Home Renovation Services and Remodeling Company in Lake Stevens, WA

The Planning and Community Development department issues building permits, and residential building, mechanical, plumbing and demolition applications are all submitted online through Citizens Connect. Since January 1, 2026 the city's paper application forms only serve as guides to what the online application asks for.

Staff first check each submittal for completeness and accuracy, typically within 3 business days, then email once it is accepted and invoiced. An application expires after 180 days if the permit is not obtained, and electrical work is permitted separately by Washington State Labor and Industries.

Some small jobs need no building permit at all: since March 15, 2024 the city exempts lightweight reroofing and replacing windows in existing openings without shrinking the operable opening. Where a project falls outside those exemptions, we prepare the drawings and file the application.

The Shoreline Master Program, first adopted in 2013, covers Lake Stevens, Stitch Lake, parts of Catherine Creek and Little Pilchuck Creek, and the land within 200 feet of their ordinary high water mark. The city says a shoreline permit is generally required for new, expanded or replaced development there, and work that qualifies as exempt still needs a Shoreline Exemption reviewed by the Shoreline Administrator.

Where an existing lakefront house already sits closer to the water than the standard setback, the city's SMP user guide allows its footprint to grow by up to 600 square feet toward that line, provided the impact is mitigated one to one with native planting or low impact development. Away from the shoreline, wetlands, streams, flood areas and geologic hazards fall under LSMC Chapter 14.88.

The city's ADU handout, updated April 2026, allows up to two accessory dwelling units on a residential lot with a principal unit: two detached, two attached, or one of each. Each may have between 250 and 1,000 square feet of gross floor area and follows the zone's limits on height, setbacks and impervious surface.

One parking space is required for each ADU, the owner does not have to live on the property, and every ADU needs its own residential building permit and submittal checklist. Lots with designated critical areas or buffers are regulated by LSMC 14.88, which may limit how many ADUs are allowed.

Lake Stevens housing is young. The Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey puts the median year built at 1997, with nearly half of all homes built between 1990 and 2009 and about one in five built since 2010. Around 83 percent are single-family detached houses.

For a house from the 1990s or 2000s, a remodel is often about layout and finishes rather than rewiring. The roughly 23 percent built before 1980 are more likely to need wiring and plumbing brought up to date once walls are open. Either way, the price you approve is written and itemized.