Chimney Repair · Bothell, WA

Diagnosing a Bothell chimney before anyone repairs it

Chimney repair is a family of jobs — crown, cap, flashing, repointing, relining, partial rebuild — and which one you need is a diagnosis, not a guess. The visible damage is usually the far end of a water path that started somewhere higher up.

Two things are specific to doing this in Bothell: when the symptom appears versus when the repair can actually be done, and who reviews the work if it crosses into permitted territory.

Reviewed by Chimney4u editorial team · Last updated 2026-08-27

The calendar a Bothell leak runs on

Leaks announce themselves in the wet half of the year and get repaired in the dry half, which is why so many Bothell chimney conversations start in November and finish in July. Under the 1991-2020 normals, November is the wettest month of the year at 6.31 inches, followed by January and December; July is the driest at 0.60 inches. There are about 156 days a year with measurable precipitation.

That density matters more than the total. Brick and mortar are networks of microscopic capillaries that pull water in and dry by evaporation, and a leak begins when the masonry never fully dries between wettings. With rain on roughly two days in five, a saturated chimney has no recovery window until spring.

Where the diagnosis starts, and what it has to settle

Water gets in at the top and appears at the bottom, so a diagnosis works downward and does not stop at the first plausible cause. Four things get settled before anything is quoted.

The crown and the cap. State code will not accept a chimney top without a sloped cap of concrete, metal, or stone, carrying a drip edge and a caulked bond break where it meets the liners. A cracked crown, or one poured flat and bonded tight to the tile, feeds every joint below it.
All three flashing zones. A chimney has three distinct flashing zones, and the roof intersection is only one of them — the base and the area under the crown also need flashing. On a sloped roof the base flashing has to be stepped, and counter flashing belongs let into a mortar joint three quarters to one inch deep and mortared in, not surface-glued to the brick.
Whether a cricket should be there. Code calls for a cricket — a small peaked structure that splits water around the uphill side — where the chimney measures more than 30 inches parallel to the ridgeline and does not intersect the ridge. Wide masonry stacks are common on houses of Bothell's 1970s vintage, so this is worth measuring rather than assuming.
Which face is taking the weather. Heavy wind-driven rain will penetrate a single wythe of brickwork regardless of materials or workmanship. On the ridge neighbourhoods a chimney takes far more driven rain on one face than a sheltered valley chimney does, and that face is usually where the diagnosis lands.

Who reviews chimney repair in Bothell

This is where homeowners who moved from Seattle get tripped up. Seattle's rules are Seattle's: SDCI Director's Rule 07-2025, effective January 8, 2026, is the current Seattle rule on altering and repairing unreinforced masonry chimneys. It is not the authority for a Bothell address, and neither is a county counter — not even on the Snohomish County side.

Permit and land use applications for anywhere in Bothell go to the City of Bothell Permit Center in the Community Development Department, and are accepted online through MyBuildingPermit.com. Bothell adopts the International Residential Code through Title 20 of its municipal code, which reaches construction, alteration, repair, and demolition of dwellings. Routine sweeping and inspection are not permit events; structural masonry work, rebuilding above or below the roofline, and changes to how an appliance vents are.

Where a repair turns into a rebuild

The line is not a percentage. It is whether the masonry above the roofline still has the integrity to carry a repair. Once brick faces are failing across a face, once joints have opened deep into the wall rather than at the surface, or once the stack is out of plumb, repointing is cosmetic work on something that needs rebuilding. That decision also changes the permit conversation, which is why it belongs in the written scope.

Still a repair. Sound brick, damage concentrated in the joints and the water details, a crown and flashing that can be rebuilt or replaced without taking the stack apart.
Now a rebuild. Deteriorated brick through the section, movement rather than weathering, or a stack that has to come down to a sound course before anything can be rebuilt on it.
Neither, yet. Where the signs point to structural movement, that assessment belongs to a structural engineer and the repair follows the design rather than leading it.

Local considerations in Bothell

Under the 1991-2020 normals, November is the wettest month of the year at 6.31 inches, followed by January and December, while July is the driest at 0.60 inches. Symptoms surface at the start of that run and the permanent repairs are scheduled out of it.
There are about 156 days a year with measurable precipitation regionally, and masonry leaks begin when the wall never fully dries between wettings rather than when any single storm is severe.
Permit and land use applications for anywhere in Bothell go to the City of Bothell Permit Center and are accepted online through MyBuildingPermit.com, and the city adopts the International Residential Code through Title 20, which reaches alteration and repair of dwellings. That is true on the King County and Snohomish County sides alike.
Seattle's current rule on altering and repairing unreinforced masonry chimneys is SDCI Director's Rule 07-2025, effective January 8, 2026. It governs Seattle addresses; Bothell reviews chimney work through its own Permit Center under its own adopted code.
Code requires a cricket behind a chimney where the chimney dimension parallel to the ridgeline is greater than 30 inches and the chimney does not intersect the ridgeline — a threshold that wide masonry stacks of the 1970s frequently cross.
Heavy wind-driven rain will penetrate a single wythe of brickwork no matter how good the materials or the workmanship, which is why exposure on the ridge neighbourhoods shows up as a one-face problem rather than an all-round one.

What the job includes

A diagnosis from the crown down before anything is quoted: crown, cap, all three flashing zones, every face of the masonry, the firebox and smoke chamber, and the surfaces around the chimney breast
A camera scan of the flue where the liner's condition is part of the question
A written scope and price naming the cause rather than only the symptom, with urgent items separated from what can wait and what needs nothing
Photographs before and after, from the same angles where the roof and the weather allow
Materials chosen for a wet, shallow-freeze climate: mortar no stronger than what is already there, breathable rather than film-forming repellents, and flashing detailed as an expansion joint
The repair itself once you approve the scope, and removal of the demolished masonry and debris

What it does not include

Roof repair beyond the chimney flashing. A flashing detail cannot be completed correctly over decking or shingles that have already failed, and that is roofing work
Interior finish repair. Stopping the water is this service; patching and repainting the stained drywall or plaster is a separate trade
Gutter, downspout, and site drainage work, even where that is the water source feeding the chimney
Sweeping, and a graded NFPA inspection report. Scoping a repair is diagnostic and substitutes for neither
Appliance and gas work: installing, servicing, or venting a stove, insert, or gas fireplace. Electrical work on a gas fireplace or appliance in Washington is separate trade work under state law
Any determination that the work complies with the code Bothell has adopted. The City of Bothell Permit Center is the authority on what your project needs

What to look for

The stain beside the chimney appears in November and fades by July: That is a seasonal water path, not a plumbing leak or old damage. It tracks the wettest month of the year, and it will come back larger next autumn.
A damp patch that has not fully dried since last autumn: Masonry leaks start when the wall stops drying between wettings. A patch that never clears means the chimney is now permanently saturated somewhere above it.
Water only shows up in wind-driven rain, not in steady rain: Driven rain penetrates a single wythe of brickwork regardless of workmanship. A leak that is directional points at an exposed face or a flashing detail rather than at the crown.
Tar or roof sealant already smeared where the chimney meets the roof: Flashing is an expansion joint, and rigid sealant across it cannot hold. Somebody has treated this leak before, and whatever is under the tar has been getting wet since.
The chimney is wider than about two and a half feet across the roof slope with nothing behind it: Above 30 inches parallel to the ridgeline, code calls for a cricket to split water around the uphill side. Without one, the uphill flashing is holding back everything the roof sends at it.

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.

How many separate failures the chimney has: A crown, a flashing zone, and open joints are three repairs, and correcting one while leaving the others open buys very little time.
Whether the water source is still open: Masonry that has been wet for seasons usually needs more work than masonry that has just started leaking, so the scope widens with how long it has been running.
Access and height: Roof pitch, surface, and the chimney's position on the slope change the equipment and the time on the roof. Ridge lots are often steeper than the street frontage suggests.
Whether the flue is involved: A repair confined to the outside of the chimney is a different scope from one that includes relining, and relining has its own inspection prerequisite.
Whether it crosses into permitted work: Structural masonry, rebuilding above or below the roofline, and venting changes bring the City of Bothell Permit Center into the schedule as well as the scope.
The weather window: Crown, flashing, and repellent work need dry masonry and a dry forecast, so a repair scheduled into the wet half of the year can lose days to the weather.

Chimney Repair in Bothell — common questions

Who issues and reviews a permit for chimney repair in Bothell?: The City of Bothell Permit Center, in the Community Development Department, for the entire city on both the King County and Snohomish County sides, with applications accepted online through MyBuildingPermit.com. Bothell adopts the International Residential Code through Title 20 of its municipal code. Routine sweeping and inspection are not permit events; structural masonry, a rebuild, and venting changes generally are. Confirm your specific project with the Permit Center before work starts.
Does Seattle's chimney rule apply to my house in Bothell?: No. SDCI Director's Rule 07-2025, effective January 8, 2026, is Seattle's rule for altering and repairing unreinforced masonry chimneys and applies to Seattle addresses. Bothell adopts the International Residential Code through Title 20 of its own municipal code and reviews applications at its own Permit Center. Advice you find written for a Seattle chimney is a reasonable education and a poor authority — confirm the requirement with Bothell.
Why did the chimney start leaking in November when it was fine all summer?: November is the wettest month under the 1991-2020 normals at 6.31 inches, against 0.60 inches in July, and there are roughly 156 days a year with measurable precipitation. Brick and mortar pull water in by capillary suction and dry by evaporation, so a leak appears when the masonry stops drying between wettings. Nothing usually breaks in November; the wall simply stops keeping up.
Can the repair wait until summer?: Sometimes, and that is a diagnosis question rather than a scheduling preference. If water is actively entering the house, the question is what can be stabilised now and what has to wait for dry masonry — crown work, flashing, and repellent all need a dry substrate and a dry forecast. July is the driest month of the year regionally, which is why permanent water repairs cluster in midsummer here.
The stain is on the ceiling several feet from the chimney. Is it still the chimney?: It can easily be. A chimney has three distinct flashing zones — the roof intersection, the chimney base, and the area under the crown — and water entering at any of them travels along framing before it appears on a finished surface. That is why the diagnosis starts at the crown and works down rather than starting at the stain.

Sources

U.S. Annual/Seasonal Climate Normals 1991-2020, station USW00024233 (precipitation-day counts) — NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). Accessed 2026-08-27.
U.S. Monthly Climate Normals 1991-2020, station USW00024233 — NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). Accessed 2026-08-27.
FLASHING CHIMNEYS (Brick Brief, July 2005) — Brick Industry Association. Accessed 2026-08-27.
Builder Notes Issue 4 - Brick Veneer Construction: Advanced Flashing - Roofs and Chimneys — Brick Industry Association. Accessed 2026-08-27.
Technical Notes 19B - Residential Chimneys - Design and Construction — Brick Industry Association. Accessed 2026-08-27.
Technical Note 7 - Water Penetration Resistance: Design and Detailing, November 2017 — Brick Industry Association. 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.
R1003.20 Chimney Crickets (IRC 2021 text) — UpCodes (reproducing IRC 2021 model code text). Accessed 2026-08-27.
Fixing Leaky Chimney Systems (Part 3 - Flashing) — SaverSystems (ChimneySaver), article by Stuart Karanovich, April 3, 2025. Accessed 2026-08-27.
Fixing Leaky Chimney Systems (Part 1 - Water Intrusion) — SaverSystems (ChimneySaver), article by Stuart Karanovich, April 3, 2025. 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.
Imagine Bothell Comprehensive Plan, Executive Summary (December 2024) — City of Bothell. Accessed 2026-08-27.
SDCI Director's Rule 07-2025, Alteration and Repair of Unreinforced Masonry Chimneys — Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI). Accessed 2026-08-27.
RCW 19.28.041 - Electrical contractor license required — Washington State Legislature. 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.

Request an inspection Call (206) 573-4487