New custom homes & teardown-rebuilds in Seattle
Some Seattle lots are worth more than the house sitting on them. When a tired box in Wedgwood, Mount Baker or Phinney Ridge is fighting your family every day, a ground-up custom home — or a strategic teardown-rebuild — gives you exactly the house you want, built to current code on land you already love. We design, permit and build it as one accountable team.
Remodel vs. rebuild — we run the math before you commit
Not every old Seattle house should come down, and not every one should stay. The honest answer lives in the bones: if the foundation, framing and footprint are sound and the layout is close, a deep remodel usually wins on cost and timeline. But when the foundation is failing, the ceilings are low, the footprint is locked by a 1940s plan, or you simply want a different home, a teardown-rebuild on a strong lot delivers more house and a fully code-current result — new seismic structure, new envelope, new systems, no compromises inherited from 1952. We run a side-by-side feasibility study so the decision is grounded in numbers, not emotion.
Lot feasibility is where Seattle rebuilds are won or lost
Before a single line is drawn, we establish what your lot can legally hold. That means zoning and floor-area ratio, lot coverage and setbacks, height limits, and — critically in Seattle — Environmentally Critical Area overlays. Steep-slope and landslide-prone hillsides in West Seattle and Magnolia, liquefaction zones in the industrial flats and parts of Sodo, peat and fill soils, and the city's tree-retention rules all shape (and sometimes shrink) the buildable envelope. A survey and zoning review up front prevents the most expensive mistake in custom building: designing a house your lot won't permit.
Design-build, engineered for the Pacific Northwest
Building new in Seattle means building for water, soil and seismic from day one. We pair architectural design with structural and geotechnical engineering, then detail the envelope the way PNW homes need to be detailed — rainscreen cladding, continuous flashing, robust roof drainage and managed vapor — over a foundation sized for your actual soils. With Seattle's energy code pushing toward all-electric, high-performance homes, we plan heat pumps, tight envelopes and ventilation as part of the design rather than a code afterthought.
One contract from demolition to certificate of occupancy
A teardown-rebuild has a lot of moving parts: abatement, demolition and grading permits, erosion control, excavation, a new foundation, then the full build. As your single design-build contractor we own all of it — so you're not stitching together a separate demo company, architect, engineer and builder who each blame the other when the schedule slips. One team, one fixed scope, one point of accountability.
Typical Seattle pricing
| Scope | Typical Seattle range |
|---|---|
| Lot & rebuild feasibility study | flat fee, credited to your build |
| Demolition + abatement + grading | $25,000 – $70,000 |
| Custom home build (per sq ft) | $375 – $650+ / sq ft |
| Typical ground-up custom home | $450,000 – $1,500,000+ |
| Steep-slope / poor-soil foundation | quoted per geotech report |
Prices in USD and cover construction only; land is separate. Every project gets a written, fixed-scope estimate after a free consultation.
Seattle custom homes & rebuilds — your questions
Should I remodel or tear down and rebuild in Seattle?
It depends on the bones and your goals. If the foundation, framing and footprint are sound and you like the layout, a deep remodel often wins. If the house is small, the foundation is failing, or you want a fundamentally different home, a teardown-rebuild on a good Seattle lot frequently delivers more home and a fully code-current result. We run a side-by-side feasibility before you decide.
What can I legally build on my Seattle lot?
Your envelope is set by zoning, floor-area ratio, lot coverage, setbacks and height limits, plus any Environmentally Critical Area overlays — steep slope, liquefaction-prone soils, wetlands and Seattle's tree-retention rules. We pull the zoning and survey first so the design fits what's actually permittable.
How long does a custom home take to build in Seattle?
Plan on roughly 18–30 months end to end: 4–8 months for design and engineering, often 6–12 months for SDCI permitting depending on overlays and corrections, and 10–14 months of construction. Demolition and ECA review can extend the front end.
How much does it cost to build a custom home in Seattle?
Ground-up custom homes in Seattle typically run $450,000 to $1.5M+ for the structure, or roughly $375–$650+ per square foot depending on finish level, site difficulty and design. Demolition, sloped or poor-soil lots and high-end finishes push the upper end. Land is separate.
Do you handle demolition and the old house removal?
Yes. As your single design-build contractor we manage hazardous-material abatement where required, the SDCI demolition and grading permits, careful demolition, erosion control and excavation, then build the new home — one accountable team from old house to certificate of occupancy.
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