A
aileendreyer902 Apr 2015 17:27Hello everyone,
We are planning to build a house, but we recently viewed an existing property just one street away. The house dates back to 1870 and was renovated in 1990.
The house is very old, but the location and the plot (1,850 square meters (20,000 square feet)) are perfect.
Now for the big question:
Is it worth keeping the original foundation walls of such an old building and completely renovating it?
Or would it be better to build a new house from scratch?
Financially, it would be about the same either way...?!
If building new, how much does it cost to demolish a house? Specifically, just the removal and disposal of debris?
Is it possible to estimate these costs as a general rule?
There was no asbestos (however that is spelled) or similar hazardous materials found or seen there...
Thank you in advance for your answers.
Best regards
We are planning to build a house, but we recently viewed an existing property just one street away. The house dates back to 1870 and was renovated in 1990.
The house is very old, but the location and the plot (1,850 square meters (20,000 square feet)) are perfect.
Now for the big question:
Is it worth keeping the original foundation walls of such an old building and completely renovating it?
Or would it be better to build a new house from scratch?
Financially, it would be about the same either way...?!
If building new, how much does it cost to demolish a house? Specifically, just the removal and disposal of debris?
Is it possible to estimate these costs as a general rule?
There was no asbestos (however that is spelled) or similar hazardous materials found or seen there...
Thank you in advance for your answers.
Best regards
G
Gartenfreund3 Apr 2015 05:48Hello aileendreyer90
First of all, welcome to this forum.
I cannot comment on the costs, as I am not familiar with such prices and, even then, the size of the house is unknown. Therefore, it is best to ask one or preferably several companies.
Whether it can be renovated or if it should be demolished cannot simply be answered with yes or no. It depends on what exactly needs to be done. However, I can imagine that a renovation could be quite expensive.
Additionally, it is important to find out whether the house is allowed to be demolished at all, for example due to heritage protection or similar restrictions, and if a new building can be constructed there. I would recommend clarifying this first.
First of all, welcome to this forum.
I cannot comment on the costs, as I am not familiar with such prices and, even then, the size of the house is unknown. Therefore, it is best to ask one or preferably several companies.
Whether it can be renovated or if it should be demolished cannot simply be answered with yes or no. It depends on what exactly needs to be done. However, I can imagine that a renovation could be quite expensive.
Additionally, it is important to find out whether the house is allowed to be demolished at all, for example due to heritage protection or similar restrictions, and if a new building can be constructed there. I would recommend clarifying this first.
Hello,
Your problem and question came up for me about half a year ago.
So, if the house was basically renovated in 1990, it can’t be that bad. Check whether the water pipes, electrical system, and heating were renewed.
What type of heating is installed?
What kind of windows?
The roof – was it replaced in 1990? Is there insulation under the roof tiles?
And so on.
Demolition would have cost me around 20,000€ (about $22,000), or around 15,000-18,000€ (about $16,500-$20,000) if I had removed windows, doors, etc. beforehand.
And so on.
In the end, this is what I did: I hired a building expert for a fixed fee of 800€ (about $880). Conclusion – I will renovate again; the house was built in 1954!
Regards, Leo
Your problem and question came up for me about half a year ago.
So, if the house was basically renovated in 1990, it can’t be that bad. Check whether the water pipes, electrical system, and heating were renewed.
What type of heating is installed?
What kind of windows?
The roof – was it replaced in 1990? Is there insulation under the roof tiles?
And so on.
Demolition would have cost me around 20,000€ (about $22,000), or around 15,000-18,000€ (about $16,500-$20,000) if I had removed windows, doors, etc. beforehand.
And so on.
In the end, this is what I did: I hired a building expert for a fixed fee of 800€ (about $880). Conclusion – I will renovate again; the house was built in 1954!
Regards, Leo
A
aileendreyer903 Apr 2015 09:58Thank you for the responses.
The house has no insulation. The electrical system is also old, as the building used to house animal stalls. The walls and floors are uneven—very much so. The attic is unfinished, and there are a total of 10 rooms downstairs. I checked again, but none of the rooms are larger than 13 square meters (140 square feet). So, it’s really a classic old GDR-style house *laughs*.
The roof was not replaced in 1990. Only the rooms were refurbished and renovated.
The house is not under heritage protection, but whether rebuilding would be allowed is still uncertain.
The house has no insulation. The electrical system is also old, as the building used to house animal stalls. The walls and floors are uneven—very much so. The attic is unfinished, and there are a total of 10 rooms downstairs. I checked again, but none of the rooms are larger than 13 square meters (140 square feet). So, it’s really a classic old GDR-style house *laughs*.
The roof was not replaced in 1990. Only the rooms were refurbished and renovated.
The house is not under heritage protection, but whether rebuilding would be allowed is still uncertain.
D
Doc.Schnaggls7 Apr 2015 13:16Hello,
as I mentioned before, if you are still undecided, I would recommend consulting a building inspector who can examine and assess the property with you.
However, based on your comments in post #4, I am leaning more towards demolition.
Last year, we completely demolished a house built in 1953 and constructed a new building on the same lot.
The old house had a footprint of 8 x 8 m (26 x 26 ft), was fully basemented, and had one and a half floors – with an attached garage.
The demolition, including removal of all materials (including 4 or 5 night storage heaters and potentially asbestos-containing fiber cement roof panels on the garage), cost us EUR 13,500.00 (including VAT).
It is definitely worth obtaining several quotes. The reputable demolition contractors (excluding a building cleaner from Bremen or an interior decorator from Garmisch who contacted us via “my Ham..r”) quoted us between EUR 13,500.00 and EUR 34,000.00.
Regards,
Dirk
as I mentioned before, if you are still undecided, I would recommend consulting a building inspector who can examine and assess the property with you.
However, based on your comments in post #4, I am leaning more towards demolition.
Last year, we completely demolished a house built in 1953 and constructed a new building on the same lot.
The old house had a footprint of 8 x 8 m (26 x 26 ft), was fully basemented, and had one and a half floors – with an attached garage.
The demolition, including removal of all materials (including 4 or 5 night storage heaters and potentially asbestos-containing fiber cement roof panels on the garage), cost us EUR 13,500.00 (including VAT).
It is definitely worth obtaining several quotes. The reputable demolition contractors (excluding a building cleaner from Bremen or an interior decorator from Garmisch who contacted us via “my Ham..r”) quoted us between EUR 13,500.00 and EUR 34,000.00.
Regards,
Dirk
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