How It Works
What actually happens, and how long it takes
The build is the short part. Permit review is the long part, and it sits between your deposit and the first day on site. We're straight with you about that up front.
Site visit and feasibility
We measure, photograph and pull your parcel record. Before anyone talks price we check lot coverage, setbacks, critical-area overlays, protected trees, and what we'd actually be attaching to. You get a straight answer on what's buildable.
Design and fixed quote
Elevations, a materials specification, and one number that includes permit fees, engineering, foundation and electrical. Not an allowance and not a range — a fixed price you can hold us to.
Engineering and permit submittal
Your structure's drawings get reviewed and stamped by a Washington-licensed structural engineer for local snow and wind loads — manufacturers ship generic national engineering, which most jurisdictions here won't accept. Then we assemble the package and submit it.
Plan review
This is the part nobody controls. Simple covered patios often clear a subject-to-field-inspection review in days. A full addition permit in Seattle runs longer, and even clean drawing sets typically come back with a comment or two that we turn around.
We order your materials when the permit is submitted, not when it's approved — so the factory build and the plan review run side by side instead of end to end. On a sunroom that's about seven weeks saved.
by jurisdiction
Foundation and build
Footings to frost depth, then a seven-day concrete cure before anything loads them. The ledger gets flashed properly into your wall — this is where enclosures leak if they're going to — and then the structure goes up. One crew, start to finish, and your yard gets swept every evening.
Final inspection and warranty
We meet the inspector, close the permit, and hand you the manufacturer's warranty alongside our own workmanship warranty in writing.
Before We Quote
The six things that sink a Seattle enclosure project
National sunroom companies quote from a call centre and find these on inspection day. We check every one on the first visit, because any of them can change the design or end the project.
Lot coverage
Single-family zones cap how much of your lot can be covered, and a solid roof counts against it. If the maths doesn't work for a solid roof, an open or louvered structure often still does.
Critical-area overlays
Steep slopes, landslide-prone soil and liquefaction zones cover a surprising share of Seattle's hillsides. An overlay means a geotechnical report and a longer review — better known in week one than week nine.
Protected trees
Building inside the drip line of an exceptional tree triggers arborist review. Usually that means shifting the structure a few feet. Occasionally it means a different structure.
What you're attaching to
The ledger has to land on sound framing, and an existing deck has to actually carry a roof. We open it up and look. Rot and undersized joists are the number one source of surprise change orders in this trade.
The energy-code line
An unheated room separated from the house by your existing exterior door is exempt from the state energy code. Add permanent heat and it becomes conditioned space held to the same standard as your house. We price both.
Engineering that matches here
Every structure ships with drawings stamped for Puget Sound snow and wind loads, not a generic national specification. We submit them, handle the corrections, and meet the inspector at final.
Where We Work
King, Snohomish and Pierce counties
We permit in every one of these jurisdictions and know how each reviews a patio cover. Just outside the list? Call — we'll tell you honestly whether the drive makes sense.
Ready to create your enclosure?
Let's bring your vision to life. Schedule a free, no-obligation estimate today.
A more beautiful way to live outside.