Additions

Add the room instead of buying it.

A primary suite, a bigger kitchen, a second story, or an in-law suite off the side — built onto the house you already love, on the lot you already own. Start with a free report on what your parcel has room for.

Get my free reportThe report is allowed to say no.

[Hero photograph pending — a finished addition seen from the back yard, the seam between old and new siding visible and clean. P-14]

Who does this

The house is right. The room isn't.

A fourth bedroom

Two kids sharing one room

The school and the street are the reason you bought; the floor plan is the reason you're looking. A bedroom over the garage or off the back changes the second, not the first.

A suite for a parent

Their own bath and door, under one roof

An in-law suite with its own entrance and kitchen is an attached accessory dwelling unit, and the state rules for ADUs apply to it.

An office with a door

The call that doesn't happen at the kitchen table

A ground-floor bump-out of 200 to 400 square feet is the smallest project we study, and the one most often worth doing.

A kitchen that seats everyone

The room the house was always missing

The kitchen and family-room bump-out is the classic Puget Sound addition, and the one where lot coverage most often decides the answer.

What the report checks for an addition

This is different from a backyard home, and the report says so.

An addition is governed by the rules for the house itself — not the ADU rules — and there is no pre-approved shortcut. The report reads your parcel against them:

From public records

How much lot coverage and impervious surface you have left, the setbacks and height limit for the principal structure in your zone, whether a second story clears the height limit, stormwater review thresholds, tree-retention rules, design review where your city has it, and whether the parcel is mapped for flood, wetland, slope or soils.

Only on site

Whether the existing foundation and framing can carry a second floor — the whole question for that project — what's inside the wall you'd open, where utilities run, and whether your HOA has a say. Every second-story result carries a "structural review required" line, always.

TypeTypical sizeWhat decides it
Ground-floor bump-out200–500 sq ftRemaining lot coverage and impervious surface; side and rear setbacks
Primary suite300–600 sq ftCoverage, setbacks, and where plumbing can run
Second storyOver the existing footprintHeight limit, and whether the foundation and framing can carry it
In-law suiteOwn entrance, kitchen and bathAn attached ADU — your city's ADU rules apply
Costs and time, honestly

A range from published data, and a fixed price only from a proposal.

[Sourced Puget Sound addition cost range per square foot, by type — research, P-13] A fixed price comes only from a proposal after a site visit and a design. Every proposal excludes permits, utility fees and Washington sales tax.

[Researched addition timeline, in months — never weeks. P-13]

Construction is by [Builder of record — pending], WA contractor reg. [WA contractor reg. no. — pending]. Addition examples and photographs follow when the builder of record's jobs are confirmed (P-11, P-14).

Questions people ask about additions

Will an addition match the house?

That's a design question a good architect answers, and the report leaves it to them. What the report answers is whether there's room for one at all.

How long will we live in a construction zone?

[Researched range in months — P-13] Most families stay in the house for a ground-floor addition and move out for a second story.

Does a second story need a new foundation?

Sometimes. Nobody can tell from a desk; every second-story result in the report carries a structural-review line, and the site visit answers it.

Find out what your lot has room for.

One page, two minutes. Your report within the hour.