Decide which scope band you're actually in

The four bands

Renton whole-house projects land in one of four bands. A contractor blog (Giant Builders, low-confidence secondary source) cites complete Renton home remodel costs at $150K–$300K mid-range and $600K–$1M+ high-end, with Renton pricing running roughly 0–8% lower than Seattle. Use those as rough orientation, not as bids.

Band	Rough range (2025–2026)	What it is
Kitchen-and-bath refresh	$50K–$120K	Cabinets, counters, appliances, fixtures. No structural changes, no addition. Not this workflow.
Interior remodel (no addition)	$150K–$300K	Open up walls, redo kitchen + 1–2 baths, MEP touch-up. This workflow, with the addition steps skipped.
Interior + small addition	$300K–$600K	200–500 sf addition + interior remodel + kitchen + primary bath. The center of gravity for this workflow.
Down-to-studs + meaningful addition	$550K–$1.0M	500+ sf addition, gutted interior, full MEP, structural reconfiguration. Upper end of this workflow.

How to pick

Three questions, in order:

1. Are you adding square footage? No → interior remodel or kitchen refresh. Yes → keep going.
2. How much? Under 200 sf is a bump-out (bottom of band 3). Over 500 sf is band 4.
3. Are you redoing every system? New panel, all new wiring, new plumbing, new HVAC → band 4. Partial → band 3.

Writing the scope memo

A one-page document that names:

• The band you're in.
• What's in — addition size, kitchen, baths, system upgrades.
• What's out — landscape, garage, basement (unless the addition touches it).
• Working budget — a single number with a $50K contingency line.
• Move-out posture — stay, partial, or full move-out for the duration.

This memo gets attached to every later document. When a designer suggests "while we're at it, redo the basement bathroom," the memo answers.