Second Story Additions
Add a floor, keep your lot.
Second story additions across Bellevue, Kirkland, Seattle and the Eastside. Principal-led by David Meade, designing additions here since 2000.
Free 30 minute consultation. You speak to the architect, not a salesperson.
Why go up
When up is the only direction left.
On most Eastside lots, lot coverage is already close to the limit. Going up is how you add a primary suite or a second living floor without giving up the yard, and on a view lot it buys something a ground floor addition never can.
It is also the addition most likely to surprise you structurally. Houses built before 1980 were rarely framed to carry another floor.
The structure
The foundation decides the budget
Before anyone draws a plan, the question is whether your footings, shear walls and point loads can take the load, and what it costs to make them.
We verify in the field, because older framing frequently does not match the original drawings.
- Footings widened or deepened where new posts land
- Shear walls added or upgraded to current seismic code
- A new beam line carried down to the foundation
- Structural upgrades commonly add $30,000 to $100,000
What it costs
Second story cost, Seattle metro 2026
| Partial second story, 400 to 700 sq ft | $180,000 to $360,000 |
| Full second story, 900 to 1,400 sq ft | $320,000 to $600,000+ |
| Bonus room over an attached garage | $170,000 to $310,000 |
| Per square foot of new space | $350 to $550, up to $800 complex |
| Structural and foundation upgrades | $30,000 to $100,000 |
| Architect design fee | 12 to 20% of construction |
Market ranges for planning, not a quote. Foundation condition, roof complexity and finish level explain most of the spread.
Free consultation
Find out if your house can go up.
One 30 minute call with David tells you the likely structural path and a realistic budget band, before you spend anything on drawings. No forms, no sales sequence.
Over the garage
Often the cheapest square footage
An attached garage already has the footprint and usually a simple roof, so building over it is frequently the cheapest real room you can add.
The catch is the slab. Garage footings were poured to carry a car, not a floor of living space.
Permitting
We package it so it moves
Kirkland addition permits commonly run 6 to 10 weeks in plan review with a complete package, submitted through MyBuildingPermit.com. Seattle targets 2 to 4 weeks for a medium complexity addition.
Incomplete submissions are the main reason additions stall, not city slowness.
- Full structural, energy code and site plan package
- Shoreline and critical areas review where it applies
- We answer the city’s comments, you do not
Start here
Let us look at your house.
Free 30 minute consultation with David Meade, the architect who would design it. Call or WhatsApp direct.
Questions