Effective date: September 30, 2026
The short version: Basement Calculator is free to use because we earn money from ads and from some of the links on our pages. When you click certain links and buy something or request a quote, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes our estimates or what we recommend.
Affiliate links
Some links on this site are affiliate links. If you click one and make a purchase, sign up or request a service, the company may pay us a commission or referral fee. You pay the same price whether or not you use our link. Most affiliate links on this site start with basementcalculator.com/recommends/, and buttons that lead to partners are marked as sponsored links.
Our affiliate partners currently include:
- Amazon. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
- Lowe’s and other home improvement retailers
- Thumbtack and other contractor directories and quote services, which may pay us when you request quotes from local pros
- Other product, service and financial partners that we link to from time to time
Advertising
We show ads served by Google AdSense and similar networks. We don’t choose the individual ads you see, and an ad appearing on our site is not an endorsement. Ad networks may use cookies to show ads based on your interests. See our Privacy Policy for how that works and how to opt out.
Our editorial independence
- Our calculators use the same pricing logic whether or not a partner is involved. No company pays to change an estimate.
- We don’t accept payment for positive coverage, and advertisers don’t review our content before it’s published.
- We recommend products and approaches based on what we believe is useful for homeowners, including telling you when to skip a purchase, when a cheaper option will do, or when to fix a problem before buying anything.
- Contractors listed through partner directories are independent businesses. We don’t employ, vet or guarantee them, so always check licenses, insurance and reviews and get multiple written quotes.
Questions
If you have questions about how we make money or about a specific link, email jason@basementcalculator.com or visit our contact page. You can read more about how we work on our About page.