30 day basement development - easier said than done

[Sean Kollee]

To make a sale in a tough market we had to include the basement development, and we had 30 days to  do it. We prepared a tight schedule and stuck to it to meet our objective of having the basement done in time for the client walkthrough.  Cost was close to $13k USD and $21.55/sq ft.  This was over budget by about $1000.  Costs/pics/schedule below.  For further information on the hardship involved see our blog post.  End result was very positive (client expectation surpassed).  This is the fastest I have ever built anything, as I don't do much renovation and it was very time/management intensive to stay on track.  I am interested out there in bigger pockets world, was this too expensive?  Where could I have cut back?  Note this was done in a high cost Canadian city (for labour in particular) and cost was adjusted back to USD.  You read tales on bigger pockets of flippers rehabbing the entire house for less than 20k, yet I just spent 13k on a simple basement and bathroom development, and nearly a month of effort to get it done right and quick enough to meet my schedule.    

framing	562.5
lumber	262.5
plumbing rough in to final install labour	525
tile material only	536.25
electrical	787.5
tile labour	483.75
lights	75
quartz countertop material and labour	450
cabinetry supply and install	637.5
drywall to paint all inclusive	4950
carpet supply install	1368.75
cleaning and dump fees	75
plumbing finish supplies	506.25
finishing all in (doors, trim, materials)	1200
mirror and shower door	360
central vacuum tie in	150
total	$12930
Cost per sq ft	$21.55