How to read a basement quote in Calgary before you sign it

You can find plenty of per-square-foot averages for Calgary basements online. They are worth almost nothing for your basement, because the things that actually move the number are physical facts about your house that an average cannot know.

Here is what changes the figure, roughly in order of how much it moves, and the question to ask about each one.

1. The entrance

If your house already has a side or rear entrance, this is nothing. If it does not, a suite needs one cut through a foundation wall with a stairwell built down to it. It is structural, it involves concrete, and it is usually the largest single swing in a basement quote.

2. Egress windows

Cutting concrete, supplying the window, excavating and installing the well is a real cost per bedroom, and it varies with how deep the basement sits and whether a machine can reach the side of the house. On a house that already has compliant windows it is zero. On a two bedroom suite it is two of them.

3. The second bathroom

A bathroom is the largest add-on per square foot in any basement. It is another set of drains, another vent, a fixture package and a tiled enclosure. It should be priced as its own line, not folded into a per-foot rate.

4. Square footage

Framing, drywall, paint, flooring and electrical all scale with area. A quote that never states the square footage it is based on has not been measured, and it will be corrected later at your expense. Ask what area the number assumes.

5. Kitchen length

Cabinetry is priced by the linear run. A quote covering cabinets up to a stated length is normal and fair. The length has to be written down, because a kitchen two feet longer is a genuine cost that becomes an argument if nobody named it.

6. What is behind the walls

Old aluminium wiring, a drain that was never vented properly, a sump that was never finished. This is the honest reason contractors carry contingency. What matters is not whether something is found, it is whether it gets priced and approved in writing before it is built, or billed to you afterwards as a surprise.

Are the permits inside the price?

A basement development needs a building permit, and separate trade permits sit underneath it for electrical, gas, mechanical and plumbing. They are not large next to the build, but they should be stated as included or excluded rather than left vague, and they should be pulled in the contractor’s name.

A range is not a quote

If someone hands you a spread, that spread is being carried by you, not by them. A number is only fixed once somebody has stood in your basement, measured the height, looked at the windows, found the entrance, and written the scope down.

Get a fixed price after a site visit