Basement Builders

Basement Builders is an excellent contractor that emphasizes on quality and experience. For the most part, they delivered on both. Here is my experience with them. Note that unlike some other contractors I've heard, BB do not incentivize reviews before the project is finished -- everything I am writing here is on my own accord and uncompensated.

To start, the quoting process was smooth and professional. My impression of BB is a more expensive option, but after quoting with a few of their competitors -- including one that is named something about how affordable their basements are -- BB had the most competitive price for what you get. There were some upgrades that I pointed out were unreasonably priced, because the upgrade difference cost more than the full identical product I can buy in retail, which they were able to accommodate me on the price.

In the preparation process, it was like how you buy a new house. You meet the designed and make your selections. The recommendations were great and they were able to match basically everything in my house (built in 2023). It always bothered me that houses don't have matching basements, and BB was able to make it work to have the same selection and quality as the rest of my house. There was no pressure to upsell, but also like buying a new house, you're going to walk out with extra money spent, which is totally fine with me since upgrades cost money, and I was happy I was given the options.

For the actual construction, BB hires reputable tradespeople in the field. Basically the same tradespeople that does work for actual builders. That's why it isn't surprising that the quality generally matches those of actual builders. They coordinate the whole project, both you and the subcontractor has a single point of contact, and any issues can be resolved with one person, making it a turnkey solution. Some room of improvement here, I will not that leter.

The quality of the construction was very good. I am picky with the quality of work and everything came out to be what I've envisioned my basement to be. The material selection is top notch and no corners were cut.

Here's a few areas of improvement that I recommend, and hence I've given it 4 stars rather than 5:

1) Communication: It seems like every review talks about their excellent communication, and for the most part, it is true. All my important inquiries were quickly responded to, and any concerns about the tradespeople were also rapidly addressed. However, ~50% of my messages in the portal was never replied to. The issues were addressed because I can see it happen, but they could have just said it would be taken care of instead of leaving me on read. To their credit, I once gave them a call, the PM immediately picked up and knew exactly what was going on.

2) Quality of work: Some drywall is a bit warped. Not super significant, but you can see it. This is especially evident around plate covers as they don't fit flush.

3) Project management: I wanted a fridge opening for a 36" fridge. They frame it at 37" opening, but they forgot to account for the baseboard and any drywall warping tolerance, so the actual usable opening was closer to 35" at the widest, so I was only able to put in a 33" fridge. These are mistakes they shouldn't be making given their experience -- I paid for this. Framing for a 36" fridge should be a 40" opening with drywall, not 37". 37" only works with cabinets. They also forgot to run a water line to the fridge, which was in the contract and paid for. I had to follow up and the plumber had to come back. (The email was not replied to by the way, as mentioned in (1)). When the plumber came back, he said they didn't even have the water line in the drawings, and had to ask me where it goes.

4) Payment: Every payment, which is 3, requires a physical bank draft that they send someone to physically pick up. It could have just been easily set up as a bill payment, which is much safer, cheaper, and convenient. Handling 3 $20K bank drafts is very risky and incurs unnecessary cost for both me and BB.