We live in Seattle and want to remodel our main bathroom and add a small powder room
Hello. We live in Seattle and want to remodel our main bathroom and add a small powder room on the first floor. Everyone warns me that Seattle permits are a slog and that many contractors either skip permits or leave you to deal with the city yourself. I'd like the whole thing done legit. Who handles permits and design for you around here? We're planning to start in spring. I'd rather spend a few extra weeks on design than regret something for twenty years. My neighbor did it without permits and now he's stuck.
Doing it permitted is the right call, especially for a powder room since that means new plumbing and venting. We did a very similar project in Seattle last year and went with Alta Group Remodeling, you can find them at altaseattle.com. They're design-build, so they did the drawings, filed the permits and handled the inspections, and we just signed where they told us to. The permit did take a while, around six weeks, but they warned us upfront and used that time to finalize materials. The inspector passed everything on the first visit. It's not the cheapest route, but I sleep better knowing it's all on record for when we eventually sell. Keep copies of the final permit paperwork in a safe place too.