General Contractor in Seattle, WA

Seattle general contractor pricing in 2026 runs at a 22 to 28% markup over hard cost of trades for residential remodels and additions. A 180 sq ft mid-range kitchen remodel lands at $42,000 to $86,000, depending on cabinet tier, appliance package, and structural changes. A primary bath remodel runs $28,000 to $58,000. Whole-home additions on a Craftsman lot in Greenwood, Ballard, or Wallingford typically land at $310 to $480 per square foot fully finished.

Labor and trade subcontractor cost is the biggest line item in Seattle, often 60% of total project cost, because PNW trade labor markets stay tight. Seattle bids run 12 to 18% above national medians on identical scope, mostly driven by labor and prevailing wage on permitted work.

Contractor markup in Seattle covers project management, scheduling, permits, jobsite cleanup, supervision, and a one-year warranty on workmanship. ContractShield bids show that markup as a separate line so the homeowner can compare overhead structures, not just bottom lines.

The best general contractors in Seattle hold an active Washington L&I general contractor registration with a bond on file, carry $1M general liability and workers' comp, and document each subcontractor on the bid. Sub disclosure matters in Seattle because Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections audits permitted projects against the bid file regularly.

ContractShield verification tiers climb from basic, to licensed, to insured, to verified_pro. Only verified_pro and insured Seattle GCs can bid on projects above $25,000. Subcontractor lists are required on every Work Order Marketplace bid above the verified_pro threshold, and the marketplace shows historical bid win rate plus average review score per dimension.

• Confirm the L&I registration number on the bid against the Washington L&I lookup tool.
• Ask for the structural engineer or architect on file for any addition or load-bearing work.
• Require sub-tier disclosures up front to avoid mid-project change orders.

On ContractShield, Seattle general contractor work orders receive their first bid in a median of 4.6 hours. The full field of three to five competitive bids closes inside 48 hours for projects up to $80,000. Larger custom projects sometimes take 5 to 7 days for the full field of competitive bids because Seattle GCs build out fuller subcontractor pricing on bigger jobs.

After you accept a bid, the project workspace inside ContractShield runs the rest of the project. Permit numbers logged, photos by date, milestone payment schedule, lien waivers per draw, and a five-dimension review at close.

Spring and early summer in Seattle trend toward exterior projects: window replacements, decking, additions with roof tie-ins. Late summer and fall lean into kitchen and bath remodels because crews want indoor work as the rainy season returns. Winter is the right window for primary bedroom, basement, and ADU buildouts.

ADU work specifically has surged in Seattle since the 2024 zoning expansion. ContractShield Seattle GCs report 38% of 2026 work orders include either a detached ADU or attached ADU scope, often paired with a primary kitchen or bath remodel.

Calling three Seattle GCs means three weeks of site visits, three different bid templates, and three different markup structures. ContractShield collapses that into one Work Order Marketplace post with normalized line items.

Pick the right GC, run the project through the ContractShield workspace, and close with a five-dimension review that feeds the contractor's marketplace score. The marketplace gets better at matching the next homeowner with the right pro every time a project closes.