Guide · Seattle, 2026
What a whole-house renovation costs in Seattle.
Whole-house work is not priced by the room. It is priced by the square foot, and by how far back you are going.
Two houses of the same size can differ by a factor of three, and almost all of it comes down to one decision: are the walls, the wiring and the pipes staying, or is this going back to the studs.
2026 ranges, per square foot of finished space
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01
$150 to $250 a square foot
Layout kept, systems kept. New kitchen and bathrooms, floors, paint, lighting and millwork throughout, with nothing structural moving.
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02
$250 to $400 a square foot
Back to the studs. Full rewire, repipe, insulation, new kitchen and bathrooms, and some walls moving inside the existing envelope.
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03
$400 to $600 a square foot
The above plus real structural work, or a level of specification that changes everything: slab stone, bespoke cabinetmaking throughout, specified fittings and millwork to match a period house.
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04
Adding space
An addition or a dormer is a different job with its own planning conversation, and it is priced separately from the renovation of what is already there.
On a whole house, what is behind the wall stops being a risk and becomes a line item.
In a single room you hope you do not find knob-and-tube. In a whole house you will, along with galvanized pipe, a panel from another era and insulation that is mostly ceremonial. That is not a surprise to be absorbed by a contingency. It is scope, and it should be priced as scope from the start.
A condo is a whole-house job with different rules.
You cannot live in half of it, so it is drawn, ordered and built in one run. The stack does not move, the building has an alteration agreement and quiet hours, and the freight elevator has a booking sheet. None of that makes it harder. It makes the planning most of the job, which is why the Kirkland condo was the most completely drawn project we did last year.
What actually drives the number
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01
How far back you go
Studs or surfaces. This single decision is worth more than every finish choice in the house put together.
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02
Bathrooms, and how many
They are the most expensive square feet in any house. Three bathrooms is a different project from one, whatever the floor area says.
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03
How much is milled rather than bought
Cabinetry, paneling and millwork to match the original trim is made, not ordered. It is usually the largest single line and the main reason two houses of the same size price differently.
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04
Whether you are living in it
Phasing a house around a family is slower and therefore dearer than emptying it. Sometimes it is the right trade. It should be a decision, not an assumption.
What to check in any whole-house quote, ours included
Is it a fixed price or a cost-plus?
Both are legitimate on a large job and they behave very differently when something changes. Know which one you are signing, and what happens to the number when the scope moves.
Are the systems in it?
Rewire, repipe, panel, insulation, heating. On an older house these are the difference between a renovation and a redecoration, and they are the easiest things to leave out of a headline number.
What is the design fee, and when is it paid?
A whole house is hundreds of drawing hours and hundreds of selections. If a quote has no design line, either it arrives later or nobody has drawn the house yet.
Is the sales tax included?
On a whole-house project it is a large five-figure or six-figure line, and the rate follows the address. It is the most common reason a final invoice surprises people.
How are change orders priced?
In writing, before the work happens. On a job this long, verbal changes on site are how a project grows by fifteen percent and nobody can point at when.
Who is on site every day?
Ask whether the person selling you the job runs it, and who to call when they are not there. On a six-month project this matters more than any line in the quote.
Bring the plan and we will tell you which band the house is in before anybody draws anything.
920 Dexter Ave N, Monday to Friday. Twenty minutes with the floor plan, the age of the house and an honest budget is enough for a real answer, and it costs nothing.