Your contractor walked off. The basement can still be finished.
In February 2025 a large Toronto area renovation company announced it was closing down, with customers mid-project (CBC News, February 15, 2025). Most abandoned basements are quieter than that: a contractor who stops answering, a crew that never comes back after the deposit. Either way, the next step is the same.
Desire finishes basements other contractors left behind. We inspect what exists, check the permit status with your municipality, and send an itemized quote for the remaining scope within 24 to 48 hours, with a written completion date and our $200 a day on-time guarantee on everything we build.
Seven things to do before anyone else touches it
Tick them off as you go. The order matters: paperwork first, then the permit, then us. Ontario's consumer guidance for home renovations is linked where it applies.
- Stop paying and gather every document
The contract, the quote, every invoice, every e-transfer and the text thread. Ontario advises that any home renovation contract worth more than $50 must be in writing, that a deposit should be no more than 10 percent, and that the final price cannot exceed an estimate by more than 10 percent unless you agreed to new work.
Source: Ontario, Your rights when starting home renovations or repairs, updated August 2026 - Photograph everything, especially open walls
Every wall, every rough-in, the subfloor, the panel, the drain. Date the photos. If the previous contractor covered work that had not been inspected, the city can require it to be opened, and your photos are the record of what was there.
- Look up the permit yourself
In Toronto, search the Building Application Status tool by address. It shows whether a permit was applied for, whether it was issued, and which inspections have passed. Other GTA municipalities answer the same question through their building departments. An open permit that was never closed can impede a future sale.
Source: City of Toronto, Building Permit Application and Inspection Status - Ask whether the electrical was ever reported
Almost all electrical work in Ontario must be reported to the Electrical Safety Authority before it starts, by a Licensed Electrical Contractor, and inspected before it is concealed. If no notification was filed, the wiring behind the drywall has never been seen by anyone but the person who left.
Source: Electrical Safety Authority, Home Renovation - File a complaint with Consumer Protection Ontario
It does not finish your basement, but it creates a record, and the record matters if the money is ever pursued. Ontario's complaint process is online.
Source: Ontario, Filing a consumer complaint - Write down what the basement was supposed to be
The original plan, if there was one, and what you would change now that you have lived with the hole. A takeover is a chance to fix the layout, not only to close the walls.
- Book a site assessment
We come to the house, look at what exists, and quote the remaining scope line by line within 24 to 48 hours. Book it here or call (647) 620-6601.
What Desire does with a half finished basement
We open what can be opened and look at the rest with a flashlight and a level: the framing, the insulation, the plumbing and electrical rough-ins, the subfloor, the condition of the foundation walls behind it all. Some of it will be fine. Some of it will be fine but undocumented. Some of it will have to come out, and we say which is which on the spot.
Every Desire basement is framed in wood studs with metal tracks, insulated, subfloored and wired to one standard. Work we keep has to meet it.
Three questions decide the path. Was a permit issued at all? Which inspections passed? Was anything covered before an inspection? Toronto's rule is plain: elements covered before their mandatory inspection have to be uncovered and passed before the project can close, and a final inspection is required to close the permit.
If there was no permit, we apply for one. The drawings are prepared and stamped by a licensed structural engineer and included in our quote, the same as any other Desire basement.
Source: City of Toronto, When to Call for Inspection of Small Buildings
A basement that stalled is not a basement that failed. It is a basement that needs a plan, a permit and a date.
We do not price against the old contract. We measure the basement again, build the remaining scope on our own quote sheet, and show every line: what stays, what is redone and why, what is new. Where the previous framing is sound, you pay for finishing, not for framing twice. Where the wiring has never been inspected, the quote says so and prices the fix.
The itemized quote arrives within 24 to 48 hours, before HST, with the completion date written on it. The calculator shows how a full basement is priced; a takeover is the same sheet with lines removed.
Where a previous crew moved a wall, cut a joist or notched a beam, the structural engineer who prepares our permit drawings reviews it and specifies the repair. His stamp goes on the drawings the city reviews, and his review is what lets the permit close with the structure on record.
Then the basement is built like every other Desire basement: inspected at each stage, reported to ESA, finished on the written date or we pay $200 a day. Read our structural work page for what the engineer covers.
Where the warranty line sits
Work the previous contractor did
If it is sound and inspected, we keep it and list it in the quote so you know exactly what stayed. We do not warranty another company's workmanship, and we will not hide it behind our drywall without saying so in writing.
Work Desire does
Everything we build carries our lifetime workmanship warranty, the same warranty on every one of our 400+ basements, with the written completion date and the $200 a day guarantee on top. The line between the two is drawn on the quote, not discovered later.
About takeovers.
Can you finish a basement another contractor started?
Yes. We inspect what exists, check the permit status with your municipality, and quote the remaining scope line by line within 24 to 48 hours. Sound work stays and is listed; work that cannot be verified or does not meet our standard is redone and priced as its own line.
Will you honour the previous contractor's price?
No. The old price was for a different company's method and, often, for work that was never finished to any standard. We measure again and quote from our own sheet, so you can see what the rest of the basement costs with nothing hidden in an allowance.
What if there was never a permit?
We apply for one, with drawings prepared and stamped by a licensed structural engineer. The municipality may require covered work to be opened for inspection; Toronto's rule is that anything covered before its mandatory inspection must be uncovered and passed before the project closes.
Can I get my deposit back from the contractor who left?
That is a legal question we are not qualified to answer. Ontario's consumer guidance for renovations is at ontario.ca, including how to file a complaint with Consumer Protection Ontario. Keep every document and photograph the basement before anything changes.
How soon can you start?
The site assessment is booked like any free estimate, and the quote follows within 24 to 48 hours. The start date and the completion date are both written into the contract when you sign.
Let us look at what is there.
A free site assessment, a plain report on what stays and what goes, and an itemized quote for the rest within 24 to 48 hours.