01Basement apartments
We turned the basement into a unit for my mother-in-law. She has her own entrance and her own kitchen, and we still get Sunday dinners. The paperwork I was dreading turned out to be the part I thought about least.
Rooms · 08 · A second unit, made legal
Legal Basement Apartments in Cambridge
Legal basement apartment in Cambridge starts with the zoning, because not every lot qualifies, and the building permit comes next. The framing, the fire separations and the unit’s wiring follow.
- Licensed builder
- WSIB
- Years building
- 15+
- Houses completed
- 300+
What’s included
What a second
unit takes.
A finished basement becomes a second dwelling part by part, as set out here.
A separate entrance
A separate door and stair sit at a spot zoning permits for an entrance, so nobody crosses the house above to get in.
Its own kitchen and bathroom
Plumbing and electrical of its own, with the unit’s drains and supply lines kept separate from the floor above.
Fire separation, smoke alarms and egress windows
Smoke alarms are interconnected, a rated separation divides the two units, and the bedroom windows are a size you can leave through.
Permits and inspections for a legal unit
A building permit on a lot the zoning allows, with inspections at stages and its own electrical permit.
How it runs
One bay of it,
stage by stage.
Whole houses and rooms alike follow the same order: five stages, each answered for by one builder.
- 01
Permits
The zoning check comes first, because some lots don’t qualify. The building permit follows.
- 02
Structure
Framing goes up, with the walls and ceiling between the units built as fire separations.
- 03
Trades
Drains, shut-off valves and supply lines go in clear of the house above. Wiring for the unit follows.
- 04
Finishes
Floors, kitchen and bathroom go in after alarm wiring is carried across both units.
- 05
Handover
Move-in comes after the final inspection, when the permit is closed.
Why Hanna Homes
Why one builder
for all of it.
A second unit’s demands on a builder are settled first.
Nobody can live in the unit until the final inspection passes it, so the work is paced toward that inspection and a tenant’s date waits.
The unit is a dwelling, not a finished basement with a kitchen put in: its fire separation, plumbing and electrical permit belong to it alone.
The fire separation and the interconnected smoke alarms are planned together and inspected together, so neither is an afterthought.
Because the rules give each street-facing elevation a single exterior entrance, the separate door’s position is set first. The stair and grading come after.
Start with a call.
Client reviews
Their house,
their words.
Whole homes and single rooms, in the words of the people who live in them.
02Whole home
We put off the whole house for years because we couldn’t picture living through it. Akram walked us through every stage before it started, and each week went the way he said it would.
03Kitchens
The crew covered the floors and cleaned up at the end of every day, which mattered with two kids at home. The new kitchen is the room everyone ends up in now. Worth every week of takeout.
04Custom homes
Building a new house was the biggest decision we’ve ever made, and it never felt rushed. We walked the site most Saturdays and always knew exactly where things stood.
05Additions
We needed more room but didn’t want to leave the street. The second storey went on over the summer, and from the sidewalk you’d think the house was always built that way.
06Bathrooms
One bathroom is a small job for a builder, but they treated it like the whole house. The tile lines up, the door finally closes properly, and they finished the week they said they would.
07Knockdown & rebuild
Our old bungalow wasn’t worth saving, so we took it down and built new on the same lot. They kept the neighbours in the loop from demolition to the final walk-through. We love coming home to it.
08Basements
The basement used to be storage and a furnace. Now it’s a family room the kids actually want to be in. A clear quote, no surprises, and the site was swept every night.
09Whole home
We bought an older house knowing it needed everything. Akram was straight with us from the first visit about what was worth keeping. Every room is new to us now, and it still feels like the house we fell for.
10Kitchens
Third builder we spoke to, and the only one who returned every call. When we changed our minds about the island halfway through, they made it work without any drama.
01 / 10
Projects
Selected work,
inside and out.
Two whole homes and three rooms, each one finished: a bungalow, a new house, a kitchen, a bath and a basement.
01Whole-Home Renovations
A bungalow, renewed in limewash.
Brick is limewashed, windows go floor to ceiling, cedar is under the eaves and an oak door faces a limestone forecourt.
01 / 05
Gallery
From the street
to the basement.
Tapping a picture shows it whole. Each service is here, from street to basement.Whole-home street views lead, with kitchens, bathrooms and basements after. Any picture opens to show it whole.
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13 pictures: Whole homes · Kitchens · Bathrooms · Basements
Service area
Within an hour
of Burlington.
Towns we build in
- 01BurlingtonHaltonHome base
- 02HamiltonHamiltonby Hwy 403, 15 min, 18 km by road, approximately
- 03OakvilleHaltonby the QEW, 20 min, 24 km by road, approximately
- 04AncasterHamiltonby Hwy 403, 25 min, 28 km by road, approximately
- 05MiltonHaltonby Hwy 407, 30 min, 30 km by road, approximately
- 06MississaugaPeelby Hwy 407 and Hwy 403, 30 min, 41 km by road, approximately
- 07CambridgeWaterloo Regionby Hwy 8 and Hwy 5, 45 min, 51 km by road, approximately
- 08KitchenerWaterloo Regionby Hwy 6 and Hwy 401, 55 min, 72 km by road, approximately
And anywhere else inside the line.
Common questions
Common questions
in Cambridge.
What Cambridge homeowners ask about basement apartments: what it costs, how long it takes and what the city asks for.
No price is posted. In Cambridge the first line is the entrance, because Zoning By-law 26-007 sets where an entrance may sit and, with setbacks and parking, whether a walkout or a stair down is possible, and that sets the excavation. Next come the unit’s kitchen and bathroom, its fire separation and the approvals.
No duration is promised. The order in Cambridge is a zoning check, drawings and a building permit, then the build with City inspections requested at least 24 hours ahead, and last the Building Services Division approving occupancy. The unit cannot be rented or lived in until that sign-off, so it sits at the end of the schedule.
A building permit under the Ontario Building Code, and zoning compliance with Section 4.19 of Zoning By-law 26-007, which covers setbacks, parking and entrances. Occupancy then needs approval from the City’s Building Services Division. If the structure or the plumbing and drains change, the City’s general permit list applies as well.
Yes. The by-law allows additional residential units on a lot with a single detached house, a semi-detached house or a townhouse, up to two, for three units in total. Any other house is a question for the zoning check before design starts, and the zoning answer comes first.
No. Occupancy of an additional residential unit must be approved by the City of Cambridge Building Services Division, and until it is, the unit cannot be rented or lived in. Final inspection sits at the end of the schedule, so plan a tenant’s start date around that approval and not around the last coat of paint.
Still have a question?
Get a free estimatePeople also ask
Before you build,
people in Cambridge ask.
What people in Cambridge search before basement apartments, answered for the town.
Setbacks, parking, access to the unit and the location of its entrances. Those rules decide whether a separate entrance or a walkout is possible at all, which is why Hanna Homes checks them at the design stage, before drawings are made.
Yes, a legal unit has its own entrance, and Cambridge’s by-law regulates access to the unit and the location of its entrances. Often that means a door at the side or back with steps down, or a walkout if the grade allows.
Yes. Once the permit is issued, the inspector named on it is called at least 24 hours ahead for each stage as it becomes ready, and the City’s occupancy approval comes last. Hanna Homes arranges each visit as the work reaches it.
Good to know
Good to know
about legal basement apartments in Cambridge.
What changes the work in Cambridge: the rules, the houses and the ground.
Legal basement apartment in Cambridge: building permit and Section 4.19
Cambridge requires additional residential units to be built under a building permit in line with the Ontario Building Code. A lot with a single detached house, a semi-detached house or a townhouse may hold up to two of them, three units in total, and the zoning by-law sets how many and where each sits. The layout is checked against it before design starts.
The by-law’s Section 4.19 adds its own rules: setbacks, parking, and access to and location of entrances. Occupancy is then approved by the City’s Building Services Division, so a unit finished on paper is still not a unit anyone can rent until that approval is given.
Secondary suite in Cambridge: the entrance decides the layout
The suite has a door of its own, a kitchen and bathroom of its own, and a fire separation from the house above, plus interconnected smoke alarms and egress windows. Plumbing, electrical and ventilation are sized for a second household and coordinated by the builder.
Entrance location, parking and setbacks can decide whether a separate entrance or a walkout is possible at all, so they are checked at the design stage and not after the drawings are done. Moving a wall or a drain inside the basement also sits on Cambridge’s general permit list.
Basement second unit in Cambridge: the entrance and the sign-off
Cost follows the entrance and any excavation it needs, the kitchen and bathroom, the fire separation and the approvals. The lot is checked against the conservation authority’s regulation limit before pricing, so an owner learns whether a conservation permit applies.
Timing runs in a set order: the zoning check, the permit, the inspections requested at least 24 hours ahead as each stage is ready, and the occupancy sign-off at the end.
Other services
Other services,
same builder.
The other rooms we take on, with the same builder from the first call to handover.
All services
Get a free estimate
Planning a unitin your basement?
Tell us about the house and who the unit is for, and we start with whether the lot and the zoning allow it.
Licensed builder
Burlington, Ontario
15+ years
Building
300+ houses
Completed