Framing
Steel stud and wood framing built square and true, ready for drywall.
Learn More about Framing →Basement Finishing & Renovation · Scarborough, ON
Basement Finishing & Renovation in Scarborough & the GTA
Framing, insulation, drywall, taping, paint, flooring and tile, finished by one crew rather than five. Free quotes across Toronto and the GTA.
A basement renovation and a basement finish are the same project, and neither is a drywall job. Framing, insulation and vapour barrier, moisture-appropriate board, taping, paint, flooring and tile all land in a fixed order, and every handoff between trades is where a schedule slips. We do all of it, across Scarborough and the wider GTA.
We have taken basements to multi-room family layouts, open event spaces, and finished basements with a full bathroom. The job shown below went from bare studs to taped, mudded and paint-ready in the same visit as the framing.
What a basement needs varies a lot by area. A post-war North York basement is usually a headroom and ductwork problem, while across Pickering and Ajax it depends on which of the two housing eras you are in.
What’s Included in a Basement Finish
- FramingSteel stud or wood framing for the new layout, including bulkheads over ducts and beams.
- Insulation and vapour barrierInsulation in full contact with the assembly, uncompressed and without gaps, detailed before any board goes on.
- Moisture-appropriate drywallBoard chosen for below-grade conditions, moisture-resistant at exterior walls and in any bathroom.
- Taping to Level 4The full multi-coat taping standard, the same one we run upstairs.
- BulkheadsDucts, beams and plumbing runs boxed in so the finished ceiling reads as a ceiling.
- PaintCeilings, walls and trim primed and painted once the dust is down.
- FlooringVinyl plank or laminate over a checked and levelled subfloor, with the right underlay for a below-grade room.
- Bathroom or kitchenette tileShower, floor and backsplash tile set on a prepared substrate, where either is in scope.
How We Finish a Basement
- Plan the layoutRooms, ceiling heights, and bulkhead runs are worked out against what's already down there: ducts, beams, posts, and the panel. This is where a basement is won or lost.
- Frame and coordinate rough-insWalls go up and get coordinated with electrical and plumbing rough-ins, so nothing has to come back apart after inspection.
- Board and tapeDrywall hung and taped to the same standard as anywhere else in the house. A basement is not a reason to drop a coat.
- Finish the spacePaint, tile, flooring, and trim, finished by one crew so there's no gap between trades and no mismatched standards.
Before Work Starts
Permits and Inspections in Toronto
Finishing a basement changes how the space is used, so it needs a building permit. Scarborough is part of the City of Toronto, so that permit comes from the City rather than from a separate municipality.
A basement finished as part of the existing home is the simpler case. Turning one into a separate suite is not: those carry further requirements around egress, fire separation and minimum ceiling height. Requirements like those shape the layout rather than the finishes, which is why they are worth settling before anything gets framed.
We will tell you what your scope looks like from a permitting point of view, and we work to the drawings once they exist. The permit itself is pulled by the homeowner unless we have agreed otherwise. Inspections fall at set stages, and the schedule is built around them.
Timeline
How Long a Basement Renovation Takes
A typical 800 square foot basement runs three to six weeks, from the first day of framing to the last coat of paint. The drywall stages are the predictable part. What moves the number is everything around them.
Plumbing and electrical rough-ins add time when a bathroom is in scope, because the rough-in has to be complete and signed off before walls close. Inspection scheduling adds more, and that part is not ours to control. A simple layout lands at the short end, a bathroom and a second exit at the long end.
You get a date range at quote, and a call from us the moment it moves.
Budget
What It Costs to Finish a Basement
Three versions of this job come up again and again, and the distance between them is where most of the cost sits. Every basement in Scarborough gets quoted on site, never over the phone.
- Drywall-only basement finish
- Framing, moisture-appropriate board, taping and paint. The least expensive version, and the one to ask for if you are doing the floor and trim yourself.
- Full basement finish
- The same work plus flooring, trim and the finished details. The most common scope, and the one the rest of this page describes.
- Full finish with a bathroom
- Adds plumbing rough-in, waterproofing and tile below grade. The largest single step up in cost, and the one that moves the schedule most.
Beyond scope, what moves the number is square footage, ceiling height, whether underpinning is needed to gain that height, and whether a second exit has to be cut in.
Recent Work
Recent Basement Work
Primed Basement
Basement Taping & Layout
Basement Bathroom Tile
Basement Flooring
Keep Exploring
Related Services
Tiling
Backsplash, shower, and floor tile with clean, straight grout lines.
Learn More about Tiling →Flooring
Laminate and vinyl plank flooring with proper subfloor prep.
Learn More about Flooring →Common Questions
Basement Finishing FAQs
Almost always. Finishing a basement changes how the space is used, so it needs a building permit from the City of Toronto. A separate suite carries further requirements again. Confirm your scope with the City before any work starts.
It depends on how much of the space you are finishing and whether a bathroom is in scope. The three scopes above cover the usual versions of the job. We quote on site, because a price given over the phone is a guess.
A typical 800 square foot basement runs three to six weeks. What moves that number is the plumbing and electrical rough-ins and the inspection schedule, not the drywall. You get a date range at quote.
Yes, once the water itself is dealt with. Active entry, efflorescence or persistent damp has to be solved before framing starts. Finishing over a moisture problem hides it while it continues, and everything you just built has to come off to reach it.
We do the finishing work: framing, drywall, taping, paint, tile and floor. A secondary suite carries extra requirements around egress, fire separation and ceiling height, so that scope needs confirming with the City before we frame.