How to Compare 3 Contractor Bids and Pick the Right One (Washington, 2026)

Step 1: Disqualify before you compare

Before any spreadsheet, run the five-minute check that removes most bad outcomes. Look each company up in the Washington Department of Labor & Industries Verify a Contractor tool and confirm the registration is active, the bond is on file and liability insurance is current. Read the infractions and bond-claim history on the same page. A contractor who fails this check is not a bid, no matter how low the number is. Blue Lake Construction's registration is BLUELLC760C3 and it is linked from our licenses page so you can run the same check on us.

Step 2: Put every bid on the same scope

Bids are only comparable when they describe the same project. Build a simple table with one row per trade and one column per contractor: demolition and disposal, framing and structural, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, insulation and drywall, tile and flooring, cabinets and counters, fixtures and appliances, paint and finish carpentry, permits and inspections, design and drawings, project management, and cleanup. Where a bid lumps items together, ask the contractor to split them; a good one will do it in a day. Where a row is blank for one contractor, ask whether it is excluded, included elsewhere or simply forgotten. Classic quiet exclusions in the Seattle market are dump fees, permit fees, rot or dry-rot repair, appliance hookup, painting, and the cost of a temporary kitchen or bathroom. Only when every row is filled in does the total at the bottom mean anything.

Step 3: Price the allowances, not the placeholders

An allowance is the budget a contractor sets aside for something you have not chosen yet: cabinets, tile, countertops, plumbing fixtures, lighting. It is also the most common way a low bid stays low. Pull every allowance into its own row and ask one question per line: what does this number realistically buy at a Bellevue or Seattle showroom today? If one bid carries $4,000 for cabinets and another carries $14,000, the first is not cheaper; it is deferring $10,000 to a change order after you sign. Replace each allowance with a realistic figure for the quality you actually want, then re-total. Bids often swap places at this step.

Step 4: Normalize the contract type

A fixed-price bid is a commitment: the number on the page is the number you pay unless you change the scope. A cost-plus or time-and-materials bid is an estimate, with the contractor's fee, typically 10 to 20 percent in the Seattle area, added to whatever the job ends up costing. An estimate with no contract type is just an opinion. These three are not interchangeable, so write the contract type at the top of each column and, for anything that is not fixed-price, add a realistic contingency of 10 to 20 percent before comparing totals. Our guide on what a general contractor does and charges explains where that margin goes.

Step 5: Compare the schedules, not just the prices

Each bid should name a start window, a duration and a payment schedule tied to milestones. A contractor who can start next week on a permitted kitchen remodel in November may be a lucky gap in their calendar, or may be a crew with no backlog for a reason. Ask who will be on site every day and how many other jobs that person is running at the same time. Then check the money: in Washington, large upfront deposits are a warning sign. Payments should track completed work, and the final payment should follow the punch list and lien releases from every subcontractor and supplier.

Step 6: Score the people

Price and scope are only half the decision. Give each contractor a simple score on the things that predict a good project: how clearly they explained their bid, how quickly and completely they answered follow-up questions, whether the projects they showed you look like yours, what two past clients said when you called them, and whether the same person who sold the job will manage it. Ask how change orders are priced and approved; the honest answer is in writing, before the work happens, at the same unit rates as the original bid. A contractor who is patient and specific during the bidding phase is usually patient and specific when a wall is open and something unexpected appears, which happens on most older Seattle and Eastside homes.

Step 7: Decide with a simple rule

Once the scopes match, the allowances are realistic and the contract types are normalized, the totals are usually within 10 to 15 percent of each other. At that point, choose the contractor you trust most to run the job, not the lowest number. If one bid is still 25 percent or more below the others after normalization, assume something is missing rather than that you found a bargain; ask them to walk you through it line by line. If the highest bid is also the most complete, ask whether any scope can be trimmed to meet your budget. The right bid is the one whose finished project you can picture clearly, with a price you believe.

A quick example

Three bids for a mid-size Bellevue kitchen remodel come in at $58,000, $74,000 and $81,000. Bid one is cost-plus, excludes permits and electrical panel work, and carries a $5,000 cabinet allowance. Bid two is fixed-price with permits and a $14,000 cabinet allowance but excludes painting. Bid three is fixed-price and includes everything. After adding a 15 percent contingency to bid one, a realistic $14,000 cabinet number, permits and the panel work, it lands near $82,000. After adding painting, bid two lands near $78,000. The three bids that looked $23,000 apart are now within $4,000 of each other, and the decision comes down to which team you want in your house for eight weeks. For reference on what Seattle-area kitchens cost in 2026, see our Bellevue kitchen remodel cost guide.

Get a bid built to be compared

Blue Lake Construction writes fixed-price, line-item proposals for kitchens, bathrooms, basements, additions, ADUs and whole-home remodels across Bellevue, Seattle, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish, Issaquah, Renton, Mercer Island and Kent. Allowances are spelled out, exclusions are listed and the schedule is on paper, so you can put us in your comparison table without guessing. Licensed, bonded and insured WA general contractor #BLUELLC760C3. Request a free consultation or call (206) 786-5988.