Luxury basement finishing for Barrie homes — free 3D design, itemized fixed pricing, lifetime warranty, and a written timeline backed by our $200-per-day on-time guarantee.
Get a Free Quote →VIEW OUR PROJECTSBarrie's newer subdivisions — Holly, Ardagh, Painswick, Innis-Shore — come with tall, dry basements built for finishing, and as one of Ontario's fastest-growing commuter cities, demand for in-law and income suites keeps climbing.
The city requires second suites to be registered, with fire and property-standards inspections — and a properly registered Barrie suite rents fast. Whatever your starting point, we turn that lower level into finished, livable square footage and real value added to your Barrie home.
Theatres, bars, gyms and family spaces — metal studs and moisture-resistant drywall as standard, finished to match the rest of your home.
EXPLORE BASEMENT FINISHING →
Kitchens, bathrooms and whole-home updates for Barrie families, built with the same crew and warranty as our basements.
EXPLORE HOME RENOVATIONS →
Underpinning for ceiling height, waterproofing, and permitted separate entrances for legal Barrie second suites.
EXPLORE STRUCTURAL WORK →Barrie requires a building permit for basement finishing, and second suites must be registered with the City of Barrie — a process that includes fire and property-standards inspections so every unit is safe and documented. Suites need proper egress, fire separation, interconnected alarms and compliant ceiling heights. We design to code from day one, pull the permits, pass the staged inspections, and walk the registration through with you so your suite is finished, registered and legal.
Drawings & permit
Prepared and filed for your Barrie address
Code-first build
Egress, fire separation and alarms built in
Staged inspections
Framing, insulation, ESA electrical, plumbing
Registration
Second suite registered with the City of Barrie
Walk through your basement room by room — move walls, try finishes, see your exact space — and approve every detail before construction begins.
"Kam delivered the project on time and on budget. It's now been three years since our basement was completed, and it still looks incredible — we continue to receive so many compliments on the space."
MS FAIRBARN · GTA HOMEOWNER · ✓ GOOGLE REVIEWA decade of basement renovations across the GTA — owner-led on every single project.
Every project, every material, every detail — warrantied for the life of the house.
Your quote includes a written timeline. If we miss it, we pay you $200 for every late day.
From our 2026 GTA Basement Cost Report — built from the signed contract values of our completed projects.
We have not published a Barrie project yet, so here is a recent one from Bradford, built to the same specification and warranty we bring to Barrie.
Two bedrooms, a bathroom with a custom tiled shower, and a laundry room with washer plumbing and a sink. A slat feature wall with integrated LED, soundproofing, seven solid-core doors, window casings, 62 pot lights and a heat-pipe relocation, on an insulated Dri-Core subfloor. Built in two sections, which added about a week and a half.



The same published rates and itemized add-ons we quote everywhere in the GTA. Permits, inspections, free 3D design and a lifetime warranty are included in every line.
| Scope | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| 1,000 sq ft finished at Essential ($55 per sq ft) | $55,000 |
| 1,000 sq ft finished at Signature ($70 per sq ft) | $70,000 |
| 1,000 sq ft finished at Luxury ($90 per sq ft) | $90,000 |
| The family basement: media wall, full bathroom, laundry, around 1,000 sq ft | $60,000–$85,000 |
| The entertainment build: theatre or media room, bar, gym, spa bathroom, 1,000–1,300 sq ft | $95,000–$130,000 |
| Three-piece bathroom with tiled shower | $18,000–$28,000 |
| Custom wet bar | +$15,000 |
| Home theatre setup | +$20,000 |
| Walkout entrance, permits included | $15,000–$25,000 |
| Full-perimeter underpinning for low ceilings | $60,000–$120,000 |
| Legal basement apartment, purpose-built | $75,000–$110,000+ |
We do not yet publish a separate Barrie median; Barrie projects are quoted against the GTA median of $103,000. Sources: 2026 GTA cost report · cost calculator · bathroom, walkout and underpinning cost guides.
Yes — finishing a basement in Barrie requires a building permit, with staged inspections for structural, framing, insulation, electrical and plumbing work. Desire Basements prepares the drawings, files the application, and manages every inspection through final sign-off.
Yes — Barrie permits second suites, and the city requires them to be registered, with fire and property-standards inspections. Suites must meet Building Code and Fire Code requirements for ceiling height, fire separation, egress and alarms — we design and build to full code and walk the registration through with you.
Most professional basement renovations in Barrie start around $55 per square foot and up — a 1,000 sq ft project starts in the $55,000 range with standard finishes. Across the GTA, the median project in our 2026 Cost Report is about $103,000. Every Desire quote is itemized line by line and locked before you sign, and includes a free 3D design of your finished basement.
Book a free in-home consultation — we'll measure your space, talk through your vision, and bring a 3D design with your itemized basement renovation quote.
Get a Free Quote in Barrie →