Renovations
Basement renovations in Calgary
A basement is the cheapest square footage you will ever add, because the structure already exists. What you pay for is everything that turns a concrete box into a room the City will sign off on: egress, insulation, mechanical, and finishes that do not feel like a basement.
Reference image
Design direction.
These are references — the standard and the aesthetic we work toward with clients, not photographs of OPCLAR projects. Our own project photography will appear here as work completes.
The scope
What a finished basement includes.
Before anything is built
Ceiling height and beam clearance measured · Existing mechanical and panel capacity assessed · Moisture history and floor condition checked · Layout designed around what cannot move · Building permit application prepared and submitted
Structure & envelope
Egress window and window well where required · Framing, including bulkheads for ducting and beams · Foundation wall insulation and continuous vapour control · Sound separation to the floor above · Fire separation and protection where code requires
Mechanical & electrical
Heating supply and return extended and balanced · Circuits, lighting, and panel work by licensed trades · Bathroom or wet bar rough-in where in scope · Bathroom exhaust ducted to the exterior · Rough-in inspections passed before close-up
Finishes
Drywall, taping, and paint · Flooring appropriate to a below-grade slab · Doors, trim, and hardware · Cabinetry and built-ins where in scope · Final inspection, cleanup, and walkthrough
How it runs
Assessment and layout
Ceiling height, where the ducting and beam sit, panel capacity, and any history of water. What cannot move decides the layout.
Permit
A building permit for the development, and trade permits for the electrical, plumbing and gas inside it. We prepare and submit both.
Egress and structural work
Cutting the foundation for an egress window and any load-bearing changes happen first, while access is still clear.
Framing and rough-in
Walls, bulkheads around ducting and beams, then plumbing, circuits and heat. Everything inspectable happens before it is covered.
Insulation, vapour control, and inspection
Insulation and continuous vapour control, sealed at every penetration. In this climate it decides whether the room feels finished or clammy.
Drywall, finishes, and handover
Board, tape, paint, flooring, trim and cabinetry, then final inspection, clean, and a walkthrough with a deficiency list.
What moves the price
What decides a basement's price.
We don't quote basements by the square foot. A bathroom and an egress window move the number far more than floor area does, and the consultation, initial estimate, and quote cost nothing.
Whether there is a bathroom
The single biggest swing — drainage below slab level, often an ejector pump or a saw-cut into the concrete, plus venting and waterproofing.
Egress windows
Cutting a foundation wall and setting a window well is real work. Cost moves with wall thickness, depth, and whether a machine can reach it.
Ceiling height and mechanical routing
A tight basement needs ducting rerouted or bulkheads worked around, and sometimes the layout has to change to keep legal height.
Existing mechanical and electrical capacity
Heated space adds load. A furnace or panel already near its limit gets upgraded as part of the project, not as an extra.
Moisture conditions
A dry basement is a finishing job. One with a water history needs the cause fixed first, and that is scoped separately.
Level of finish
A wet bar, built-ins, tile to the ceiling, or acoustic separation for a media room all move the number meaningfully.
What sets the schedule
What sets a basement's schedule.
Which is why we won't put a number on it until we've seen the space. Most of this list is outside our control, and pretending otherwise is how start dates slip.
City permit turnaround
Egress excavation and the weather
Whether there is a bathroom
Inspection scheduling between stages
Material lead times
Permits
Permits, egress, and inspections.
A building permit for the development, and separate trade permits for the electrical, plumbing and gas inside it. We submit them, book the inspections in an order that does not stall the trades behind them, and keep the paperwork.
- Building permit for the development itself
- Electrical, plumbing, and gas trade permits
- Compliant egress window for any bedroom
- Minimum finished ceiling height maintained
- Rough-in inspection passed before close-up
- Final inspection before the space is signed off
Send us your basement. We'll tell you what it can become.
Or just call. Nothing here has to start with a form.