Home Remodeling Contractors in Tacoma, WA

Residential permits in Tacoma come from Planning and Development Services, and applications are filed online through Tacoma Permits, the city's Accela portal. Remodels, additions, decks, dormers and whole-house repipes all fall under a single Residential Alteration permit, with plumbing and mechanical review included.

The city sets a three week target for the first review of a Residential Alteration permit.

Finish work such as tile, cabinets, counter tops and painting needs no building permit in Tacoma. Moving plumbing or changing structure does, and we file for it before work starts.

Tacoma regulates critical areas under TMC Chapter 13.11 and its shorelines under the Shoreline Master Program in TMC Title 19. Protected areas include steep slopes and other geologic hazard zones, streams, wetlands, lakes and ponds, marine waters, and Oregon white oak trees and woodlands.

Many of them sit inside parks such as Point Defiance and Swan Creek, but others are on private lots, such as a wetland in a backyard. The city lists what that can mean: a buffer around a wetland, a building setback from a stream, or trees kept on a steep slope. Tacoma is also updating its critical areas code, so we confirm the current rules for your parcel before drawing plans.

Tacoma has nine historic districts, four of them on the Tacoma Register: North Slope, Wedge Neighborhood, Old City Hall and Union Depot/Warehouse. The North Slope district alone holds more than 950 properties, mostly Victorian, Craftsman, Colonial Revival and Foursquare houses.

In the North Slope, exterior changes that need a building permit also need design review by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, which covers windows, siding, chimneys, porches, decks and additions. The city says many simple projects take two to four weeks for the Commission to review. Interior remodeling is exempt unless it changes the outside of the house.

Home in Tacoma replaced single-family zoning citywide with three Urban Residential zones, UR-1, UR-2 and UR-3, to comply with state middle housing law including House Bill 1110. Two attached or detached ADUs are allowed on any legally established lot, each limited to 1,000 square feet of living area, and no off-street parking is required.

A detached ADU goes in the rear yard, at least 5 feet from side lot lines and 15 feet from the rear lot line, with no rear setback needed along an alley. Owner-occupants earning up to 150 percent of Pierce County family median income can use added flexibility, including a 35 foot rear yard height limit in UR-1 and UR-2. The city also publishes pre-approved detached ADU plans that streamline permitting.

Tacoma's homes skew older. In the Census Bureau's 2024 American Community Survey, the median year built for the city's housing was 1968, and 27 percent of its roughly 100,000 housing units date from 1939 or earlier.

Houses of that age often show it once walls are opened, with wiring, plumbing and insulation that predate current code. We account for that in the written price rather than finding it halfway through the job.