You are going to get three quotes. They will not be for the same job, and none of them will say so.
One will be a number on a page. One will be a number with a list of exclusions underneath it that you will not read carefully. One will be a fixed price with a completion date in the contract. Those are three different products, and comparing the totals tells you almost nothing.
Here is what to compare instead. None of it requires you to know anything about construction, and all of it can be answered in writing before you commit to anybody.
1. Is it a price or an estimate?
Ask directly: is this number going to change, and under what circumstances.
An estimate is a starting position. It is legitimate, plenty of good builders work that way, and it means the final figure is discovered as the job goes. A fixed price means the number is agreed before anyone starts and the contractor carries the risk of being wrong.
Neither is dishonest. But one of them can move and the other one cannot, and you should know which you are signing.
What we do. Fixed price, agreed in writing before work begins. It does not change for anything inside the written scope. If we missed something that was findable during the assessment, we absorb it.
2. What happens if they run late?
Almost every contractor gives you a timeline. Very few attach anything to it.
Ask what happens if the date passes. If the answer is an apology, the date was an intention rather than a commitment. That is worth knowing in advance rather than in week fourteen.
What we do. The completion date goes in the contract. On basements we pay you $1,000 per week if we run past it. On accessible bathrooms we pay for the family’s hotel and meals until the bathroom is finished.
3. Who is actually doing the work?
Ask whether the person quoting you will be on site, and who holds the contract with the trades.
A design-build contract means one company carries the drawings, the permits, every trade and every inspection. A general contractor coordinating separate trades can work perfectly well, but you need to know who is responsible when the plumber and the electrician disagree about a wall.
What we do. Everything under one contract. Quacy does the assessment himself and is on site.
4. What is not included?
This is the most useful question on the list and almost nobody asks it.
Ask for the exclusions in writing. Permits, engineering, asbestos testing, electrical panel upgrades, flooring allowances, plumbing rough-in and disposal are the usual places a low number is hiding. A quote that looks fifteen thousand cheaper often becomes the same price once those are added back.
What we do. The written scope lists what is included and what is not. Anything outside it is named, priced, and decided separately. Nothing gets added mid-project without a conversation first.
5. How long is the warranty, and does it survive a sale?
Warranty length is easy to say and harder to pin down. Ask three things: how long, what it covers, and whether it transfers if you sell the house.
A lifetime warranty on one product is not the same as a warranty on the whole build. Ontario’s new home warranty does not apply to a renovation. So the only warranty that matters is the one the contractor writes down.
What we do. Seven years on materials and workmanship, transferable if you sell.
6. Do they say no to anything?
A company that takes every job takes jobs it is bad at.
Ask what they turn down. If there is no answer, you are talking to somebody who will find out whether they can do your project while doing your project.
What we do. We publish the projects we turn away, and we say plainly when another kind of company is the better answer. Is BCR right for my project?
7. Can you see a real number before you commit?
Ask whether prices are published anywhere, or whether every figure requires a sales visit first.
There is a reason most contractors do not publish. Every basement is different and a published range invites arguments. But a company that will not give you any number until somebody is sitting at your kitchen table is managing the conversation rather than answering it.
What we do. Ranges by project type are published, real invoice figures from completed jobs are on our work, and the accessible bathroom prices are fixed and published in full.
A note on star ratings
We used to publish a table comparing our rating with other companies. We took it down, and it is worth explaining why.
The same company can show a different score on Google, HomeStars, Houzz and TrustedPros, and all of them move. Any figure you publish about somebody else is a snapshot that starts going out of date immediately, and choosing which platform to quote is itself a choice that flatters somebody.
So we publish ours and leave everyone else’s alone. 4.7 on Google, and the client videos are unscripted.
Look any contractor up yourself, on more than one platform, and read the two and three star reviews rather than the five star ones. The middle reviews are where the real information is.
The short version
Ask for the exclusions in writing. Ask what happens if they run late. Ask what they turn down. Three questions, and they will tell you more than any comparison table ever could.
If you want the longer version, we wrote a full guide to choosing a basement renovation contractor, and the BCR Promise sets out what we commit to in writing.