Chimney questions, answered — Redmond & the East Side.

Inspect it every year; sweep it when deposits call for it. NFPA 211, in the wording quoted by CSIA (the Chimney Safety Institute of America), wants chimneys, fireplaces and vents looked at no less than once a year to confirm they are sound, clear of deposits and properly spaced from anything that can burn. For sweeping, CSIA's marker on a masonry fireplace is 1/8 inch of sooty buildup, and earlier than that if any glaze has formed. Source: CSIA, Homeowner Resources page (https://www.csia.org/homeowner-resources, accessed October 4, 2026).

To have a professional inspect and clean the chimney and fireplace once a year. Its release of September 21, 2026 gives the reason: chimney and flue fires made up 77% of the heating fires in residential buildings in 2024, and Washington counted 6 deaths the year before in fires that began with home heating. The same release recommends a chimney cap, a lidded metal container for ashes that is kept outdoors, and three feet of kid-free space around the hearth. Source: Washington State Fire Marshal (State Patrol), home heating safety release of Sept. 21, 2026 (https://wsp.wa.gov/fireplace-and-home-heating-safety, accessed October 4, 2026).

The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, for all four towns at once. The agency's territory is King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties, so a single air quality decision reaches Redmond, Sammamish, Duvall and Carnation along with the unincorporated land that separates them. The state regulation it applies is WAC 173-433-150. Sources: Puget Sound Clean Air Agency: how its burn bans work (https://pscleanair.gov/172/About-Air-Quality-Burn-Bans, accessed October 4, 2026); WAC 173-433-150, curtailment (Cornell LII) (https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/washington/WAC-173-433-150, accessed October 4, 2026).

Stage 1 stops fireplaces that burn wood and any wood stove or insert with no certification, while Stage 2 stops everything that burns wood or pellets. Certified stoves and inserts, which may keep running under Stage 1, go cold under Stage 2 as well, and so do pellet stoves. Burning through either stage takes an exemption the agency granted beforehand, kept for households that have no adequate heat apart from wood. A fire already lit when the ban is announced has to be left to die down: WAC 173-433-150 says no new fuel goes on. Sources: Puget Sound Clean Air Agency: how its burn bans work (https://pscleanair.gov/172/About-Air-Quality-Burn-Bans, accessed October 4, 2026); WAC 173-433-150, curtailment (Cornell LII) (https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/washington/WAC-173-433-150, accessed October 4, 2026).

With the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency: its status page carries a map of the affected area, its phone line is 800-595-4341, and it sends alerts to anyone who signs up. Those are air quality bans. Summer fire safety bans are separate: the county fire marshal is the one who issues them. 2026 brought a statewide one as well, when the Governor declared a wildfire emergency on August 1 and banned burning through September 30. Sources: Puget Sound Clean Air Agency: today's burn ban status (https://pscleanair.gov/168/Air-Quality-Burn-Ban-Status, accessed October 4, 2026); Puget Sound Clean Air Agency: how its burn bans work (https://pscleanair.gov/172/About-Air-Quality-Burn-Bans, accessed October 4, 2026); Office of the Governor: statewide wildfire emergency and burn ban, August 2026 (https://governor.wa.gov/news/2026/governor-ferguson-declares-statewide-wildfire-emergency-issues-statewide-burn-ban, accessed October 4, 2026).

Not unless the Clean Air Agency approved an exemption for your home ahead of time. The exemption is named 'No Other Adequate Source of Heat', and a household has to apply and be accepted before it burns through a ban. A household that simply finds its electric, oil or propane heating too costly does not qualify. A home that holds the exemption still has to burn without visible smoke. Sources: Puget Sound Clean Air Agency: the sole-heat-source exemption (https://pscleanair.gov/171/No-Other-Adequate-Source-of-Heat, accessed October 4, 2026); Puget Sound Clean Air Agency: FAQ on violations and exemptions (https://pscleanair.gov/FAQ.aspx?TID=19, accessed October 4, 2026); Puget Sound Clean Air Agency: how its burn bans work (https://pscleanair.gov/172/About-Air-Quality-Burn-Bans, accessed October 4, 2026).

No, outdoor burning of every kind stops during an air quality burn ban, and a recreational fire fed with wood or charcoal counts. Indoors, certified devices and exempt households are held to a no-visible-smoke rule for as long as the ban lasts. When one of the agency's inspectors, who are trained to read smoke opacity, observes a violation, a Notice of Violation is issued to whoever owns the property. Sources: Puget Sound Clean Air Agency: how its burn bans work (https://pscleanair.gov/172/About-Air-Quality-Burn-Bans, accessed October 4, 2026); Puget Sound Clean Air Agency: FAQ on violations and exemptions (https://pscleanair.gov/FAQ.aspx?TID=19, accessed October 4, 2026).

Dry, seasoned firewood or manufactured logs, plus paper to get the fire going. The Department of Ecology's advice is wood that was split, covered and stacked a year or more before it is burned. WAC 173-433-120 forbids garbage, treated wood, plastic and rubber products, paints, chemicals, waste petroleum products and asphaltic products. Smoke is limited all year too: it may not stay above 20 percent opacity for six consecutive minutes within any one-hour period. Sources: WAC 173-433-120, prohibited fuels (Cornell LII) (https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/washington/WAC-173-433-120, accessed October 4, 2026); Puget Sound Clean Air Agency: legal overview of wood burning (https://pscleanair.gov/170/Legal-Overview, accessed October 4, 2026); Department of Ecology, wood stove information (https://ecology.wa.gov/air-climate/air-quality/smoke-fire/wood-stove-info, accessed October 4, 2026).

No. Under WAC 173-433-100 nobody in Washington may advertise, sell, trade or hand on a device that burns solid fuel if it lacks certification and its label. The emission limits Ecology lists for wood stoves and pellet stoves are 2.0 grams per hour on the crib wood test or 2.5 on the cord wood test; for manufactured fireplaces the limit is 7.5 grams per hour, and a site-built masonry fireplace has no emission requirement. Ecology leaves installation to the local building department. Sources: WAC 173-433-100, emission standards (Cornell LII) (https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/washington/WAC-173-433-100, accessed October 4, 2026); Department of Ecology, wood stove information (https://ecology.wa.gov/air-climate/air-quality/smoke-fire/wood-stove-info, accessed October 4, 2026).

Recycle it through the Clean Air Agency's Wood Stove Recycling Program, which pays homeowners in King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties for doing so. A working uncertified stove or insert qualifies, as does a certified one that falls short of the 2020 EPA standards, a wood-burning furnace or a coal-burning device. Taking the unit out and hauling it to an approved recycler is the owner's job; the amount paid is posted on the program page. Source: Puget Sound Clean Air Agency: recycling an old wood stove (https://pscleanair.gov/409/Wood-Stove-Recycling-Program, accessed October 4, 2026).

The 2021 editions, in force since March 15, 2024. From that date the City of Redmond enforces the 2021 International Residential, Mechanical and Fuel Gas codes, and King County applies the 2021 state codes to every application deemed complete on or after it. The next edition has no start date we can give: on the day we checked, the State Building Code Council's page for the 2024 cycle still read 'tbd' for the residential, mechanical and fuel gas codes. Sources: State Building Code Council: 2021 codes in force March 15, 2024 (https://sbcc.wa.gov/news/revised-effective-date-2021-codes-march-15-2024, accessed October 4, 2026); City of Redmond: code adoption flyer for March 15, 2024 (https://www.redmond.gov/DocumentCenter/View/31392/Code-Change-Flyer, accessed October 4, 2026); King County, building and fire codes page (https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/local-services/buildings-property/codes-complaints/building-fire-codes, accessed October 4, 2026); State Building Code Council: status of the 2024 adoption cycle (https://sbcc.wa.gov/2024-code-adoption-cycle, accessed October 4, 2026).

A damper, an outside air supply and a way to limit back-drafting. The state amendment, WAC 51-51-1001, sets a ferrous metal damper 8 inches or more above the opening of the fireplace and brings combustion air from outdoors through a duct of 6 square inches or more fitted with an operable damper. A site-built fireplace also needs tight-fitting glass or metal doors, a flue draft induction fan, or some other approved means of keeping back-drafting down. Source: WAC 51-51-1001, masonry fireplaces (Cornell LII) (https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/washington/WAC-51-51-1001, accessed October 4, 2026).

Expect to file a mechanical permit. The City of Redmond's mechanical permit application has a line each for Fireplace, Wood Pellet Stove or Insert, Gas Logs Insert, Gas Appliance, Gas Piping and Dryer Vent. Plan review is waived when the work is in a one-family or two-family dwelling or a townhouse, and a contractor needs a city business license before starting. Trade permits are issued over the counter or after plan review, by way of the Development Services Center and the city's ePermitting service. The form does not say which repairs are exempt, so ask the city about repair work. Sources: City of Redmond: the mechanical permit application form (02/2025) (https://www.redmond.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2217/Mechanical-Application-PDF, accessed October 4, 2026); City of Redmond: Construction and Permits (https://www.redmond.gov/1031/Construction-and-Permits, accessed October 4, 2026).

Yes. On the City of Duvall's 'Permit Required' list the line for fireplaces, wood-burning stoves and inserts is answered Yes, and so are the lines for gas piping and for re-roofing. The city takes its applications online and names a 'Mechanical Permit - Residential Express' among the permit types it issues. Sources: City of Duvall: Permit Required list (https://www.duvallwa.gov/509/Permit-Required, accessed October 4, 2026); City of Duvall: Permits (https://www.duvallwa.gov/269/Permits, accessed October 4, 2026).

Call the city before an appliance goes in, because we could not confirm either town's rule from a page we are able to cite. Carnation has all permit applications filed in its Online Permit Center, and a Mechanical Permit Application is one of the forms it posts, yet none of the city pages we read says what kind of fireplace or stove job calls for one. Sammamish's own list of work that requires a permit would not open when this answer was researched. Sources: City of Carnation: Planning & Permits (https://www.carnationwa.gov/departments/community-economic-development/, accessed October 4, 2026); City of Carnation: Permit Application Forms (https://www.carnationwa.gov/permit-application-forms/, accessed October 4, 2026).

King County's Permitting Division. Outside the limits of Redmond, Sammamish, Duvall and Carnation, the county wants a residential mechanical permit whenever a mechanical system is installed, replaced or moved, and its handout names furnaces, wood stoves and fireplaces. Gas log inserts in single-family homes are exempt from that permit, though the gas piping may need a permit of its own. The county takes applications on MyBuildingPermit.com. Sources: King County Permitting Division: residential mechanical permits handout, May 2025 (https://cdn.kingcounty.gov/-/media/king-county/depts/local-services/permits/building-land-use-permits/r/residential-mechanical-permits.pdf, accessed October 4, 2026); King County: do you need a permit? (https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/local-services/certificates-permits-licenses/permits/permits-inspections-codes-buildings-land-use/do-you-need-a-permit, accessed October 4, 2026).

$99 plus tax per chimney, and that figure does not move with the level of inspection the chimney ends up needing. A written quote follows the visit, and approving it takes that $99 plus tax off what the work costs.

Yes, provided the quote gets your approval: we then subtract the $99 plus tax from the job you choose to have done. Turn the quote down and the fee stays as charged, since it covered the trip, the photos and the itemized findings, and all of those remain yours.

Level 1 visual; Level 2 adds a full camera scan. The technician photographs what is found, and you receive those findings in writing along with an itemized quote if a repair is needed. Nothing goes on the schedule until you have accepted that price.

Redmond, Sammamish, Duvall and Carnation, every one of them inside King County, Washington. A page for each town lists what we do there. If your address falls a little outside them, a phone call ahead of booking settles whether the route reaches you.

Book online: the calendar displays open slots for your town and you take the one that suits you. Calling works too, at (425) 470-6533. From then on we get in touch about the appointment by email and phone.

Sweeping is $189–$449, a cap installed is $235–$850 and a full relining is from $1,900. Prices for all 12 services are on the price page. Your own figure comes on paper once the $99 plus tax inspection is done, and the work begins only when you have agreed to it.