Basement finishing — drywall, painting, trim & storage

Yes — the Alberta Building Code requires a Class II vapour barrier (6-mil polyethylene) on exterior basement walls before drywall in Climate Zone 7 (which includes Calgary). If you are finishing an unfinished basement, the vapour barrier must be in place before we install drywall. If you already have insulation and poly in place from a previous partial finish, we assess its condition and continuity before proceeding.

Basements in Calgary receive little natural light, so lighter values (LRV 60+) — warm whites, soft greiges, pale sage — make the space feel larger and brighter. Avoid cool greys below grade; they can read as clinical without natural light to warm them. For basement ceilings, painting the joists, ducts and ceiling black (or a dark colour) is a popular choice that conceals mechanical elements and adds perceived height by removing the ceiling plane visually.

We specialize in finishing-scope basement work: patching and painting drywall, installing trim, building floating shelves, setting up entertainment walls and storage. If your basement is fully framed, insulated and drywalled but needs the finishing layer, that is exactly our scope. Full basement development from scratch — framing, plumbing, electrical, egress windows — requires a general contractor and permits.

A single basement room (approx. 200–300 sq ft wall area) costs $350–$550 to paint including prep, patch, prime and two coats. Larger open-concept basements of 800–1,200 sq ft wall area run $900–$1,600. Ceiling painting (joists-exposed industrial style) adds $250–$450 per room. All pricing assumes you supply the paint.

Installing a new basement bathroom requires rough plumbing (drain tie-in, vent stack), which requires a licensed plumber and a permit in Calgary. Once the rough plumbing is done and inspected, the finishing scope — drywall, tile, vanity installation, toilet set, paint — is exactly what we do. We can coordinate with your plumber and handle everything after rough-in.

Painting one finished basement room takes 1–2 days. A full open-concept basement paint with ceiling, trim patching and touch-ups runs 3–5 days. Adding built-in shelving or an entertainment wall adds 1–2 days. The exact timeline depends on how much drywall prep is needed — popped screws, taped seams and previous patch jobs all need sanding before painting.