Finished Basements
Finished Basements in Lehigh County, PA
Short answer
A finished basement in Lehigh County runs $75 to $125 per square foot, with a $50,000 project minimum.
- $75 to $95 per sq ft
- Open finish, no bathroom
- $95 to $125 per sq ft
- Full bath and a designed ceiling
- On site
- 6 to 10 weeks
- Permitting first
- 2 to 4 weeks, drawn and pulled in house
- First step
- A walkthrough with a moisture check
The number is written after the walkthrough, not over the phone.
Your basement is the biggest room in your house that nobody uses.
- Typical range$75 to $125 per sq ft
- On site6 to 10 weeks
- Permitting first2 to 4 weeks
- PermitsDrawn and pulled in house
Every job, every time
What's included
- Layout designed with you, on site
- Written line-item pricing
- Permits and inspections handled
- Framing, including soffits
- Insulation and vapor management
- Electrical, lighting and switching
- Drywall, taping and finishing
- LVP or carpet over a prepped slab
- Doors, baseboard and trim
- Paint
- Daily photos before anything closes up
Pennsylvania code, 2026
The code changed this year
Pennsylvania adopted the 2021 I-Codes on January 1, 2026. The amendment sits at 34 Pa. Code 403.21, published November 7, 2025 at 55 Pa.B. 7701.
The transition window closed on July 1, 2026. Every permit application filed after that date is reviewed under the 2021 codes, not the 2018 set a lot of quotes still reference.
For a basement it matters more than it sounds, because the section moved. Emergency escape and rescue openings for an existing basement are now IRC R310.7. In the 2021 IRC, R310.6 is "Dwelling additions." A quote that cites R310.6 for your basement is citing the wrong section.
Some municipal websites still describe the 2018 series. The state adoption governs unless a municipality filed its own amendment, so check the code criteria on the permit set rather than the township web page.
Three things that decide the build
Harder versus easier
- 01
15/19 on the walls
Lehigh County is Climate Zone 5A. Three assemblies comply. 34 Pa. Code 403.21.
- 02
Egress where it's needed
A basement bedroom needs an egress window. Priced as its own line.
- 03
Ceiling height decides
Ducts and beams set the layout. We soffit around them.
Eight ways to use it
Your basement becomes
Eight ways to use the biggest unused room in the house.
- Home theatersSoffits, wiring and light control, built in
- Home gymsFlat floor, real outlets, no gym drive
- Custom barsSink, fridge, seating, finished trim
- Game roomsRoom for the table and the people
- Home officesQuiet, wired, a door that closes
- Basement bathroomsFull bath below grade, done properly
- Egress windowsLegal bedroom, real daylight
- PlayroomsWarm floor the toys can live on
Build your basement
These are your options
Pick what it needs to do. The estimate updates as you go.
Three scopes
Small versus full
Open living space
One big room, finished properly.
- 1 space
- 6 to 8 weeks
From
$50,000
Estimate. Priced after a walkthrough.
Living space + bathroom
The room, plus a full bath below grade.
- 2 spaces
- 8 to 10 weeks
From
$50,000
Estimate. Priced after a walkthrough.
Full suite
Bath, bar and egress window.
- 4 spaces
- 10 to 12 weeks
From
$125,000
Estimate. Priced after a walkthrough.
The difference
How we work
Most contractors
- Five subs, five calendars
- Price after demo
- Water found later
- Walls close on trust
Lehigh Valley Builders
- One schedule, one contact
- Fixed price up front
- Cleaned every day
- Photos of every wall
- 01
Walkthrough
We measure, test for moisture, and talk through use.
- 02
Fixed price
One written number before anything is demolished.
- 03
Build
One schedule, one contact, photos every day.
- 04
Punch list
We finish the last one percent before we leave.
What it costs
$75 to $125 per sq ft
The published rate in Lehigh County. $50,000 project minimum. A bathroom and a designed ceiling move you up the range.
- On site6 to 10 weeks
- Permitting first2 to 4 weeks
- PriceFixed, in writing
Questions
The short answers
How long does it take?
Six to ten weeks on site, after two to four weeks of permitting.
Who pulls the permits?
We do. We draw the permit set in house and schedule every inspection.
What if the basement is damp?
We test first and tell you. We will not finish over a water problem.
Nearby
Lehigh County only
- AllentownAllentown basements are mostly twins and rowhomes, and they present the same three problems over and over: width, height, and the panel.
- BethlehemBethlehem has the widest range of housing stock in the county, so there is no single approach to finishing a basement here.
- EmmausEmmaus is largely older colonials and foursquares, and in those houses the basement was never intended to be lived in.
- MacungieMacungie has the most finishable basements in Lehigh County, and homeowners here are usually surprised by how much of the hard part is already done.
- WhitehallWhitehall is split-level and ranch country, and those two house types call for completely different basement plans.
- Salisbury TownshipThe median Salisbury Township home was built in 1967, and only 3.8 percent of the township's housing went up after 2000. That one number tells you almost everything about finishing a basement here.
- TrexlertownTrexlertown is the one place we serve where we will tell you up front that most of the housing does not have a basement you can finish, and that changes how we approach the ones that do.
- BreinigsvilleBreinigsville has the newest housing of anywhere we work. Two thirds of it went up after 2000, which means the expensive prep work is often already done for you.
- FogelsvilleFogelsville is not a municipality. It is an unincorporated village inside Upper Macungie Township, and the 18051 area holds three genuinely different kinds of basement.
- AlburtisAlburtis is the only place we serve where attached housing is the majority, and on a borough lot with a twin next door the basement is usually the only room you can add.
- OrefieldOrefield has the best basement stock in our service area for a full finish, and nearly half of it went up between 1990 and 2009.
- SchnecksvilleMore than a third of every house in Schnecksville went up in a single decade, the 1980s, which means the basements here are more alike than anywhere else we work.
- CoopersburgCoopersburg has the oldest housing stock in our service area, and it is the one place where we will sometimes tell you that a full finished basement is not the right project.
Credentials
Every one of these is checkable
- PA Registered Home Improvement Contractor PA225448Issued by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General under the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act.Verify PA225448
- Fully insuredGeneral liability and workers compensation. Certificate of insurance sent on request, naming you as certificate holder.
- Permit sets drawn in housePennsylvania lets a registered builder prepare its own construction documents for a project of this size. 63 P.S. 34.15(4) and 34 Pa. Code 403.62a.Read the permit guide
Start with the planning quiz
Six questions about your space. Then we'll both know if we fit.
- PA Registered Home Improvement Contractor PA225448
- Fully insured
- Macungie, Pennsylvania