Whole Home Remodels

Q: Can you rework our floor plan, or are you limited to cosmetic updates?

We can rework the floor plan entirely — moving walls, relocating stairs, reconfiguring plumbing and electrical, even changing the structural layout — not just refresh finishes. Many of our whole home remodels start with a layout that no longer works and end with one built around how the family actually lives.

Q: How long does a whole home remodel typically take, from design to completion?

It depends on scope, but a whole home remodel generally moves through five phases — Discovery, Development, Planning, Production, and After the Build — with design and budgeting happening in parallel rather than one after another. We'll lay out a realistic timeline specific to your project once we understand the scope.

Q: Do we need to move out of our home during a whole home remodel?

It depends on scope and how much of the home is affected at once, but many clients stay in their home during at least part of a whole home remodel, especially if we can sequence work to keep part of the house livable. For more extensive projects — full system replacements, major structural work — temporary relocation may make more sense. We'll talk through what's realistic for your specific project and household during Discovery, so you can plan around it early rather than being surprised later.

Q: How much does a whole home remodel cost in the Seattle area?

Cost depends heavily on scope, the home's existing condition, and finish selections, so we don't publish a blanket number — it would be misleading either way. We build a clear, realistic budget together early in the process, before you're committed to a design that doesn't fit it.

Q: How do you handle older Seattle homes with outdated electrical, plumbing, or foundation issues?

Seattle's older housing stock often comes with knob-and-tube wiring, galvanized plumbing, or foundations that were never bolted or braced for seismic loads. We assess these systems early, in Discovery and Development, so any needed upgrades are built into the budget and plan from the start rather than discovered mid-construction.

Q: How is a whole home remodel different from an addition or a partial renovation?

A whole home remodel touches the entire house at once — layout, systems, finishes — so everything is planned and built together rather than room by room. An addition adds new square footage without necessarily reworking the existing home, and a partial renovation focuses on one area (a kitchen, a bathroom, a single floor) while leaving the rest of the house untouched. If you're only updating one or two spaces, our Kitchens, Bathrooms, or Home Additions pages might be a closer fit — a whole home remodel is the right call when most or all of the house needs attention at the same time.

When a house no longer works for how you live, it usually shows up everywhere at once. The layout fights you, the systems are aging, and rooms don’t connect the way they should. A whole home remodel lets you rethink the entire house in one coordinated plan, rather than patching one room at a time and living in a construction zone for years.

A whole house remodel in Seattle comes with its own realities: older homes, aging wiring and plumbing, seismic upgrades, and a permitting process that rewards good preparation. We guide you through all of it, so the design, the budget, and the build stay aligned from the first conversation to the final walkthrough. The finished home feels cohesive, functional, and built to last.

A whole home remodel may include:

Reworking your floor plan
Updating kitchens and bathrooms
Improving structural, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical systems
Bringing new life to existing spaces
Adding square footage to existing or new floors

Is a Whole Home Remodel Right for You?

Most homeowners don’t start out planning to remodel the whole house. They start with a kitchen, or a bathroom, or a basement that floods every spring. Then the list grows. A whole home remodel usually makes sense when several of these are true:

The layout no longer fits your life. Closed-off rooms, a kitchen cut off from where everyone gathers, or a stair in the wrong place.
The systems are near the end of their life. Original wiring, galvanized pipes, an old furnace, or no real ventilation.
You’ve outgrown the space, but not the neighborhood. You love where you live and want the house to catch up.
Several rooms need work at the same time. Tackling them together is often more efficient than reopening walls and floors again and again.
You’re planning to stay for the long term. Including making the home easier to live in as you age.

If only one or two spaces need attention, a focused kitchen remodel, bathroom remodel, or home addition may be the better fit. We’ll help you figure that out early, before you commit to a scope.

What a Whole House Remodel Can Include

Every whole home remodel is shaped by the house and the people in it. These are the moves we see most often across Seattle homes.

Open, connected floor plans

Removing or relocating walls can turn a series of small rooms into a kitchen, dining, and living area that works as one space. In an Olympic Hills home, a reconfigured interior opened the main floor for entertaining while the design held onto a clean mid-century character, with custom walnut cabinetry and salvaged original flooring.

Kitchens and bathrooms at the center of the plan

In a whole home remodel, the kitchen and bathrooms are designed as part of the whole house, not in isolation. In a Magnolia home, removing a peninsula and adding a large French window made the kitchen bright and open to the dining room, while a series of inefficient upstairs spaces became a calm, timeless primary ensuite.

Recapturing and adding space

Not every project needs a new footprint. An oversized garage, an underused basement, or an awkward hallway can often become a mudroom, laundry, office, or powder room. When more space is the answer, a whole home remodel can include a second-story addition or a basement remodel or house lift.

Systems, structure, and seismic upgrades

This is the work you may never see, and it’s often the most important. Whole home remodels are the right moment for new electrical, plumbing, and HVAC, along with structural changes and seismic retrofitting. A Wallingford Craftsman received seismic upgrades and earthquake retrofitting along with new electrical, plumbing, roofing, and siding, so the home’s infrastructure now matches its updated interior.

Indoor-outdoor living

Seattle homeowners want to use their outdoor space for more of the year. In a North Beach mid-century home, a folding NanaWall system lets the patio act as an extension of the living and dining areas, effectively doubling that square footage while framing views of the Puget Sound.

Preserving original character

Much of Seattle’s housing stock is 80 to 100 years old or more, and its details are worth keeping. Original fir and oak floors can be refinished, plaster walls and arched doorways preserved, and historic stairs restored, so new work feels integrated rather than layered on top.

Planning for the years ahead

A whole home remodel is a good time to think about how you’ll use the house in 10 or 20 years. Wider circulation, a main-floor bathroom, and fewer level changes can make a home easier to age in place without making it feel institutional.

What We Plan for with an Older Seattle Home

Seattle’s older housing stock is part of its charm, and part of why a whole house remodel here needs careful planning. When we open up a century-old home, we routinely find:

Knob-and-tube or outdated wiring that needs to be replaced before new finishes go in.
Galvanized plumbing that has narrowed with age and is ready for replacement.
Foundations never bolted or braced for seismic loads, which is why seismic retrofitting is a common part of our scope.
Non-standard framing from earlier eras of construction and past remodels.
Plaster walls, old-growth fir, and original trim worth protecting during construction.

We assess these conditions early, during Discovery and Development, so what the house actually needs is priced into the plan before construction starts. Deep local experience is how those discoveries become manageable decisions instead of budget-breaking emergencies. If your home is in one of Seattle’s historic districts, exterior changes may need additional review, and we account for that in the timeline as well. For more on this, read Remodeling an Older Home for Modern Living in Seattle.

Our Whole Home Remodel Process

A whole home remodel follows the same five phases as every Crescent project. The scope is bigger. The care isn’t.

Discovery (about 1 month). We learn your goals, must-haves, and budget, and look closely at the property and its existing conditions. This is where we set honest expectations and confirm the project is the right fit.
Development (2 to 4 months). Design and budget move forward together, so what gets designed stays grounded in what’s buildable and what you’re prepared to spend. By the end, you have a realistic plan and a clear budget.
Planning (1 to 3 months). Permitting, final selections, trade specifications, material orders, and scheduling. Permitting runs at the same time as Planning rather than after it.
Production (8 months or more for most whole home remodels). Our team manages the build and coordinates trade contractors, with weekly status meetings during construction and access to schedules, decisions, photos, and billing through JobTread, our client portal.
Aftercare (ongoing). Every project includes a dedicated warranty service period, and our team stays available as your home settles in and future plans take shape.

From first conversation to move-in, most whole home remodels take 12 to 24 months. See the full design-build process for more detail on each phase.

Whole Home Remodel Costs

Every whole house remodel is priced to its own scope, and the biggest factors are the ones you control:

How much of the house you take on. One floor, the full interior, or interior plus exterior.
Structural and foundation work. Moving walls, relocating stairs, raising ceilings, or seismic retrofitting.
Systems and envelope. Electrical, plumbing, HVAC, insulation, windows, roofing, and siding.
Added square footage. A second story or a house lift adds both structure and finish area.
Finish level and selections. Cabinetry, countertops, tile, fixtures, and flooring.
Existing conditions. What we find in older homes, which is why we assess them early.

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’re making decisions with real numbers in front of you, not after a design is already drawn. Read more about how fixed-price remodeling contracts work.

Living at Home During a Whole Home Remodel

Many clients stay in their home for at least part of a whole home remodel, especially when we can sequence the work to keep part of the house livable. For projects with full system replacements or major structural work, a temporary move often makes daily life easier. We talk through what’s realistic for your household during Discovery, so you can plan around it early. For practical tips, see Living in Your Home During a Remodel.

Why Design-Build for a Whole Home Remodel

A whole house remodel has more moving parts than any other residential project. Design-build keeps them in one place:

One team from the first idea to the final walkthrough. Designers, project managers, and carpenters work together, so construction thinking shapes the design before decisions are locked in.
Budget and design move in parallel. You learn what your plan costs while it’s still easy to adjust.
Clear, consistent communication. Weekly status meetings with agendas and notes during construction, plus a client portal you can check any time.
Long-standing trade partners. The same trusted craftspeople who build your project answer the call for warranty visits years later.

Already working with an architect? Our plans-in-hand partnership brings the same construction team and process to your design.

Whole Home Remodels We’ve Built

Since 2007, Crescent Builds has completed more than 480 projects across the greater Seattle area, and ranks among the top 2% of licensed contractors in Washington State. Some of our whole home work has been recognized by the industry:

North Beach Whole Home: A mid-century remodel with a second-story primary suite, relocated stair, cantilevered patio, and expanded kitchen. 2026 Chrysalis Regional Award (Whole House), 2024 Master Builders Remodeling Excellence People’s Choice Award, and a 2023 NanaAwards Legacy Honorable Mention.
Olympic Hills Whole Home: What began as a small kitchen project became an open, mid-century modern home with a repurposed garage and updated systems. 2026 Chrysalis National Award (Kitchen Remodel).
Miller Park Whole Home: A turn-of-the-century home remodeled in close collaboration with its architect-homeowner, including a restored original staircase. 2021 Master Builders Remodeling Excellence Award (Major Remodel).
Wallingford Whole Home: A Craftsman with seismic upgrades, new systems, a reconfigured kitchen, and restored fir and oak floors. 2020 Master Builders Remodeling Excellence Award (Major Remodel).
Magnolia Whole Home: A historic home where every room was touched while plaster walls, arched doorways, and original detailing were preserved.

View All Whole Home Remodel Projects

Common Questions

How much does a whole home remodel cost in the Seattle area?

Full-scale whole home renovations in Seattle generally start around $500,000 and move up from there. What moves that number most is your own decisions: how much of the house you take on, how far you go on systems and envelope work, and the level of finish you choose. The home’s existing condition matters too, which is why we assess structure, foundation, and systems during Discovery and Development and price them into the plan before construction starts.

How long does a whole home remodel typically take, from design to completion?

A whole home remodel generally runs 12 to 24 months from first conversation to move-in. Design and pre-construction take roughly 3 to 8 months, with permitting running alongside Planning. Construction on a major whole home remodel starts around 8 months, and an extensive project with significant structural work can run 12 months or more.

Do I need permits for a whole home remodel, and who handles that?

Yes. Most whole home remodels require permits, especially when the work involves structural changes, electrical, or plumbing. At this scale it’s usually a building permit plus separate trade permits, with inspections throughout construction. We prepare and submit the permits, coordinate with the permitting authority, and schedule every inspection through final approval.

Can you rework our floor plan, or are you limited to cosmetic updates?

We can rework the floor plan entirely: moving walls, relocating stairs, reconfiguring plumbing and electrical, and changing the structural layout. Many of our whole home remodels start with a layout that no longer works and end with one built around how the family actually lives.

Do we need to move out of our home during a whole home remodel?

It depends on the scope and how much of the home is affected at once. Many clients stay for at least part of the project when we can keep part of the house livable. For full system replacements or major structural work, temporary relocation may make more sense. We’ll talk through what’s realistic for your household during Discovery.

How do you handle older Seattle homes with outdated electrical, plumbing, or foundation issues?

Seattle’s older homes often come with knob-and-tube wiring, galvanized plumbing, or foundations that were never bolted or braced for seismic loads. We assess these systems early, in Discovery and Development, so needed upgrades are built into the budget and plan from the start rather than discovered mid-construction.

How is a whole home remodel different from an addition or a partial renovation?

A whole home remodel touches the entire house at once (layout, systems, and finishes), so everything is planned and built together. An addition adds new square footage without necessarily reworking the existing home, and a partial renovation focuses on one area while leaving the rest untouched. A whole home remodel is the right call when most or all of the house needs attention at the same time.

Can we work with our own architect on a whole home remodel?

Yes. Through our plans-in-hand partnership, we step in as your construction partner, honoring your architect’s design and managing the build with the same process and communication. We can also get involved during design to provide pricing and constructability input before plans are final.

What areas do you serve for whole home remodels?

We work throughout Seattle and nearby communities. In the city, that includes neighborhoods like Phinney Ridge, Wallingford, Magnolia, Ballard, Capitol Hill, and West Seattle. 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 Rethink Your Whole Home?

If your house is asking for more than one room at a time, let’s talk about what’s possible. We’ll start with your goals, look at the house as it stands today, 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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