What shapes the price of a basement

This page does not quote prices. A number published without seeing your basement would be a guess, and a guess is what leads to the surprise change order. What it can do is show you what moves the price and how to compare two proposals without comparing apples to a different fruit.

What drives the estimate up or down

1. Moisture. Whether the basement has taken water, and what has to be done so it does not again. This is priced as its own line.
2. Plumbing. A bathroom, a bar or a laundry. Slab cutting for new drains costs more than a pump pit; a pump pit costs more to own.
3. Ceiling height and what hangs from it. Ducts, pipes and beams can mean rerouting, soffits (boxes around ducts and pipes) or a decision to leave some of the ceiling open.
4. Egress. A bedroom needs an exit window and well. Cutting into a foundation wall is a significant line of its own.
5. Electrical. A panel with no room for new circuits means a panel change before anything else.
6. Heating and cooling. Whether the existing system can serve the new rooms, and whether the ducts can be moved.
7. Floors. The slab's moisture condition and the product chosen; a floor system with a built-in moisture layer costs more than glue-down vinyl.
8. Finishes. Tile, stone, millwork and built-ins add up faster than anything behind the wall.
9. Permits and inspections. Fees and the time inspections take differ from one city or village to the next.
10. Access. A narrow stair or a basement with no outside door slows every delivery and every demolition load.

How to compare two proposals

• Ask each contractor to price moisture, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, finishes and permits on separate lines.
• Check that both include the same ceiling height and the same number of outlets and lights.
• Find out how each handles a surprise behind a wall: by written change order, or by a verbal "we will sort it out".
• Ask what is excluded in writing. A low price with a long exclusion list is a bigger number later.
• Ask who pulls the permit, and who is present for inspections.

Allowances

An allowance is a placeholder price for something you have not chosen yet, such as tile or a vanity. It is fair when it is named and itemized, and a trap when it is vague. If an allowance runs out, the difference is priced as a change. Our sample project shows how an allowance appears next to the scope.

Read next: See how allowances appear in a project

Questions

Keep reading

• The basement process
• Basement walk-through checklist
• Water first

All basement pages