HMH Construction — Masters of Renovation

Project story · Milton

Finished Basement in Milton

An unfinished storage basement turned into a full lower floor — open rec room with a built-in media wall, a curbless-shower bathroom and a proper laundry.

The finished basement rec room with a built-in media wall, linear fireplace and integrated lighting
The finished basement rec room with a built-in media wall, linear fireplace and integrated lighting

Every builder-finished house in Milton has one of these: a basement with a furnace, a concrete floor and everything the family has stopped using. This one became the best room in the house.

What the project had to achieve

The space was already there and already conditioned — it just had no floor plan, no daylight worth the name and no reason to go downstairs. The brief was a proper second living floor rather than a rec room with a sofa in it.

Project goals here are read from the signed scope of work. We don't publish our clients' names, addresses, or anything they told us in confidence.

Scope of work

How it was built

  1. March 2025

    What we started with

    The standard builder basement: insulation stapled to the studs, exposed joists, a furnace in the middle of everything and the rest of the space doing duty as storage.

    The unfinished basement before work, with exposed joists and insulated stud wallsMechanical area of the basement before the renovationBare framing and services in the unfinished basementThe original open basement stairs before finishing

  2. March 2025

    Giving it a floor plan

    Partitions went up first and set everything else: where the bathroom could drain to, where the media wall could be built into, and how much of the open span could stay open once the ducting was accounted for.

    New partition framing forming the basement corridorFraming around the open rec room areaWide view of the framed basement layoutPartition framing dividing the basement into rooms

  3. March 2025

    Wet areas get different board

    The bathroom and wet areas were boarded in moisture- and mold-resistant panel rather than standard drywall. It is a small line on a quote and the single cheapest piece of insurance in a basement.

    Moisture-resistant board installed in the basement bathroomThe bathroom boarded out ahead of tilingMold-resistant board taped and finished in the wet areaNew enlarged basement window bringing daylight into the lower floor

  4. March – April 2025

    Bulkheads, and a media wall built in rather than hung on

    Ducting was boxed into bulkheads so the open span kept its ceiling height where it mattered. The media wall was framed and boarded as part of the structure — recessed shelving, a channel for the linear fireplace and a cavity for the screen — which is why it sits flush instead of looking like furniture pushed against a wall.

    The media wall framed and boarded with recessed shelving and fireplace openingBulkheads formed to carry ducting across the ceilingThe open rec room area boarded and tapedCurved bulkhead formed around basement ductworkDrywalled corridor with services still exposed at the panel

  5. April 2025

    The finished lower floor

    Vinyl plank runs unbroken through the whole level, pot lights throughout, and the media wall carries a linear electric fireplace with LED backlighting behind the shelving and screen.

    Finished basement corridor looking through to the rec roomFinished open room on the lower floor with plank flooring and pot lightsWide view of the finished rec roomThe rec room with the built-in media wall and fireplaceMedia wall detail with integrated LED backlighting and linear fireplaceThe media wall lit in a different colour, showing the integrated lighting

  6. April 2025

    A basement bathroom that doesn't read like one

    Full-height large-format porcelain, a floating walnut vanity and a curbless shower — the floor tile runs straight into the shower with a linear drain, which takes planning at rough-in and is impossible to add afterwards.

    Finished basement bathroom with glass shower and porcelain wallsWalk-in shower with glass enclosure and floating vanityFloating walnut vanity with round mirror and matte black fixturesWide view of the finished bathroom and shower enclosureCurbless shower floor with linear drain and continuous large-format tileRecessed tiled niche built into the shower wall

  7. April 2025

    And a laundry worth walking down to

    Butcher-block counter over the machines, two-tone cabinetry, open shelving and a proper sink — the difference between a laundry room and two appliances against a wall.

    Finished laundry room with butcher-block counter over the machinesLaundry counter, sink and open shelving against sage green wallsTwo-tone laundry cabinetry with open shelf and butcher-block surface

The result

A finished lower floor with an open rec room, a full bathroom and a laundry that works — roughly doubling the usable living space without touching the footprint of the house.

Services used on this project

Home Renovations →Bathroom Renovations →Tile Installation →Flooring Installation →

Questions about projects like this

Can you put a curbless shower in a basement?

Yes, but it has to be decided before the rough-in. A curbless shower needs the drain and the slope set into the floor build-up, so it is a plumbing decision made at the start rather than a tiling decision made at the end. Retrofitting one later usually means opening the slab.

Will bulkheads make the ceiling feel low?

Only if they are put in the wrong places. The point of planning them is to keep the full ceiling height across the open span and push the ducting into the edges and corridors, where nobody notices losing a few inches.

Do I need special drywall in a basement?

In the wet areas, yes — moisture- and mold-resistant board around the bathroom and any laundry. It costs very little more than standard board and it is the part of a basement most likely to be tested.

Does finishing a basement need a permit?

In Ontario, finishing a basement generally does — particularly once you are adding a bathroom, altering framing or changing electrical. We handle the permit and the inspections as part of the job rather than leaving it with the homeowner.

Planning something similar?

Tell us about your project — we reply within one business day. Or call905-749-4608.

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