The short version
The main floor and the basement share the house’s services. In most Toronto houses the main drain, the furnace and the electrical panel sit in the basement, so the pipes, ducts and wires feeding a new main-floor kitchen or bathroom run through the basement ceiling. Renovate both floors together and those runs are built once, while that ceiling is open. Drawings, permits and site setup happen once too.
The hard part is living through it. For a full renovation of both floors, plan to move out. Finishing one floor first can sometimes let a family stay, at a cost in time and money.
Why the two floors belong in one plan
- Plumbing. Main-floor kitchens and bathrooms drain down through the basement to the main stack. Finish the basement first and renovate upstairs later, and the new basement ceiling often has to be opened again.
- Heating and cooling. With a basement furnace, every main-floor duct passes through the basement ceiling. A new layout upstairs usually needs new duct runs, and a finished basement usually needs supply and return air of its own. Planned together, both are sized and run once.
- Electrical. New kitchen circuits, pot lights on two floors and a basement bathroom add up. If the old service cannot carry them, one upgrade serves both floors.
- Structure. Opening up the main floor often means replacing a bearing wall with a beam. The posts under it carry the load into the basement, sometimes onto new footings.
- Permits. One drawing set covers both floors: in Toronto, usually one building permit application, with the related plumbing and HVAC permits filed alongside it.
If the basement could become a rental suite one day, decide before the drawings. A second suite needs a building permit, fire separation and proper egress, and finished basements are rarely converted without rework. See legal basement apartments.
The order of work
Both floors follow the sequence we use on a full home renovation.
- Walkthrough and scope. Both floors are measured and the existing services checked before anything is priced.
- Design and drawings. One set shows both floors, including where pipes, ducts and beams pass between them.
- Permits. The City of Toronto requires a building permit to add or remove walls, to install or modify plumbing or heating, and to finish a basement when the work includes structural changes, new plumbing, underpinning, a new entrance or a second suite. Electrical work is filed separately with the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA).
- Demolition. Floor protection, dust barriers and sealed vents go up first, then both floors are stripped back to what the drawings keep.
- Structure. Beams, posts, footings and wall removals. Underpinning for basement height is its own engineered project and comes first.
- Rough-ins. Drains, water lines, ducts and wiring go in on both floors, including every run between them. A basement bathroom means breaking concrete for new drains; see what a basement bathroom involves.
- Inspections. City inspectors check the framing with the plumbing and HVAC rough-ins in place, and the plumbing is tested. The electrical goes through ESA, not the City. Anything covered before it passes has to be opened again.
- Insulation and drywall. Insulation and vapour barrier are inspected, then walls and ceilings are closed.
- Finishes. Flooring, cabinets, tile, trim, paint and fixtures, then final inspections to close the permit.
Which floor is finished first
If you move out, both floors run at once, which is fastest. If you stay, one floor is finished first, in one of two ways.
- Basement first. The basement and its bathroom are finished, and the family moves down while the main floor is opened up. Everything the main floor needs from below is roughed in through the basement ceiling before it closes, so the main-floor design must be final before work starts.
- Main floor first. The family moves out while the main floor is done, then moves back upstairs while the basement is finished behind a sealed stairwell. The time away is shorter than for the whole job.
What it costs: a typical case
This case is built from our cost guides: a 1,000 sq ft main floor at the full renovation tier (a new kitchen and bathroom, some layout changes, partial systems upgrades and new finishes) and a 1,000 sq ft basement finished with a three-piece bathroom.
| Line | Range |
|---|---|
| Main floor, 1,000 sq ft at $150 to $300 per sq ft | $150,000 to $300,000 |
| Basement with bathroom, 1,000 sq ft at $55 to $75 per sq ft | $55,000 to $75,000 |
| Construction subtotal | $205,000 to $375,000 |
| Drawings, engineering and permits, 5 to 10% | about $10,000 to $37,500 |
| Contingency, 15% | about $32,000 to $62,000 |
| HST, 13% | about $32,000 to $62,000 |
| All in | roughly $280,000 to $540,000 |
Contingency is figured on construction plus drawings and permits, and HST on the total. Temporary housing is not included. The biggest swings come from structural changes, how much of the plumbing, wiring and HVAC is replaced, basement waterproofing ($5,000 to $20,000) and underpinning ($50,000 to $100,000 or more).
The tiers come from our full home renovation cost guide and basement renovation cost guide. The written estimate after a walkthrough of your house sets the real number.
Living at home through it
Our full-home cost guide is plain about this: for a full renovation you normally cannot live in the house, because water, power and heat go offline for stretches. In a bungalow, the main floor and basement are the whole house, so plan on moving out and budget for it.
Phasing is the exception, and it only works sometimes. With one floor finished and sealed off, a family can stay if they accept the following.
- A temporary kitchen. A fridge, a microwave and the nearest sink while the main-floor kitchen is out.
- Dust control. Dust barriers around the work, a sealed stairwell, protected floors, and sealed vents so the furnace does not carry dust through the house. The site is cleaned daily.
- Shutdowns. Water goes off when new plumbing is tied in, power when the panel is changed, and heat when the furnace or main ducts are reworked. Ask for these dates on the schedule.
- A longer, costlier job. Working around a family slows the schedule and adds cost.
Moving out is usually the better call during demolition and structural work, when someone at home has asthma or another breathing condition, or when you work from home. It also wins when phasing would cost close to a short-term rental.
A typical timeline
From our cost guides and service pages:
- Design, drawings and permits: two to four months before construction.
- Construction for a full renovation: four to eight months, or eight to twelve months or more for a gut renovation with structural work.
- The basement alone: six to ten weeks on site for typical basement finishing, plus about two weeks for a bathroom.
In a combined project most of the basement work runs alongside the main floor, so the total is usually less than the two added together. Phasing pushes the other way, because one floor must be finished before the other is opened up. Underpinning runs several months and is scheduled separately. Your written schedule sets the real dates.
How YAREX runs a two-floor renovation
We start with a free walkthrough of both floors. Before pricing the basement we check ceiling height, foundation condition, grading and past water, and a leaking basement is fixed before it is finished. One set of drawings for both floors is filed with the City of Toronto as a single permit set. We book the inspections, order long-lead items during permit review, and publish a schedule at contract signing that we update at each stage. If you want to stay in the house, we price the phased and move-out options side by side.
The Clean Worksite Promise covers both floors: sealed work zones, a closed-off stairwell, protected floors and daily cleanup. YAREX is licensed and insured, with renovation and restoration in one company.
See how full home renovation and basement finishing work at YAREX, or call (343) 947-2298 for a free written estimate in Etobicoke, Toronto and across the GTA.
Published November 3, 2026.
The service behind this guide
YAREX Renovation & Restoration, a licensed and insured contractor in Etobicoke, delivers full home renovations across Toronto and the GTA.
Full Home Renovation in Toronto & Etobicoke
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