report naming the level completed, the flues and appliances covered, and everything that could not be reached
What it does not include
- Sweeping. An inspection reports on deposits; removing them is a separate booking, and heavy buildup can be the reason a flue cannot be read as found
- Repairs of any kind. Findings come back as a written scope and price you approve before anything is scheduled
- Opening walls, chases, or ceilings, which is a Level 3 scope of its own — as is closing and finishing them again
- A whole-house home inspection, an appraisal, or any opinion on the rest of the building
- Any determination that your chimney complies with the code Bothell has adopted. That belongs to the City of Bothell Permit Center
- Any statement about insurance coverage. Conditions can be documented with photographs; the claim decision is your insurer's
What to look for
- You are listing a Bothell house and the fireplace has no service history at all
- A transfer of the property is a circumstance NFPA 211 associates with a Level 2. Finding out during the inspection contingency is more expensive than finding out before the listing.
- The house dates from the 1970s and the fireplace has an insert of unknown age
- The flue was sized for an open fire, not for the appliance now attached to it. That mismatch is a sizing and liner question, and it is answered with a scan.
- The listing and the firebox describe different appliances
- Gas logs in a wood firebox, or a capped stove thimble nobody mentioned, means the venting has been changed at some point. Any change of appliance or fuel is a Level 2 circumstance.
- You inherited a stove with the house and cannot find its manual
- The manufacturer's instructions set the clearances, the flue size, and the liner requirements. Without them, the appliance has to be identified before anyone can say whether the chimney suits it.
- Nobody in the household has ever lit that fireplace
- An unused flue can hold nesting material, displaced tile, or a closed damper nobody has tested. The first fire is the worst time to discover any of them.
What changes the price
We do not publish a headline figure, because it would be a guess about your chimney. These are the things that genuinely move the number, and we put a real one in writing after we have looked.
- The level the circumstance calls for
- A Level 1 is a different scope of work from a Level 2 with a camera scan and accessible attic, crawl space, and basement runs, and a Level 3 is different again.
- How many flues the chimney holds
- A stack serving a fireplace and a furnace, or several homes in one structure, is inspected flue by flue rather than chimney by chimney.
- What has been added to the fireplace
- An insert or stove retrofitted into an older masonry fireplace usually has to come forward before the smoke chamber and flue can be reached and read.
- Whether the flue can be read as found
- Heavy deposit can hide the surfaces the camera needs to see, in which case a cleaning has to happen before the scan is meaningful.
- Roof access
- Pitch, height, surface, and the chimney's position on the slope change the equipment and the time. Roofs on the ridge neighbourhoods are often steeper than the street frontage suggests.
- How much documentation the situation needs
- A report going to a buyer, an insurer, or a permit application carries more photographs and more written detail than a routine annual check.
Chimney Inspection in Bothell — common questions
- Do I need a chimney inspection to sell a house in Bothell?
- NFPA 211 treats a sale or transfer of the property as a circumstance calling for a Level 2 inspection, which adds accessible attic, crawl space, and basement runs and a video scan of the flue. A standard is not automatically local law, so confirm anything code-related with the city. What is not in doubt is that a general home inspection of the fireplace is a different and much shallower thing.
- My Bothell house was built in 1974. What should the inspection concentrate on?
- A house of that era usually has a site-built masonry fireplace with a clay tile flue, which puts the tile joints, the smoke chamber, the crown, and the cap at the top of the list. State code sets what that cap has to be — sloped, drip-edged, and broken free of the liners rather than bonded tight to them — and after about fifty winters it is often the first thing a report has to raise.
- Does it matter whether my Bothell address is on the King or the Snohomish side?
- Not for the inspection itself. NFPA 211 is a national standard, and one counter — the city's own Permit Center — serves the whole of Bothell on both sides of the line. What differs is the record: the year-built figure for your house comes from either the King County or the Snohomish County assessor, never both.
- I just bought a Bothell house with a woodstove insert. Can I light it this weekend?
- Not until someone has established that the flue suits the appliance. Washington does not require an uncertified solid fuel burning device to be removed when a home is sold, so the stove may predate the current standards. Liner manufacturers cap the flue for a solid-fuel appliance at three times the outlet collar and never smaller than the collar, and an oversized flue condenses and drafts badly. That is a Level 2 question with a scan attached.
- The inspection found work that needs doing. Who reviews it here?
- Bothell's own Permit Center, for the whole city and on both sides of the county line, under the code the city adopts in Title 20. Sweeping and inspection themselves are not permit events. Structural masonry and any change to how an appliance vents are the kind of thing a building department expects to see, and thresholds shift over time — so ask the city about your specific project rather than reasoning from what a neighbour did.
Sources
- Committee Input No. 9-NFPA 211-2024 [ Chapter 15 ] - First Draft Committee Input Statements, NFPA 211 A2026 cycle — National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Accessed 2026-08-27.
- Homeowner Resources - FAQ: What stainless steel liners require insulation? — Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA). Accessed 2026-08-27.
- Standard Operating Procedure - Level 2 Inspection, Masonry Fireplace (Rev. 4/5/19) — Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA). Accessed 2026-08-27.
- Imagine Bothell Comprehensive Plan, Executive Summary (December 2024) — City of Bothell. Accessed 2026-08-27.
- Bothell / East Kenmore, Area 038 Area Information Report (2024 revalue) — King County Department of Assessments. Accessed 2026-08-27.
- Printable Maps — City of Bothell. Accessed 2026-08-27.
- Permit Center — City of Bothell, Community Development Department. Accessed 2026-08-27.
- Bothell Municipal Code Title 20, Buildings and Construction, Chapter 20.04 Building Regulations and International Codes — City of Bothell / Code Publishing. Accessed 2026-08-27.
- Stainless Steel Flexible Liner - Installation Instructions and Maintenance Guide (Sizing the Proper Liner Diameter) — Selkirk Corporation (cross-checked against National Chimney Supply M-Flex instructions, CBIN-001). Accessed 2026-08-27.
- Flexible Chimney Liners: Ventinox, DuraFlex Pro, DuraFlex SW, DuraFlex 316, DuraFlex 304, TherMix, ProFoil - Installation Instructions — DuraVent. Accessed 2026-08-27.
- Installation and Maintenance Instructions for Forever Flex / Pre-Insulated Forever Flex and ArmorFlex/Hybrid Liner - Insulation Requirements — Olympia Chimney Supply. Accessed 2026-08-27.
- Chapter 10 Chimneys and Fireplaces - Washington State Residential Code 2021 — UpCodes (reproducing the Washington State Residential Code 2021, based on IRC 2021). Accessed 2026-08-27.
- Wood stove info — Washington State Department of Ecology. Accessed 2026-08-27.
Next step
Start with an inspection
Tell us what you have noticed. We will look at the chimney, show you what we found, and put a price on the work before anything begins.