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Exterior Renovations

An exterior shows its age in ways that are hard to ignore: siding that’s failing, trim that’s worn down, a roofline or facade that no longer reflects the character of the building. Exterior work has to do two things at once. It has to hold up to Seattle’s weather, and it still has to look like it belongs on the building, whether that means restoring original details or introducing more durable modern materials.

Crescent Builds works through that balance with you during Discovery and Design, then handles the materials, permitting, and construction so the finished exterior protects the structure and reads as intentional, not like an obvious patch job. Since 2007, Crescent Builds has completed more than 480 projects across Seattle, ranks in the top 2% of Washington’s licensed contractors, and has earned 17 Master Builders Remodeling Excellence awards and the association’s 2015 Remodeler of the Year.

 

Ravenna home exterior with white siding, a green Dutch door, and black-trimmed windows

An exterior renovation may include:

  • New or restored siding, trim, and paint
  • Window and door replacement
  • Front porches, entries, and stairs
  • Roofline and structural exterior updates
  • Restoring original architectural details on older or historic buildings
  • Exterior updates tied to a larger addition, house lift, or remodel

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Signs It’s Time for an Exterior Renovation

Seattle’s rain finds every weak spot. An exterior renovation usually makes sense when a few of these sound familiar:

  • Siding is failing. Soft or rotting boards, cracked shingles, or paint that peels every year.
  • Water is getting in. Stains around windows, swollen trim, or damp walls inside.
  • Windows are drafty or fogged. Single-pane glass, failed seals, or sashes that won’t open.
  • The entry has seen better days. Sagging porch roofs, worn stairs, or loose railings.
  • The house doesn’t look like itself anymore. Original details were covered up or removed over the years.

If the exterior work is part of adding space, see Home Additions. If the inside of the house needs work too, a whole home remodel lets you plan both together.

What an Exterior Renovation Can Include

Leschi century-old home with purple siding, a teal front door, and a new covered front porch with white railings and stairs

Siding, trim, and paint

New siding is often the biggest single change to how a house looks and how well it sheds water. In Wallingford, new Hardi siding replaced the old cladding on a Craftsman home, and in Leschi, refreshed siding and a new front porch gave a century-old house a new face. Paint does more than change color. In Volunteer Park, an exterior paint scheme pays homage to the home’s traditional Craftsman character with a modern flair.

Windows and doors

New windows and doors improve comfort, light, and energy use while setting the style of the house. In Wallingford, Marvin windows and doors were detailed to match the home’s original Craftsman window and door trim.

Porches, entries, and stairs

The entry is the first thing people see. In Green Lake, an enclosed front porch was reopened to the street with new railings, painted stairs, and an open-air design, along with new garage doors. In Greenwood, a redesigned back porch and stair now connect a new kitchen directly to the yard.

Restoring original details

Some exterior features are worth saving. In Wallingford, the original front porch ceiling was restored alongside new siding and windows. We look for the details that define a house, like trim profiles, porch ceilings, brackets, and window patterns, and either restore them or match them in new material.

Exteriors tied to bigger projects

Exterior work often comes with an addition, lift, or remodel. In Whittier Heights, a house raised 12 feet was finished in slim-brick cladding with Hardi cement siding details. In Columbia City, a second-story addition came with an enclosed mudroom entry and a larger new front porch.

Restore or Replace?

Not every original material needs to stay, and not every new material needs to look new. We help you decide piece by piece:

  • Restore when the original is sound and defines the character of the house, like old-growth wood trim, porch ceilings, or historic glass.
  • Replace when the material is failing or no longer protects the structure, like rotted siding or single-pane windows that can’t be repaired.
  • Match when a new material can carry the original look with better durability, like fiber cement siding milled to a traditional profile.

Exterior Renovations in Older Seattle Homes

Many Seattle homes are 80 to 100 years old or more, and their exteriors have usually been patched, painted, and re-sided more than once. When we open up an older exterior, we often plan for:

Green Lake front entry with a wood-paneled porch ceiling, a stained wood front door, and new white railings
  • Rot and water damage behind siding and around windows and doors.
  • Missing or failed weather barriers, since many older homes were built without the layers modern walls rely on.
  • Lead paint, which requires safe work practices. Crescent Builds is an EPA Lead-Safe Certified Firm.
  • Little or no insulation in exterior walls, which is easiest to add while siding is off.
  • Layers of old material covering original siding or trim.

Crescent Builds assesses these conditions early, during Discovery and Design, so they’re priced into the plan rather than discovered mid-construction. Getting the layers behind the siding right, including weather barrier, flashing, and trim details, is what keeps a new exterior dry for decades.

The Crescent Builds Exterior Renovation Process

An exterior renovation moves through the same five phases as every Crescent project.

  1. We walk the exterior with you, look for water damage and failing materials, and talk through what you want the house to look like.
  2. Design and budget advance together, from siding and window choices to paint colors and details worth restoring.
  3. Permits, final selections, trade specifications, and ordering. Windows and specialty materials are ordered early, since lead times can set the schedule.
  4. Construction, with weekly status meetings and access to schedules, decisions, photos, and billing through JobTread, our client portal.
  5. Every project includes a dedicated warranty service period, and we stay available long after.

Most exterior renovations run 7 to 10 months from first conversation to completion: three months or more of design and planning, then 4 to 5 months of construction for siding, windows, and trim on an existing structure. Larger scopes, or exterior work tied to a house lift or other structural change, run longer. See the full design-build process for more detail.

Commercial and Historic Exteriors

Ba Bar’s century-old Capitol Hill facade with gray stucco and restored chicken-wire glass windows

Exterior restoration principles apply to commercial buildings as well. At Ba Bar on Capitol Hill, we refreshed a 100-year-old building’s facade with new stucco and hand-brushed trim, added custom light brackets that wash the building in a soft glow at night, and restored rare chicken-wire glass salvaged from long-abandoned East Coast factories. At the Winston, a classic Capitol Hill apartment building, we restored the exterior entry and rebuilt the back deck. For more on our commercial work, see Boutique Commercial.

Buildings in landmark or historic districts carry an additional review layer, which is worth knowing early if yours falls in one.

Exterior Renovation Costs

Every exterior is priced to its own scope. The biggest cost drivers are:

  • Siding material. Wood, fiber cement, shingles, stucco, and brick all differ in cost and labor.
  • Windows and doors. The number of openings, the product line, and whether openings change size or move.
  • What’s behind the siding. Rot repair, new weather barrier, flashing, and insulation.
  • Height and access. Scaffolding, steep sites, and multi-story walls.
  • Detail work. Restored trim, custom millwork, and porch rebuilds.
  • Lead-safe practices on older homes with original paint.

Nearly all of our design-build projects are built on a fixed-price contract, so once the plan is set, the price is the price. Because design and budget develop together, you make decisions with real numbers in front of you. Learn more about fixed-price remodeling contracts.

Living in Your Home During an Exterior Renovation

Most exterior work can happen while you continue living in or operating the building, though there will be noise, scaffolding, and some access considerations depending on scope. Window replacement means short periods of open walls, which we sequence and protect so the house stays secure and dry.

Why Design-Build Works for Exterior Renovations

An exterior is a system of layers that all have to work together. With designers, project managers, and carpenters on one team, construction thinking shapes the design from the start: flashing and trim are detailed before siding is chosen, window sizes are confirmed early, and the budget is tracked as selections are made.

Exterior Renovations by Crescent Builds

Since 2007, Crescent Builds has completed more than 480 projects across the greater Seattle area. A few of our exterior renovations:

1 2 3 4

Clients who come back: Carolyn W. came back for a full exterior restoration after remodeling her condo, her basement and her front porch and entry. Neel B.’s first project was a second-story addition paired with an exterior renovation. Read their stories.

View All Exterior Renovation Projects

 

Common Questions

Can you restore original architectural details on an older home’s exterior, or are we limited to modern materials?

Crescent Builds can do both, restoring original details like porch ceilings, trim profiles, and window styles where they matter, and introducing more durable modern materials where it makes sense. The Crescent Builds Wallingford project, for example, paired new Hardi siding and Marvin windows with restoration of the home’s original front porch ceiling and Craftsman-style trim.

How much does an exterior renovation cost in Seattle?

In 2026, a porch and trim refresh typically costs $50K to $100K in construction, and a full envelope renovation (siding, windows, roofing, and trim) $150K to $300K. These are 2026 construction-only figures; design, permits, and sales tax are additional.

Every exterior is priced to its own scope. The biggest factors are the siding material, the number and type of windows and doors, repairs behind the siding, height and access, and detail work like restored trim or porch rebuilds. At Crescent Builds, the budget is built with you during the Design phase, so you’re making decisions with real numbers, and nearly all of our design-build projects are built on a fixed-price contract.

See our Seattle remodel cost guide for ranges by project type and how to build an all-in budget.

Will new siding or materials match the rest of our home’s architectural style?

Yes. Crescent Builds selects and details exterior materials to read as part of the building’s original style rather than a generic upgrade. Our Volunteer Park project used an exterior paint scheme designed to pay homage to the home’s traditional Craftsman character while giving it a modern refresh.

Do you only work on residential exteriors, or can you restore commercial buildings too?

Both. Exterior restoration principles apply to commercial buildings as well. Our Ba Bar Capitol Hill project refreshed a century-old commercial building’s facade with new stucco and hand-brushed trim, and restored rare salvaged chicken-wire glass, preserving its historic character while meeting today’s durability standards.

How long does an exterior renovation typically take?

Most exterior renovations run 7 to 10 months from first conversation to completion: three months or more of design and planning, then 4 to 5 months of construction for siding, windows, and trim on an existing structure. Larger scopes, or exterior work tied to a house lift or other structural change, run longer.

Do you handle permits for exterior renovations?

Yes. Whether a permit is required depends on scope. Straightforward siding replacement may not need one, while structural work, relocating windows or doors, or work close to a property line generally does. Buildings in landmark or historic districts carry an additional review layer, which is worth knowing early if yours falls in one. Crescent Builds identifies what applies during Pre-Construction and handles the submittal and inspections from there. For current timelines and what to expect, see our guide to the Seattle remodeling permit process.

Will an exterior renovation disrupt daily life inside the building the way an interior remodel would?

Generally less. Most exterior work can happen while you continue living in or operating the building, though there will be noise, scaffolding, and some access considerations depending on scope. We’ll walk through what to expect for your specific project.

How do you handle lead paint on older homes?

Many older Seattle homes have lead paint under newer layers. Crescent Builds is an EPA Lead-Safe Certified Firm, and we follow lead-safe work practices for containment, cleanup, and disposal whenever we disturb painted surfaces on an older home.

What areas do you serve for exterior renovations?

Crescent Builds works throughout Seattle and nearby communities. In the city, that includes neighborhoods like Phinney Ridge, Wallingford, Magnolia, Ballard, Capitol Hill, and Green Lake. Beyond Seattle, we regularly work in Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Edmonds, Kirkland, Bellevue, Redmond, and Mercer Island. If your home is elsewhere in the greater Seattle area, reach out and we’ll let you know if it’s a fit.

Ready to Refresh Your Exterior?

If your siding, windows, or entry are showing their age, let’s talk about what’s possible. We’ll walk the exterior with you, look at what’s worth saving, and give you an honest picture of scope, budget, and timeline before you commit to anything. Get in touch to start the conversation.

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