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"From bare concrete to rooms you'll use every day."
your lower
level.
Every basement renovation we take on in Simcoe County, Muskoka or York Region starts with the concrete, and any water is stopped where it comes in. A second suite is drawn to the Building Code's height and fire rules.
What We OfferWe finish basements into family rooms, theatres, offices and wet bars, build legal second suites, and cut in egress windows and walkouts for light and a way out.
Rental income ready
Full legal secondary suites with separate entrance, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. We handle permits, fire separation, and all code requirements for rental-ready units.
Raw to refined
Transform unfinished concrete into beautiful living space. Framing, insulation, drywall, flooring, and electrical: we handle the complete build-out.
Entertainment space
Soundproofed walls, acoustic treatments, tiered seating, projector wiring, and ambient lighting. Your personal cinema or game room, professionally built.
Work & wellness
Dedicated workspace or fitness area with proper ventilation, rubber flooring, mirrors, and electrical for equipment. Designed for daily use.
Entertaining essentials
Custom bars, beverage fridges, sinks, and storage. From simple wet bars to full kitchenettes, we plumb, wire, and finish to your vision.
Light & access
Add natural light and emergency egress with proper window wells. Or go bigger with a full walkout excavation for garden-level access.
Why Choose UsPermit specialists
We've built 30+ legal suites. We know Ontario Building Code requirements for fire separation, ceiling height, egress, and separate utilities inside and out.
Dry guaranteed
Proper waterproofing, vapour barriers, and drainage solutions. We address moisture at the source before finishing walls.
Efficient timelines
Most basement finishing projects complete in 4-6 weeks. Legal suites take 6-8 weeks including permit approval time.
Warm & efficient
Spray foam or rigid insulation on foundation walls. Your basement will be as comfortable as the main floor, with no cold spots.
Code compliant
For legal suites, we install proper fire-rated assemblies between units: drywall, doors, and sealing. All inspected and approved.
Maximize height
Low ceilings? We can lower floors (underpinning) or use flush-mount solutions to maximize headroom while hiding mechanicals.
30+ legal suites built. We know the code.
Waterproofing before finishing walls.
Done in 4-6 weeks on average.
Warm as the main floor, no cold spots.
Fire-rated assemblies, fully inspected.
We maximize height, hide mechanicals.
Client Reviews40
“… They would work until 7-8pm but got it done in 2 weeks, something other contractors suggested would take 3 weeks and cost extra for the rush. … Pricing matched the quote and the site was spotless at the end. …”
Amy An
Google · Sep 2025
“… Four minutes later I get a call from the owner himself … he gave me a ±5% quote which I accepted. … The final price went up by 3% because we decided to add a coffee bar. …”
Mark Milovanov
Google · May 2026
“… Top quality workmanship, communication and integrity. … I was sent a detailed breakdown of the cost … Max messaged me everytime he was coming and going from my home, which provided great peace of mind. …”
Brent Ste-Croix
Google · May 2026
“I’ve worked with Max and Roman in Barrie for over 5 years on everything from bathroom remodels to a legal basement apartment addition … They’ve consistently delivered top-notch work …”
Tim Paulau
Google · Sep 2025
“Reno Raptors where punctual, kind, friendly and someone who kept their word. … He had some challenges with a 150yr old Century Home bathroom, BUT the way it turned out was phenomenal. …”
Kathleen Rusk
Google · Sep 2026
“We went online to book an appt to get a quote & 2 minutes later my phone rang. … Next day we got a quote, 3 days later they started. It took them the 3 days he told us it would. …”
Gayle Martin
Google · Apr 2026
“We had our storage room converted into a home gym by Reno Raptors and couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. … He was very thorough during the quoting process, took the time to walk through every detail, offered fair pricing …”
Kevin Boodoosingh
Google · Apr 2026
“… They completed 2 bathrooms in our house and we couldn’t be happier. … Paint, tile, plumbing, trim, electrical, these guys know what they’re doing and kept the house spotless while doing it!”
Paul Moniz
Google · Aug 2026
“Max from Reno Raptors did an amazing job getting our new home move-in ready! They installed all our floors, trim, and doors, repainted the whole place, redid our stairs, and even finished our basement. …”
Raul Shamkhalov
Google · Oct 2025
“Max finished our basement and did an incredible job! The space looks amazing and was done exactly how we wanted. Great communication, fair pricing, and quality work, highly recommend them. Worked with a few GC’s in the past, but Reno raptors are the best in Barrie!”
Nicholas Milano
Google · Oct 2025
“Roman and his crew did an amazing job on our office renovation. Everything was done properly and up to code … I already booked them for my master bath at home in Friday harbour.”
luka gogolashvili
Google · Oct 2025
“Max and Roman updated the bathrooms in my cottage. Their tiling skills are unmatched. It was a breeze working with this father-son team. Would 100% recommend to anyone in simcoe county”
Inna Rotar
Google · Nov 2025
1–3of 12 reviews
Our Basement ProjectsTwo LocationsHeadquartered in Barrie, with a second location in Bradford. We take on projects within an hour's drive of either, from Muskoka and Georgian Bay down to York Region and the north GTA.
Simcoe County, Georgian Bay and Muskoka, all within an hour.
York Region, Caledon, Dufferin and the north GTA, all within an hour.
Not on the list? If you're within an hour of Barrie or Bradford, we can likely help.
Contact us to check availability →FAQStraight answers to what homeowners and business owners ask us before they book.
What the basement becomes, and the condition it starts in. Any moisture problem is fixed at its source before anything else and gets its own line on the itemized quote. A rec room, office or theatre is the simpler finish. A legal second unit carries the most added work, because its own rules shape the walls, the plumbing and the way out.
A basement finish typically takes 4 to 6 weeks, and a legal suite 6 to 8 weeks with its permit approval counted in. Water problems are fixed at the very start, so framing in a wet basement begins later than in a dry one. A floor that has to come down for headroom is drawn and permitted before any digging, which moves the start date as well.
Always, if the basement becomes a second unit or changes how the building is used: Ontario requires a building permit for either. A rec room, office or theatre that stays part of the house may not need one. That depends on what the finish changes, and on the list your own municipality keeps of work that needs a permit.
Drawings and the building permit come first, with the ceiling height and the route to the exit checked on paper before any framing. The framing then goes up with fire-rated walls and ceilings between the two homes, and the unit's own water shut-off valves are fitted with its plumbing, so work in one home does not cut the water to the other. Reno Raptors has built 30+ legal suites.
Didn’t see yours? Call (249) 444-4533 and ask.
Homeowners AskThe questions homeowners type into Google before they renovate, answered by our team. Search for yours, or browse by topic.
9 answers
It means cutting a larger opening in the foundation wall, fitting the window and digging a window well outside. Where the window is a basement unit's second way out, Ontario's Fire Code requires at least 1 m of clear space in the well in front of it, so the new well is often deeper and wider. That outside dig is quoted and scheduled with the interior work.
People also ask
The work goes uninspected: framing, drains and wiring get covered without the stage checks a permit brings. If the wiring was never reported to the ESA either, there is no Certificate of Acceptance to show it meets the Ontario Electrical Safety Code.
People also ask
No, because much of a basement's cost does not grow with its floor area. An escape window and its well, or a backwater valve on the main drain, is one item whether the room is large or small. So the quote is itemized line by line, and two basements of the same size can land far apart.
People also ask
Because a second unit has rules a family room does not. Ontario's rules call for a parking space for the unit's sole use in most cases, which can add driveway work, and the escape window's well may have to be dug deeper and wider. Inside, the walls and ceilings between the two homes are built as fire-rated assemblies.
People also ask
Before the concrete is patched over it. A new drain under the slab, such as one for a bar sink, is installed complete and left open for testing. Barrie, for example, lists this as its Underground Drains (Interior) inspection, and the patch waits until it passes.
People also ask
A self-contained second home within a house, such as a basement apartment. On a serviced urban lot, an Ontario municipality generally cannot use zoning to prohibit one in a detached house, semi or rowhouse, so a basement unit starts with a building permit rather than a rezoning.
People also ask
Good to KnowFor a basement that stays part of the house, the permit turns on what the finish changes, and the municipality decides which changes count. We look up its list for your address once the layout is drawn. Anything on that list goes into permit drawings before framing starts, so the permit sits at the front of the schedule.
A second unit adds an approval a rec room never needs. Its wiring goes on a separate electrical permit, and the ESA inspects that work apart from the municipal inspections, so the unit has one more visit to pass before its drywall goes up. Off municipal sewers, Ontario allows the unit only where the septic system can take the added sewage.
Basement finishing runs from the concrete inward. Water comes first, then insulation on the foundation walls, then the framing inside them, and any drain run under the slab is tested before the floor is patched. That order is what our "Dry guaranteed" promise rests on.
Inspections fall between those layers. The Building Code sets the stages, such as framing, and calling the municipality for each one is the permit holder's job, which we take on. The ESA looks at the wiring once the circuits and boxes are in, and the vapour barrier and drywall wait for that visit. Nicholas Milano, whose basement Max finished, said it was "done exactly how we wanted".
In an existing house, a basement unit may have a ceiling as low as 1.95 m, but that height has to hold over its whole required floor area and the route to the exit. Ducts and beams are planned around it before any framing, and where they cannot fit, the floor comes down instead.
Between the two homes, walls and ceilings are built as 30-minute fire separations, and so are the walls around any area they share, such as a laundry room or stairwell. Tim Paulau has hired Max and Roman for bathroom remodels, a kitchen and a legal basement apartment addition. Our blog guide to legal basement apartments covers the full list of rules.
Some basements only reach a usable height once the floor comes down. Underpinning takes the foundation walls deeper so the whole floor can drop, while bench footings leave a concrete ledge along the walls and lower the floor inside it. Both are structural work on the foundation, so they are drawn and permitted before any digging starts.
A second unit can open the slab for another reason. Where a house sits in an area prone to flooding or sewer backup, Ontario advises that adding a unit may call for a backwater valve, which keeps sewage out of the floor drains and fixtures below grade. Fitting one means breaking the concrete where the main drain leaves the house, so it is planned with any other slab work.
We handle all aspects of home renovation under one roof.
Below the main floorAt a free consultation we measure the headroom and look for where water gets in, because both shape the plan and the quote.
Every room starts as a drawing.
Track record
Sheet A-203Reno Raptors
Basement finishing
