Level 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
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AfterFast, Reliable Chimney Inspection Across Mukilteo
A chimney inspection in Mukilteo typically runs $189 – $349 depending on the level, and most Level 1 and Level 2 inspections are completed in a single visit. If you live near Harbour Pointe, Old Town, or up by the Mukilteo Speedway, we can usually have a background-checked, uniformed technician at your door within a few business days of your call. We put the price in writing before the truck rolls, and the invoice matches the quote, exactly. If you are dealing with a wet wall, a strange smell near the fireplace, or just want a straight answer on whether your chimney is safe to burn, call (830) 251-4560.
We are Flint Chimney Sweep, part of the Garrison Partners family of independently owned chimney service companies founded in 2002. Our crews know Mukilteo’s housing stock: mid-century ramblers in the flats, newer track homes climbing the hills, and a fair number of 1970s and 1980s builds where the original mortar is starting to show its age. Local knowledge matters because the way a chimney fails in Mukilteo is not the same as how one fails in Spokane or Bend.
Why Flint Chimney Sweep Is Mukilteo’s Preferred Chimney Inspection Company
We work under the Garrison Standard, the same operating code every Garrison Partners location follows. It means three things in practice: a written price before any work begins, a written one-year guarantee on every repair, and a live person answering the phone 24 hours a day. Mukilteo homeowners tend to appreciate that, especially after dealing with companies that no-show or pad the invoice at the door.
Our Chimney Inspection team carries professional-grade equipment into every Mukilteo home: chimneyscope cameras, moisture meters, and draft gauges. You get a photo report after the inspection, not a verbal summary you have to trust. The photos show exactly what the camera saw in the flue, at the damper, and around the crown. If there’s a problem, you see it. If there’s no problem, you see that too, and we say so plainly.
Hank Delano, who leads Flint Chimney Sweep, has built the company around a simple rule: recommend the repair when the camera shows it, and say when work can wait. That’s why Mukilteo homeowners call us back year after year, and why a good portion of our work in this city comes from referrals.
Level 2 Chimney Inspection in Mukilteo
A Level 2 Chimney Inspection in Mukilteo is the inspection we recommend most often, and it’s what a camera inspection actually means in trade terms. The National Fire Protection Association calls for a Level 2 whenever there’s been a change to the system: a new appliance, a new liner, a house sale, or a chimney fire you know about. In Mukilteo, we also recommend it when a home has sat through a wet winter, because wind-driven rain off Possession Sound works its way into masonry in ways a Level 1 look won’t catch. A Level 2 inspection in Mukilteo runs $249 – $349, and it includes the full video scan of the accessible flue, the firebox, the damper, the smoke chamber, and the exterior crown and flashing.
Camera inspection and what we’re filming
The camera goes up the flue from the firebox and down from the crown when access allows. We’re looking for cracked flue tiles, separated mortar joints, glazed creosote, and any place where water has been getting in and leaving mineral stains on the liner. The camera also confirms whether you have first-degree creosote, which is brushable soot, or third-degree creosote, which is a hardened, glassy tar that a brush will not remove. You’ll get still images of anything notable, timestamped and included in the report.
Real estate transactions and Mukilteo escrow windows
If you’re buying or selling a home in Mukilteo, the contract often includes a chimney inspection contingency. Our Level 2 report is written to satisfy mortgage and insurance requirements, and we’re used to working inside tight escrow timelines. We schedule the inspection, deliver the photo report promptly, and give the buyer or seller a straight answer on what needs repair now and what’s safe to monitor.
Chimney Leak in Mukilteo
A chimney leak in Mukilteo is the single most common issue we trace back to the crown and flashing, not to the firebox or damper. When wind-driven rain off Possession Sound hits an older crown that’s spalled or cracked, water enters the masonry and tracks down the outside of the flue liner. It shows up as a damp spot on the ceiling drywall beside the chimney chase, or as a musty smell near the fireplace that’s worse in winter. Diagnosing a chimney leak in Mukilteo starts with a Level 2 inspection, which runs $249 – $349, and usually ends with a crown repair or flashing reset, not a firebox rebuild.
Where water actually gets in
We look at the crown first, then the flashing, then the cap and damper. The crown is that concrete slab at the top of the chimney, and on a lot of Mukilteo homes built in the 1980s, it’s original and cracked. Flashing is the metal where the chimney meets the roof deck, and caulk alone won’t fix a flashing issue that’s pulling away. The camera on the exterior run shows us exactly where the water is tracking, and the report shows you.
The Harbour Pointe case, as an example
A homeowner on Harbour Pointe called about a musty smell near the fireplace and a faint stain on the ceiling drywall beside the chase. Our technician ran a Level 2 inspection with a camera and found the chimney crown spalled and cracked, with the flashing pulled slightly away at the roof deck, letting wind-driven rain track down the outside of the flue liner. We removed and re-formed the crown, reset the flashing, and photographed the whole run top to bottom for the report. The camera also ruled out third-degree creosote, so we flagged the interior side as safe to leave until next fall. No firebox or damper issue, and no sweep charges beyond the inspection we’d already quoted.
Trusted Brands We Service in Mukilteo
When a Mukilteo inspection does turn up a liner issue or a crown problem, we specify and install materials by name so you can verify them independently. That includes DuraFlex stainless liners for flue relining jobs, HeatShield for masonry flue repair when a lined approach makes more sense than replacement, and Famco caps and dampers where the inspection calls for them. We keep these products on a fast turnaround for Mukilteo jobs because we know the wet season doesn’t wait, and waiting a month for a backorder on a liner only makes a leak worse. The material goes in the written quote, with the brand name and the part, before you approve a dollar.
Common Chimney Inspection Problems We See in Mukilteo Homes
- Spalled crowns and cracked wash concrete. Mukilteo’s marine-layer damp and freeze-thaw cycles eat at the top slab of masonry chimneys, and we find cracked crowns even in homes where the fireplace hasn’t been burned in years.
- Wind-driven rain tracking past old flashing. The rain off Possession Sound comes in sideways, and flashing that would be fine in a drier climate gets worked loose over time, letting water run down the exterior of the liner.
- Third-degree creosote in lightly burned stoves. Homes that burn mostly unseasoned wood, or burn at low smolder temperatures, can glaze a liner faster than a full hot fire every night would. The camera shows it clearly.
- Animal and moss intrusion in no-burn chimneys. In a damp climate like Mukilteo’s, a chimney that isn’t used still gets moss on the cap and raccoons or birds in the flue. NFPA 211 calls for a yearly inspection regardless of burn frequency, and Mukilteo is a poster city for why that standard exists.
Pricing for Chimney Inspection in Mukilteo, WA
Here’s the straight pricing for Chimney Inspection in Mukilteo. A Level 1 inspection, which is the visual check of the accessible firebox, damper, and flue, runs $189 – $249. A Level 2 inspection with the camera, which we end up recommending for most Mukilteo homes because of the damp climate, runs $249 – $349. A Level 3 inspection, which involves opening a wall or chase to access a hidden section of the flue, starts at $500 and is only called for when a Level 2 camera run finds something that needs a closer look. If we find a repair during the inspection, the new work gets its own separate written quote, and you approve that number before any repair starts. There’s no package pricing that surprises you later, and the inspection price doesn’t change if we recommend nothing at all. Call (830) 251-4560 for a free estimate on the inspection itself.
We Also Serve Cities Near Mukilteo
Flint Chimney Sweep schedules inspections all over the north end of Puget Sound. If you’re in Mill Creek, Everett, Lynnwood, or Edmonds, the same written pricing, camera report, and one-year guarantee applies. Dispatch and scheduling are coordinated from the brand’s Seattle office, and crews serve Mukilteo locally with the same background-checked technicians you’d get anywhere in the service area.
Serving Mukilteo, WA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Mukilteo area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs About Chimney Inspection in Mukilteo
Every year, even if you never burn. NFPA 211 calls for an annual inspection, and in Mukilteo specifically, the concern isn’t creosote, it’s water. Moss, freeze-thaw damage to the crown, and animals don’t care whether you light a fire. A chimney that hasn’t burned in five years still gets cracked masonry from Mukilteo’s damp winters. A Level 1 visual inspection at $189 – $249 catches most exterior problems. Call (830) 251-4560 if it’s been a year or more.
Yes, and yes. Every Level 2 inspection includes a full video scan of the flue, firebox, damper, smoke chamber, crown, and flashing. You get a written photo report with timestamped still images of anything notable, whether that’s a cracked flue tile or a clean liner. If the camera shows nothing wrong, the report says so, and we tell you the chimney can run another year. If it shows a problem, you see the photo before you approve any repair. That’s a core part of the Garrison Standard.
Third-degree creosote is a hardened, glassy, tar-like residue that forms when smoke condenses at low temperatures. It can’t be brushed out with standard sweep brushes, and trying to scrub it only polishes the glaze. It typically requires mechanical removal or chemical treatment, and in some cases a liner replacement. But here’s the important part: you can’t know you have third-degree creosote without looking at it. A neighbor’s guess isn’t a diagnosis. Our camera confirms the actual condition, and the written quote tells you what removal costs before we touch it. Call (830) 251-4560 and we’ll give you a straight answer.
It depends on what the inspection actually finds, which is why we don’t treat every visit as an upsell. A cracked crown that’s letting water into the chase should be addressed before another wet Mukilteo winter, but it’s not a life-safety issue today. Third-degree creosote plus a hot burn is a fire risk and shouldn’t wait. An animal in the flue is a carbon monoxide risk if you light a fire before we remove it. We give you the severity in plain terms and recommend timing based on evidence, not pressure. If it can safely wait until fall, we say so. That’s the whole point of the camera.
A Level 1 inspection in Mukilteo runs $189 – $249, and a Level 2 with the camera runs $249 – $349. You get that number in writing before we book the appointment, and the price on the invoice is the price you approved. If the inspection finds repair work, that’s a separate written quote, and you approve it before any repair starts. No door pricing, no moving the number after the fact. Call (830) 251-4560 for a free estimate and we’ll quote your inspection over the phone.
If you own a home in Mukilteo and you want a straight answer about your chimney, call Flint Chimney Sweep at (830) 251-4560. A real person answers, you get a written price before we book, and every repair carries the one-year Done Right Promise. If a covered repair fails within that year, we return at no charge. That’s not a promotion. It’s the Garrison Standard.
Written by Hank Delano, Owner at Flint Chimney Sweep, serving Mukilteo and the north Puget Sound region.