Pricing from our last 34 Puget Sound bath permits — Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, and Tacoma. Four scope tiers, full line-item breakdown, permit fees by city, ventilation code requirements, and honest 5-year ROI ranges. Updated for 2026 labor and material costs.
Bath remodels diverge harder than kitchens — a powder room and a primary spa share zero parts. Here are the four real packages with what's in scope.
Best fit: Half-baths, rental turns, listing prep, sub-30sf footprints.
Best fit: 5×8 or 5×9 hall baths — the most common Puget Sound remodel.
Best fit: Owners staying 5+ years; aging-in-place planning; first major bath since the house was built.
Best fit: Mercer Island, Clyde Hill, Medina, Madison Park — homes >$2.5M.
Same bath, different permits — drawn from 2024–2026 invoiced jobs across the region.
| City | $/sf range | Permit fees | Build window | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle | $480 – $980/sf | $1,100 – $2,800 | 5 – 10 wk | SDCI requires permit on plumbing relocations and any structural work; like-for-like fixture swaps usually permit-exempt. |
| Bellevue | $520 – $1,050/sf | $1,250 – $3,100 | 5 – 9 wk | Development Services intake fast; strictest waterproofing inspection in the region. |
| Kirkland | $460 – $920/sf | $1,000 – $2,500 | 4 – 8 wk | Online portal, mostly self-serve. Strong inspector availability. |
| Redmond | $480 – $960/sf | $1,050 – $2,650 | 4 – 8 wk | Excellent coordination on shower waterproofing inspections. |
| Sammamish / Issaquah | $500 – $1,000/sf | $1,200 – $2,900 | 5 – 9 wk | Septic-connected homes add inspection on fixture-count increases. |
| Tacoma | $380 – $760/sf | $700 – $1,900 | 4 – 7 wk | TMC fees ~40% below Seattle; older cast-iron drain stacks add cost when replaced. |
| Renton / Kent / Auburn | $400 – $780/sf | $850 – $2,100 | 4 – 8 wk | South King — labor pool cheaper but project mgmt drive time adds 6–9%. |
| Everett / Lynnwood | $420 – $820/sf | $900 – $2,300 | 5 – 8 wk | Snohomish County PUD coordination on circuit additions for heated floor and steam. |
Allocation by trade for a Tier-02 hall bath ($32k median). Budgets shift at other tiers; percent allocation stays within ±4pts.
Recoup ranges from Puget Sound comp sales and refi appraisals, Q1 2026. Bathrooms outperform kitchens at the entry tier and underperform at luxury.
| Scope | Spend | Recoup @ sale (5yr) | Recoup @ refi | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Powder refresh | $9k – $18k | 82 – 95% | 60 – 75% | Highest ROI bath project — listings move faster with a fresh half-bath. |
| Hall bath standard | $22k – $42k | 70 – 85% | 60 – 72% | Best-balanced ROI; appraisers respect a documented waterproofing system. |
| Primary bath remodel | $48k – $95k | 58 – 72% | 55 – 68% | Lifestyle ROI dominates here; aging-in-place features hold value 10+ yrs. |
| Spa / addition bath | $110k – $240k+ | 45 – 60% | 45 – 58% | ROI compresses below the line — these read as lifestyle/luxury, not investment. |
Send us your existing bath dimensions, target scope tier, and ZIP. We'll return a fixed-scope range built from your jurisdiction's permit fees and our last neighborhood comp.
Send the bathroom type + rough sqft and we'll come back with a tight 2026 number from 8+ recent Puget Sound bathrooms we delivered.
Bath type + rough size in the message field.
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