Chimney Repair · Redmond, WA

Diagnosing a Redmond chimney before anything gets repaired

A chimney tells you where the water came out, not where it went in. On a Redmond roof there are two quite different chimneys it could have come out of, and they leak in different places.

This page is about the reasoning between the symptom and the scope: what is checked, in what order, on each kind of chimney, and which office has to be satisfied once the repair is decided.

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

Two chimneys, two failure paths

Before any diagnosis is worth anything, one question has to be answered: is the thing on your roof a masonry stack, or a wood-framed box clad in siding or a single skin of brick veneer with a metal chimney running up the middle of it?

A masonry stack fails at the top and the joints: The crown cracks, the cap goes missing or never had a drip edge, the mortar joints erode, and water begins moving through brick that no longer dries out between storms. The damage shows on the faces of the masonry.
A framed chase fails as a wall: The flat sheet-metal cover on top rusts through and drips, or water gets behind the siding, the trim, or the veneer and runs down inside the framing. The brick you can see may be a veneer with nothing structural behind it, and the flue inside is metal.

Where water gets in on a roof like this one

The roof line around the chimney is where a diagnosis spends most of its time, and heavy tree cover changes what is found there.

Start at the top and identify what is up there
A cast crown with an overhang and a bond break, a thin mortar wash, or a sheet-metal chase cover. Each has a different failure mode and a different repair, and telling them apart from the ground is unreliable.
Look at the uphill side for a cricket
The model residential code Washington's is based on requires a cricket — a small saddle roof behind the chimney — where the chimney dimension parallel to the ridge is greater than 30 inches and the chimney does not intersect the ridge. A wide chimney with no cricket under a conifer canopy collects debris and water in exactly the place a cricket exists to clear.
Follow the cladding down on a chase
Where the chimney is a framed box, the trim joints, the siding terminations and the transition to the roof are checked as wall details, because that is what they are.

Who permits whatever the fix turns out to be

This is the part homeowners most often get wrong in Redmond, usually because they read advice written for Seattle.

Inside the city limits. Redmond's Development Services Center reviews and issues the city's land use and construction permits, and its categories include residential permits and trade permits — electrical, mechanical and plumbing — issued over the counter or with plan review, through the city's ePermitting service.
Outside them. King County's Permitting Division issues building and mechanical permits for unincorporated King County, and it holds the permit files for the Redmond Ridge urban planned development.

What gets settled before a scope is written

Whether an event has raised the required inspection level. NFPA 211 makes a Level 2 inspection the minimum after a chimney fire, after a weather or seismic event likely to have caused damage, on sale or transfer of the property, before relining, and when a different appliance is connected.
Whether the repair is available on this system. On a factory-built chimney, relining under UL 1777 is possible only where the liner's inside diameter is at least two inches smaller than the existing chimney's, so the measurement comes before the recommendation.

Local considerations in Redmond

Washington's residential code amendment requires exterior walls to carry both a water-resistive barrier and a means of draining water back out of the assembly, which is the frame a leak at a clad chimney chase is read in.
Outside Seattle the Washington State Residential Code applies, requiring a masonry chimney cap of concrete, metal or stone, sloped to shed water, with a drip edge and a caulked bond break around the flue liners.
The model residential code Washington's is based on requires a cricket behind a chimney whose dimension parallel to the ridgeline is greater than 30 inches where the chimney does not intersect the ridge — a detail that matters more under a heavy conifer canopy, and one to confirm for your property with the city.
Redmond's tree canopy was 38.1 percent as of 2017, with a goal of 40 percent by 2050, so debris damming on the uphill side of a chimney and a slow-drying shaded stack are ordinary findings here.
Redmond's Development Services Center issues the city's residential and trade permits, including mechanical permits over the counter or with plan review, through the city's ePermitting service.
For a Redmond mailing address outside the city limits, King County's Permitting Division is the permitting office, and it holds the permit files for the Redmond Ridge urban planned development.
Seattle's Director's Rule 07-2025 on unreinforced masonry chimney work is a City of Seattle rule administered by SDCI and has no application at a Redmond address.

What the job includes

An examination from the top down before anything is quoted: crown or chase cover, cap, every flashing zone, the cladding or masonry faces, and the firebox and smoke chamber inside
Identification of what the chimney actually is — a masonry stack, or a framed chase with a metal chimney in it — because the repair paths do not overlap
A camera examination of the flue interior where the liner's condition is part of the question
A written scope and price naming the cause rather than the symptom, with urgent items separated from what can wait and what needs nothing
The repair itself once you approve it: crown or chase cover, cap, flashing, repointing and brick replacement, or relining
Materials and details chosen for a wet, shaded, freeze-thaw exposure, including flashing detailed as an expansion joint and repellents that stay vapor-permeable
Photographs before and after from the same angles where practical, and removal of demolished material and debris

What it does not include

Roof repair beyond the chimney flashing. Failed shingles, rotted decking, or a missing cricket in the roof plane are roofing work, and flashing cannot be detailed correctly over a substrate that has already failed
Interior finish repair. Stopping the leak is this service; patching and repainting stained drywall or plaster is another trade
Gutter, downspout and site drainage work, even where that is the water source feeding the chimney
Filing your permit application or determining whether your parcel is inside the Redmond city limits — those belong with the Development Services Center or King County permitting
Sweeping and creosote removal, which is booked as a cleaning even though a flue is swept before relining
A formal NFPA inspection level with a written report. Scoping a repair is diagnostic and does not substitute for a Level 2 report where a sale, a fire, or a reline calls for one
Appliance and gas work, and any structural engineering design the chimney turns out to need

What to look for

Rust streaks running down the siding or veneer of a boxed-in chimney: The sheet-metal cover on top of the chase is failing. Water is entering at the top of a wall assembly and running down inside it.
A brown stain on the ceiling beside the chimney that appears only after a long storm: Water is entering above the ceiling line and taking time to travel. The stain is the exit point, not the entry point.
A mat of needles and moss packed against the uphill side of the chimney: Water is being held against the flashing instead of being shed past it. This is where a missing or undersized cricket shows up.
Flashing held down with tar, sealant, or a bead of caulk: Flashing is an expansion joint between materials that move at different rates, so a rigid smear across the gap tears open.
Cracking radiating from the flue tile across the top slab: The top is a mortar wash poured tight against the liner rather than a slab with a bond break, and it will keep opening.
Rust on the damper, or dripping and standing water in the firebox: Water is reaching steel inside the chimney, or falling straight down an open flue. Both are intrusion signs a homeowner can spot without tools.
Dark patches on the masonry that never dry out between rains: The chimney is no longer completing its wet-and-dry cycle, which is the condition under which freeze-thaw damage accumulates.

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.

Whether it is a chase or a stack: A rusted-through chase cover and cladding details, and a cracked crown with eroded joints, are different trades, different materials, and different amounts of roof time.
How many separate failures there are: One cracked crown is a single job. A crown, lifted flashing and a run of eroded joints is three jobs sharing one trip; the access is shared, the labor is not.
Whether the water source is closed or still open: Repairing downstream of an open source produces a second visit. Scoping the actual cause raises the first number and lowers the total.
Access under trees and on a wet roof: Pitch, stack height above the roofline, moss, and whether staging is needed all change the hours before any repair begins.
Whether the flue is involved: Exterior water work and flue work are separate scopes, and on a listed metal chimney the available remedies are constrained by the system's listing.
Permit and jurisdiction: A permitted scope adds application time and inspection stops, and which counter it goes to depends on whether the parcel is inside the city or unincorporated.
Season and wall temperature: Masonry has a working temperature window, and much of the wet half of the year here falls outside it, so some scopes are staged or scheduled for a drier stretch.

Chimney Repair in Redmond — common questions

My chimney is a sided box, not brick. Who repairs that?: It is still chimney work, but the leak is diagnosed as a wall problem. A framed chase is a clad exterior wall assembly with a metal chimney inside it, and Washington's residential code amendment requires exterior walls to have both a water-resistive barrier and a means of draining water back out. Water usually enters at the sheet-metal cover on top or behind the trim and cladding, then runs down inside the framing, so the repair is a drainage detail rather than sealant. What applies to your chase depends on the property, so confirm with Redmond's Development Services Center before work starts.
Does Seattle's Director's Rule 07-2025 apply to my chimney repair in Redmond?: No. It is a City of Seattle rule on altering and repairing unreinforced masonry chimneys, administered by SDCI, and it does not reach a Redmond address. Inside the city limits, Redmond's Development Services Center reviews and issues construction and trade permits through the city's ePermitting service; outside them, King County's Permitting Division does. Whether your particular repair needs a permit depends on the scope and the property, so confirm with the office that covers your parcel rather than with Seattle guidance.
Why does debris keep collecting behind my chimney, and does it matter?: It matters because it holds water against the flashing. Redmond reports 38.1 percent tree canopy as of 2017, so needles and moss loading the uphill side of a chimney is normal here. The model residential code Washington's is based on requires a cricket — a small saddle roof behind the chimney — where the chimney dimension parallel to the ridgeline is greater than 30 inches and the chimney does not intersect the ridge. A wide chimney without one collects exactly what a cricket exists to shed. Confirm what your roof requires with the city.
The top of my chimney is cracked around the flue tile. Is that a repair or a replacement?: It depends on what is up there. The Washington State Residential Code, which applies outside Seattle, requires a masonry chimney cap of concrete, metal or stone, sloped to shed water, with a drip edge and a caulked bond break around the flue liners. A sound slab with surface cracking can often be resurfaced. A thin mortar wash poured tight against the tile is not a cap in that description, and cracking along the liner is what it does — that is recast rather than patched.
Should I just waterproof the chimney and see if the leak stops?: Not as a repair. Coating deteriorating masonry with a film-forming sealer or non-permeable paint traps moisture behind it and speeds the decay up, and the Brick Industry Association recommends against film-forming coatings in freeze-thaw environments and says a water repellent is not a substitute for real repairs. Heavy wind-driven rain will also penetrate a single wythe of brickwork regardless of materials or workmanship, which is why the crown, cap and flashing details matter more than the surface.
When is the right time of year to do the work?: Water paths get closed as soon as they are found, but masonry restoration has a working temperature window, and about three quarters of this region's normal annual precipitation falls from October through March. Work pushed into the wet or cold part of the year may need protection measures or a different window, which is one reason a scope written in midwinter can be staged rather than done in a single visit.

Sources

WAC 51-51-0703 Section R703 - Exterior covering — Washington State Legislature / State Building Code Council. 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.
FLASHING CHIMNEYS (Brick Brief, July 2005) — Brick Industry Association. Accessed 2026-08-27.
Development Services Center — City of Redmond. Accessed 2026-08-27.
Construction and Permits — City of Redmond. Accessed 2026-08-27.
Tree Canopy — City of Redmond. 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.
Permits, inspections, and codes - buildings and land use — King County Department of Local Services, Permitting Division. Accessed 2026-08-27.
Permit records research — King County Department of Local Services. Accessed 2026-08-27.
Common Problems with Brick Masonry — U.S. National Park Service (originally published 2008; page states last updated June 29, 2018). Accessed 2026-08-27.
Technical Notes 6A - Colorless Coatings for Brick Masonry — 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.
U.S. Annual/Seasonal Climate Normals 1991-2020, station USW00024233 (seasonal precipitation) — NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). Accessed 2026-08-27.
U.S. Annual/Seasonal Climate Normals 1991-2020, station USW00024233 — NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). 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