Basement cost calculator
Built from 700 completed GTA projects and current 2026 trade pricing. Five questions, no email required, and the number moves as you answer.
Durham Region and Toronto · Updated for 2026 · Nothing gated, nothing emailed unless you ask
Pick the closest match. You can change it any time and the number updates as you go.
A rough figure is fine. Most GTA semis and detached homes fall in the 500 to 800 range.
This is where quotes go wrong most often. Be honest here and the number stays honest.
Structure and trades matter more than finishes. Mid-range is where most projects land.
Tap any that apply. A legal suite normally needs an entrance, egress and a bathroom.
We will email you the breakdown exactly as it appears here. No obligation, and we will not chase you.
Sent. Check your inbox in the next minute or two.
What the number covers
Most quotes fall apart because nobody agreed what was in scope. Here is the line we draw, plainly, before you talk to anyone.
Included
Everything below sits inside every BCR fixed price.
•Design and full working drawings
•Every permit: building, electrical, plumbing
•Framing, insulation and drywall to code
•Electrical, plumbing and HVAC by licensed trades
•Flooring, trim, doors, paint and lighting
•All inspections through to city sign-off
•Site protection, daily clean-up and disposal
•7-year warranty on materials and workmanship
Not included
Priced separately if your basement turns out to need it.
•Underpinning, unless you selected a low ceiling
•Exterior excavation waterproofing
•Furniture, appliances and window coverings
•Landscaping or driveway reinstatement
•Asbestos or mould remediation, if found
•Anything the city requires outside the basement
About this calculator
It is built from BCR project data across 700 GTA basements and current 2026 trade pricing, so the range is realistic. It is still a range. Two basements the same size can differ by $40,000 depending on ceiling height, moisture and where the mechanical room sits. The only way to turn a range into one number is to measure the space.
Because narrowing it without seeing your basement would be a guess dressed up as a number. Anyone who gives you a tight figure over the phone is assuming things about your ceiling height, your panel capacity and your permit path. When those assumptions are wrong, you pay for it in change orders.
Yes. Every result includes a permit and inspection line. Building, electrical and plumbing permits are all in there, and for a legal suite the second unit registration is too. BCR files all of it and manages the inspections.
No. The number is on screen from the first click and nothing is hidden. If you want the breakdown emailed to you there is a box for that, but it is optional and we will not chase you.
Select the low ceiling option and the estimate adds an underpinning allowance, which is a large number for good reason. Before you write the project off, get it measured properly. We have found workable height in plenty of homes where the owner assumed there was none.
This gives you a range in about a minute. The Feasibility Assessment is ninety minutes on site: we measure to the millimetre, check the permit path for your municipality, look at moisture and panel capacity, and give you one fixed price that does not move. It costs $697 and comes off your invoice if you build with BCR.
Keep reading
The full cost guide
Every price range explained, what drives cost up or down, permit fees and ROI.
Read more →How to pay for it
HELOC, refinance and renovation loans compared, with real rates and monthly payments.
Read more →Legal suite guide
What makes a suite legal, what it costs and what it rents for across the GTA.
Read more →Ninety minutes in your basement turns everything on this page into one number that does not move. $697, credited in full if you build with BCR.
