Licensed & Insured · Serving the GTA
Our showroom and team are based at 3400 14th Ave, and we’ve spent more than 14 years helping our neighbors plan and complete every kind of home renovation in Markham, from opening up a dated main floor to rebuilding an entire house room by room.
★★★★★ 5.0 from 100+ Google reviews · Free in-home consultations
Many contractors serve Markham. We live and work here. More of our projects take place in Markham than almost anywhere else, including several of our largest, and that local track record matters when you’re trusting a company with your entire house.
A whole-home project involves dozens of decisions and a dozen or more trades, and it can run for several months. Our role is to make it manageable. Your project manager keeps the schedule locked, coordinates electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, framers, drywallers, tilers, and finishers, and handles permits and inspections with the City of Markham.
Because our showroom is close by, you can compare cabinetry, tile, flooring, and fixtures in person, and we can respond quickly when a question comes up on site. That combination of local presence and in-house management is what makes a home renovation in Markham with Y2 Design & Build predictable rather than stressful.
No two projects look alike. Some clients approach their home renovation in Markham one floor at a time. Others take the whole house back to the studs. Our team regularly handles:
Markham’s neighborhoods grew in distinct waves, and the age of your home shapes what a renovation will involve.
Turning a series of separate rooms into one open kitchen, dining, and living space is one of the most requested parts of a home renovation in Markham. It’s also one of the most technical.
If a wall carries load from the floor or roof above, it can still be removed, but the load must be transferred to a new beam, typically engineered lumber or steel, supported by posts that carry the weight down to the foundation. This work requires structural design and a building permit. Ductwork, plumbing stacks, and wiring inside the wall may also need rerouting. Planning these details early prevents the most common surprise in open-concept projects: discovering a drain stack or main duct exactly where the island was meant to go.
Older homes can contain materials that need careful handling. Houses built before the 1990s may have asbestos in vermiculite insulation, textured ceilings, plaster, flooring tiles, or duct wrap. Testing suspect materials before demolition protects your family and our crews, and any removal must follow Ontario’s regulations for asbestos on construction projects.
A whole-home renovation is also the right time to evaluate the house’s systems. Adding a larger kitchen, more lighting, heated floors, and an EV charger can exceed the capacity of an older electrical service. Opening walls and finishing a basement can change how the furnace and air conditioner perform. We review electrical capacity, ductwork, and plumbing during design so the finished house works as well as it looks.
Every renovation is priced individually, but recent Y2 projects provide a dependable guide. Multi-room projects typically start around $50,000 and can exceed $150,000 depending on scope and finishes, while full gut renovations of an entire home generally cost about $200 to $250 per square foot. For room-level pricing, see our Markham bathroom renovation cost breakdown.
| Project scope | Typical investment | Common inclusions in Markham homes |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-room renovation | From about $50,000 | Kitchen plus one or two bathrooms, new flooring on the main level |
| Main-floor transformation | Toward the upper end of $50,000 – $150,000+ | Open-concept layout, structural beam, new kitchen, flooring and lighting |
| Whole-home gut renovation | About $200 – $250 per sq ft | New layouts, electrical, plumbing and HVAC updates, finishes throughout |
| Additions, heritage work or secondary suites | Quoted individually | Engineering, heritage approvals, separate permits |
Whole-home renovations typically take 8 to 14 weeks of construction, depending on scope, permit timing and the amount of structural work. Design, selections and permits come first, and projects in heritage districts or with additions can take longer to approve. Read our phase-by-phase look at renovating in Markham for the details, and if you’re deciding whether to stay in the house, this article on where families live during a full-home project lays out the options.
Real reviews from real renovation clients across the Greater Toronto Area.
“From the start, my wife and I felt completely at ease working with John and Andy. We couldn't be happier with our new bathrooms — finished exactly on schedule and within budget. The entire experience exceeded our expectations.”
Marc
Markham
“It was so wonderful working with Y2. John was my primary contact and he was AMAZING and so professional. We redid our primary bathroom and flooring — everything was so organized and timely.”
Shararah S.
Markham
“We wanted to update our bathroom with a budget in mind. Y2 listened, started work the next day, and finished in 4 days. We are very pleased and would recommend them.”
Karthi
Pickering
“Jeff from Y2 Design was very helpful throughout the process. The work was done efficiently and effectively. Will highly recommend.”
Smriti
Markham
“They did our flooring for us. Floors look great, and we're really happy!”
Lizzie
Ajax
“Our kitchen was completely outdated and Y2 turned it into something we're actually excited to cook in. The team walked us through every material choice and stuck to the timeline they gave us.”
David T.
Oakville
We complete home renovation projects in Markham across the city, including Unionville, Markham Village, Cornell, Cathedraltown, Berczy Village, Milliken Mills, Angus Glen, Cachet, Greensborough, Wismer, Box Grove, Buttonville, Thornhill, and Downtown Markham.
Our Markham pages for specific rooms go into more detail: explore kitchen renovation in Markham, bathroom renovation in Markham, and basement renovation in Markham. Homeowners elsewhere in the GTA can visit our home renovation pages for Scarborough, Toronto, Pickering, Oakville and Ajax, or check the full list of communities we cover.
Need more space rather than a different space? Explore our home additions and ADU and garden suite construction services, or see our whole-home renovation overview. We also complete condo renovations and flooring installations across the GTA. Some upgrades, including multigenerational suites and accessibility features, may qualify for Ontario and federal renovation tax credits. Before you start, check whether your insurance policy covers major renovation work, and feel free to get to know the people at Y2.
Common questions from Markham homeowners planning a home renovation.
Multi-room projects typically start around $50,000, while a full gut renovation of an entire house generally costs about $200 to $250 per square foot. Your fixed-price quote will reflect your exact scope, finishes, and the condition of the home.
Yes, in most cases. The load is transferred to an engineered beam and posts designed by a structural professional, and a building permit is required. We manage the engineering, permit, and construction as part of your project.
If your home is in a heritage conservation district, such as parts of Unionville or Markham Village, exterior changes and additions may need heritage approval. Interior work is usually unaffected. We confirm requirements before finalizing the design.
If your home was built before the 1990s, testing suspect materials before demolition is strongly recommended. Any asbestos-containing material must be handled according to Ontario regulations.
It depends on the scope. Many clients stay during phased work, while those renovating the kitchen and all bathrooms at once often move out for part of the project. We’ll plan the phasing with you before work begins.
It is. Phone (647) 294-2888 to work with Mandarin-speaking staff at every step, from first sketches to final handover.
We’re just around the corner. Tell us what you’d like to change, and we’ll visit your home, walk through the possibilities, and put together a line-item fixed price that you’re free to accept or decline. Our English line is (647) 507-3639, and our Mandarin line is (647) 294-2888. Email works too at info@y2canada.com, or book online through our contact page.
Tell us about your project — or call (647) 507-3639 to talk now.
