Home Remodeling and Carpentry in Ballard
Ballard has two housing stocks side by side.
- Licensed, bonded, insured (#PACIFWC905PQ)
- Free line-item estimates
- One lead, start to finish
Serving Seattle, the Eastside, Everett to Olympia
Get a free estimate
Takes about a minute. Photos optional.
The older one is early-1900s bungalows and small houses on narrow lots, many built for the families who worked the mills and boats along the canal and Salmon Bay. The newer one is the townhouses and backyard cottages that have filled many Ballard blocks over the last fifteen years. The two need very different plans.
Work on Ballard houses
- Finish carpentry: trim matched to the house, built-ins, rebuilt stairs and solid doors.
- Kitchens: Small bungalow kitchens laid out to work harder. See how we lay out small kitchens.
- Bathrooms: One-bathroom houses, and a second bath where it fits. See how we rebuild older bathrooms.
Older Ballard houses
A lot of what Ballard homeowners ask us for is carpentry and careful layout. Many bungalows lost their original trim in a 1970s remodel, and putting back casing and baseboard that fit the house makes a bigger difference than people expect. Built-in bookshelves and window seats add storage without adding rooms. Small kitchens get full-height cabinets and better work areas, and one-bathroom houses often have space for a second, small bathroom in an attic, a basement or part of a large bedroom.
These houses also tend to have the usual older-Seattle surprises behind the walls: knob-and-tube wiring, galvanized supply lines and framing cut by past work. We look for the signs at the walk-through and price the likely fixes separately.
Prefer to talk first? Call (206) 860-6901
Townhouses
Newer Ballard townhouses have different needs: builder-grade finishes ready for an upgrade, shared walls, rooftop decks and sometimes HOA rules. Common jobs are new flooring, kitchen and bathroom upgrades, and turning the ground-floor flex room into a real office or bedroom with a door, a closet and better light.
Small lots and tight streets
Ballard lots are small and the streets are full. Materials and a dumpster often have to sit on the street, which in Seattle needs an SDOT street use permit, and deliveries have to be timed. We plan for both, and we protect neighbors' sidewalks and planting strips while we work.
Basements, attics and backyard space
Many Ballard bungalows have a basement with low headroom and an attic with a steep roof, and both are tempting places for another room. A basement room needs enough ceiling height, a dry slab and walls, and an egress window if it's a bedroom. Sometimes lowering the floor is the only way to get the height, and that's a bigger job with its own engineering. An attic room needs the floor framing checked, insulation, a code-compliant stair and often a dormer for headroom. On many Ballard lots, a detached backyard cottage is another option. We'll tell you which of these your house can realistically support before you spend money on design.
Permits
Ballard is inside Seattle. Building and electrical permits come from the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI), and plumbing permits from Public Health - Seattle & King County. Trim, built-ins and paint usually need no permit. A new bathroom, moved walls or a basement bedroom do.
Up the hill in Fremont, the houses are similar and the streets are steeper: see work we do in Fremont. For other neighborhoods, see the rest of Seattle or the full list of areas.
Questions we hear
Can you match the original trim in my Ballard bungalow?
Usually. Many profiles are still made, and others can be milled to match. We bring samples first.
Do you build built-ins?
Yes: bookshelves, window seats, mudroom benches and media walls, trimmed to match the house.
Can you add a second bathroom to our bungalow?
Often. It depends on where a drain can run and how much headroom there is. We check both before any design.
Do you work on newer Ballard townhouses?
Yes, including flooring, kitchen and bath upgrades and finishing the ground-floor flex room.
Do I need a street permit for a dumpster?
In Seattle, yes, if it sits on the street. We get the SDOT street use permit.
Start with a free walk-through
Tell us what you're planning. We'll set up a free walk-through and send an estimate with every cost listed, so you decide what's in.
- No obligation
- Takes about a minute
- Photos optional