Walk the house with an experienced remodel GC

Why this matters early

A Seattle whole-house remodel is one of the most house-specific projects in residential construction. The same square footage on a 1908 Craftsman with knob-and-tube and a brick-and-mortar foundation costs wildly differently than on a 1962 rambler with a poured-concrete crawlspace. An experienced GC will tell you in 60 minutes which world you're in — and that determines whether you're in band 3 ($400K) or band 4 ($800K) before you've spent a dollar on design.

What the GC is checking

• Foundation type and condition. Brick-and-mortar (pre-1920), unreinforced concrete (1920–1950), or modern poured concrete (1950+). Existing foundation can usually stay; the question is how to tie the new addition foundation to it without differential settlement.
• Wall structure. Which interior walls are bearing? Which are not? Removing a non-bearing wall is easy. Removing a bearing wall needs a beam, posts, and a load path to the foundation. The GC tells you in minutes which walls are which.
• Mechanical systems. Knob-and-tube wiring, galvanized water lines, asbestos pipe wrap, original cast-iron drains. Each surfaces differently in the cost stack.
• Roof tie-in geometry. A new addition's roof has to integrate with the existing roof. Some shapes (rear shed addition off a gable) are easy. Others (bumping out the front of a complex hip roof) get expensive fast.
• Ceiling height. Older Seattle bungalows have 8 ft ceilings. Modern open-plan kitchens want 9 ft. Raising ceilings on the existing house is possible but expensive — knowing whether you want it now changes the design.

How to find one

Use the SDCI permit history tool and filter for "addition" and "alteration" permits in your neighborhood over the last three years. The contractor names that come up repeatedly are your local specialists. Three to five names is plenty. Most do free initial walk-throughs because that's how they qualify the project.

What you should walk away with

A one-page summary, written by you that evening:

• Foundation read — keep / partial work needed.
• Wall removals — which walls the GC thinks come out cleanly, which need beams, which are going to be expensive.
• Knob-and-tube extent — full house, partial, or none.
• Rough cost band — typically a $100K-wide range at this stage. That's fine; precision comes later.
• Two or three names of designers and structural engineers the GC has worked with on similar remodels.

This isn't a bid. It's the conversation that tells you whether to keep going.