Seattle, WA
NEW ADDITIONS ESTIMATING.

## Addition Estimating in Seattle Moves at a Different Pace Seattle's housing stock is dense, older, and constrained. Lots in Ballard, Columbia City, and the Central District leave little room for error. Clients want ADUs, second-story additions, and rear bumps — and they want a number fast. You're competing against other addition contractors who've been working the same neighborhoods for years. A handwritten takeoff doesn't cut it here. You need a bid that accounts for Seattle's permit costs, WAC structural requirements, and labor rates that have climbed alongside the region's cost of living. Estimate.Pro gets you from walkthrough to sendable bid in 8 minutes. --- ## What Makes Addition Estimates Hard in Seattle **Permit routing is layered.** Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) handles most residential additions, but projects near shorelines, steep slopes, or in special overlay zones trigger additional review — sometimes a CAO (Critical Areas Ordinance) report. That adds cost and timeline. Your bid has to account for it. **Energy code is stringent.** Washington State Energy Code (WSEC) 2021 applies to all new conditioned space. A rear addition is treated as new construction for envelope performance — you're specifying insulation values, window U-factors, and in some cases whole-house ventilation changes. Undersell this and you eat the cost. **Soil and drainage conditions vary by neighborhood.** Glacially deposited soils in West Seattle and parts of Shoreline can require engineered footings where standard prescriptive depth won't satisfy a structural engineer or the SDCI plan reviewer. That's a line item most templated estimates miss. **Labor is tight.** Framing crews, insulation subs, and finish carpenters book weeks out. Your bid needs to protect margin against schedule risk. --- ## How Estimate.Pro Handles Addition Scope Walk the site. Open the app. The AR measurement tool — powered by ONNX-assisted live detection on supported devices — lets you capture room dimensions and existing wall runs without a second person holding a tape. Measurements taken from photos are flagged as estimates so your client sees exactly what's confirmed versus preliminary. From there, the AI scope engine reads your walkthrough notes and drafts a line-item scope of work: demo, framing, sheathing, roofing tie-in, insulation to WSEC R-values, drywall, electrical rough and finish, and any mechanical extension work. You review, adjust, and price against your saved material cost workspace — your numbers, not national averages you have to manually correct for Seattle pricing. The result is a professional, itemized estimate ready to send in 8 minutes at the median. Clients in Fremont or Magnolia aren't waiting three days for a number. --- ## Pricing That Fits How You Work Estimate.Pro is free to start — no credit card, no trial clock. If you're a solo addition contractor running a handful of jobs a month, the free tier covers the basics. When you're ready to send estimates through Stripe Connect and collect deposits, Pro at **$39/seat/month** drops the platform fee to 0%. Elite at **$79/seat/month** adds invoice exports and advanced workflows. Running a crew? Flat **$399/month** covers your whole team. --- ## Seattle-Specific Details That Belong in Your Bid Addition contractors who work Seattle regularly know the numbers that matter: - SDCI residential addition permit fees scale with project valuation — a $200,000 addition typically carries a permit fee in the $3,000–$5,000 range before any plan review surcharges. - Framing labor in the Seattle metro runs $28–$38/hour for journeyman-level work as of recent prevailing wage surveys. - WSEC 2021 requires whole-house ventilation verification when an addition increases conditioned floor area by more than 500 sq ft — a line item that catches estimators off guard. Build those into your template once. Estimate.Pro carries them forward on every bid. --- ## Built for 25 Trades, Including Yours Estimate.Pro supports 25 trades. Addition contractors sit alongside remodelers, framers, roofing subs, and MEP contractors — all in one field operating system. When your addition job needs a plumbing rough-in or an electrical panel upgrade, your subs can bid their scope in the same platform. Start free at Estimate.Pro. Your next Seattle addition bid doesn't need to take three hours.