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Basement Renovation · Aurora, York Region

Basement renovation in Aurora.

Basement renovation in Aurora covers finishing bare concrete, a full remodel or a second suite. You approve the design and drawings before construction, and the work comes from a company with more than 15 years in business.

Request a quote What’s included
Years in business
15+
Insured & licensed
WSIB
50 Google reviews
5.0★

What’s included

What a basement
renovation includes.

A basement renovation in Aurora begins with one decision that the drawings, the permit and the budget all follow: whether the floor stays part of your house or becomes a home of its own.

  1. Layout and framing

    The plan places each room where the posts, the stairs and the mechanical equipment allow.

    • A design for the whole floor
    • Framing and insulation
    • Ceilings and bulkheads
    • Doors and trim

  2. Floors, walls and lighting

    The finishes that make a basement feel like the floors above it.

    • Flooring suited to a basement
    • Drywall and paint
    • Lighting and wiring

  3. Bathrooms and kitchens

    A bathroom, a kitchen or a wet bar below grade, with the plumbing to serve it.

    • A basement bathroom
    • A second kitchen or wet bar
    • Plumbing rough-in
    • Ventilation

  4. Basement apartments

    The apartment is built as a separate unit, under Building Code and municipal rules.

    • A kitchen and bathroom of its own
    • Fire separation between the units
    • Exits and egress windows
    • Work to the approved permit drawings

Why Sonce

One contractor,
both sides of the door.

We plan and build indoors and out. Most renovators leave off at the back door, which is where most landscapers pick up.

  1. 15+ years in business

    With over 15 years in business, Sonce Homes works inside the house and outside in the yard.

  2. Licensed and WSIB insured

    Sonce Homes is licensed and WSIB insured. Ask us about the credentials relevant to your project.

  3. Design before construction

    As we go over the design together, drawings give you a picture of the work, and you sign off before it’s built.

  4. A conversation throughout

    We start with a talk about the work and what you want to spend, and from there we keep you informed at each stage.

With over 15 years in business, Sonce Homes works inside the house and outside in the yard.

Sonce Homes is licensed and WSIB insured. Ask us about the credentials relevant to your project.

As we go over the design together, drawings give you a picture of the work, and you sign off before it’s built.

We start with a talk about the work and what you want to spend, and from there we keep you informed at each stage.

Client reviews

In their own words.

50

Google reviews

Rated 5.0

Read all 50 on Google ↗

1–3of 50 reviews

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Selected Projects

Inside the house.
A closer look.

Choose a scene, then follow its numbered points to the materials beside it. Illustrative scenes to help you picture the possibilities.

Finished basement lounge with large windows, cream walls, navy built-in cabinetry and a light sofa.
01Basement Renovation

Oak, navy cabinetry

A lower level to settle into

A basement lounge with built-in storage and daylight from generous windows.

Strip lighting runs above the shelves, and a desk is built into the same wall beside them.

On the picture

  1. Built-insOak shelves, navy cabinets
  2. DeskSet into the wall unit
  3. WindowsThree, facing the garden
Plan a project like this: A lower level to settle into

Cream cabinetry, oak, stone

A kitchen made for gathering

Cream cabinetry, a navy island and pale stone in a bright family kitchen.

Open oak shelves stand either side of the hood, and black-framed windows wrap the corner of the room.

On the picture

  1. HoodCream, with an oak band
  2. BacksplashHerringbone tile
  3. IslandNavy, slatted oak ends
Plan a project like this: A kitchen made for gathering

Stone tile, navy, brass

Stone, light and a walk-in shower

A navy double vanity beside a generous shower in warm stone tile.

A clear glass panel keeps the shower open to the room, and a niche for bottles is set into its tiled wall.

On the picture

  1. LightingBrass wall lights
  2. VanityNavy, two basins
  3. ShowerBrass rain head
Plan a project like this: Stone, light and a walk-in shower

Cedar, glass

Cedar behind the glass

A glass-fronted cedar sauna beside a calm wellness space.

Cedar boards line the walls and the ceiling inside and carry on across the wall outside the glass, so the sauna reads as part of the room.

On the picture

  1. CladdingVertical cedar boards
  2. BenchesTwo levels, slatted
  3. HeaterFloor-standing, with stones
Plan a project like this: Cedar behind the glass

Oak, pale stone, navy

An open main floor

A kitchen, dining space and living room connected by warm oak flooring.

Tall windows and a glazed door run the length of the back wall, so the island, the table and the sofa share the same daylight.

On the picture

  1. IslandNavy, pale stone top
  2. Back wallGlazed door, tall windows
  3. FloorWide oak boards
Plan a project like this: An open main floor

Scene01of 05

Gallery

Room to imagine.
Details to build on.

Basements, bathrooms, saunas and kitchens. Explore layouts, materials and details for your own home.

Basement recreation room with a wet bar
Walk-in shower in cream stone tile
Outdoor cedar sauna cabin in the yard
Cream shaker kitchen with a deep navy island

  1. Basements1/3

  2. Bathrooms1/3

  3. Saunas1/3

  4. Kitchens1/3

Illustrative scenes for planning your project.

Service area

Close to home.
Across York Region.

Renovation and general contracting from our office in East Gwillimbury. The rings show roughly how long the drive is from there, outside rush hour.

Our office
Home towns
Also serving
Drive time, off‑peak

Drive times are approximate, from OpenStreetMap data (© OpenStreetMap contributors).

Towns we serve

38 towns · 6 regions

Not on the list?

We take on projects across York Region and the GTA. Tell us where the house is and we’ll let you know.

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Questions

Basement renovation in Aurora:
common questions.

Still have a question?

Ask us directly (647) 784-4477

People also ask

What people ask
before they start.

Good to know

Basement renovation in Aurora:
good to know.

Kinds of basement work, and the age of an Aurora house

The work we take on falls into five kinds. Finishing turns bare concrete into rooms: a family room, an office, a gym or a guest bedroom. A full renovation strips a basement finished long ago and rebuilds it to a new layout. A bathroom can be added alone or with the rest of the floor, a second kitchen or wet bar saves the trip upstairs, and a second suite turns the floor into a separate home.

The age of an Aurora house shows up in the estimate. North of Wellington Street, Northeast Old Aurora was built between the 1860s and the 1930s, and a basement under one of those houses can hold old wiring, plumbing and framing to sort out before new rooms go in; we price that once the walls are bare. Hills of St Andrew went up in the 1980s, so a basement finished when the house was new is about 40 years old, and the job there is usually a strip-out and a new layout.

Basement finishing in Aurora: what goes over the concrete

Aurora sits on the Schomberg Lake glacial plain, where the old ground was partly worn away and filled with lake-bed clay, silt, sand and reworked till. Clay and silt drain slowly and keep water against a foundation, and the Town says residents are already seeing more seasonal flooding and extreme rainfall. On that ground a damp patch found after the drywall is up is far harder to fix than one found on bare concrete, so the walls and floor are checked and repaired before the first stud.

Once the walls are dry, the layers are chosen for a slab sitting in ground that holds water. Insulation goes on first, fixed so warm room air never reaches the cold concrete and condenses there. Ceilings and bulkheads follow, laid out so low ducts and the main drain disappear without taking height from the rooms that need it most. The floor is picked to tolerate the humidity a slab gives off, and the drywall, paint and lighting finish it.

Town of Aurora: geotechnical report ↗

Basement renovation permits in Aurora and who applies

The Town of Aurora's Building Division issues the permit, and the application can come from you or with our help. Describe the whole scope when you ask, not only the first room, because a later bathroom or bedroom window changes what the drawings must show. Once the permit is issued, the inspections set the order of the job, so nothing is closed in before it has been seen.

A second suite in an Aurora house

The first question is whether the house qualifies. Zoning By-law 6000-17 allows second suites in detached, semi-detached and link houses, and each suite still has to meet the zoning provisions attached to that permission, so your address is checked before a layout is drawn.

Where it qualifies, the suite needs fire separation from the main house, its own exits, egress windows in the bedrooms, and a kitchen and bathroom. We plan it so both homes work on their own, and price those items at the start.

Town of Aurora: second suites ↗

Related services

Also in Aurora,
from the same crew.

Each page sets out what the work covers, with scenes to plan from and the questions people ask first.

All service areas

Your next project

More room downstairs.
Start with a conversation.

Tell us where in Aurora the house is and what you have in mind.

Request a quote

InsideWalk-out basement

OutsideInterlock patio

Years in business
15+
Insured & licensed
WSIB
50 Google reviews
5.0★