Demolish and Build

Demolish the Old and Build Your New Home!

Have you seen construction going on in your Suburb and wondered who organised all this? Do you live in an established area of Perth but in an old home that's full of maintenance, or you're just searching for that new home feeling? You might be a candidate to Demolish and Build.

What is a Demolish and Build!

A demolish and build is the removal of an existing home (most commonly in an older area) and then the building of a brand new home on that cleared block.

“Demolish and Build” is often referred to as a “Demo and Build” or “Knockdown and Rebuild”. Removal of an older home is referred to as the “demolition”. Demolition can be some parts of the home OR every single thing that is sitting on the block or lot. It is recommended if you are to undertake a Demo & Build, that you have the block taken back completely to bear sand (see below D&B stages). That means pipes, reticulation, etc including the home, are completely removed. This allows the construction and building of your new home to be undertaken with minimal anomalies or future problems.

Why Demolish and Build!

A Demo and Rebuild is one of the favorite ways to stay in your current location, but keep your lifestyle! Let’s face it, if your living in a great suburb, love your street, you will have the local shopping centres, local friends, even schools and gyms where you know everyone. Just because you need (or want) to build a brand new home doesn't mean you have to leave this all behind and start over again!

So what are the Pro's and Con's!

• Stay in your current street and suburb

• Avoid paying stamp duty

• Avoid buying a new Block in an outskirt area of Perth

• Better Future resale (than buying in a green fields estate)

• Own a home that is 6 Star energy rated with Builder Warranties

A new home does set a new standard in the street. It is what everyone typically aspires for. You now own a new modern home with all the latest modern conveniences, inclusive of builder and manufacturer warranties. Your home will be 6 star energy rated. You could select 5mm glass throughout to maintain external noise and further improve the homes energy efficiency. When it comes time to sell, I can guarantee, you will be sought after by the local real estate agents as near new homes are like hens teeth in older areas and will always go to the top of a the list for any prospective buyer. Building in an established area increases the possibility of better resale as the median suburb price has had time to grow.

• Have to move out and then in again (two Moves)

• You have to Build !

The reality is, it is easier to just go and buy a vacant block of land and build or buy established... If buying a vacant block of land, you could stay in your current home right up until the new home is finished and do one move. Banks even have a special loan to cater for these types of customers. If you choose to demolish and build, you will have to move out of the old home, find somewhere to rent, wait till the new home is finished and move back in (to your now "new home"). For some customers this can be painful as it involves two moves. There is the added expenses of moving twice which can vary from $1000 to $5000 in removal fees, plus the rental costs (allow $450 per week as a base rent).

Yes, you have to Build a new home (wouldn't it be easier to just find an established home around the corner and sell the current one)...! The reality is no matter who you build your home through, there will be some hurdles, hiccups or problems along the way! Everyone knows building a new home will test your patience and relationship with your partner or builder (this is a hand made product with thousands of pieces). Plus, if you do decide to build, you can’t just walk out of your old home and tell the builder to plonk a home on it that afternoon! There are several processes (and time frames) you need to go through before you can pick up your keys.

Demolish & Build Starts with a Feasibility of Costs!

If you are motivated to call and inquire about the full process, the first step is to do an initial over the phone feasibility. With my experience and 10 minutes of your time, I should be able to give you a reasonable estimate of your expected costs via a full Demo & Build feasibility assessment. (Free Download).

Demo & Build Costs in Perth (how to work them out!)

Before you can work out your demo and build costs you need to answer the following questions! Below is a list of items we will ask to work out 1) Demolition 2) Site Costs 3) Building costs.

Demolition Costs

• What is the type of construction of your current "Old" home? (brick, weather-board, Timber frame)

• Are there Trees (large 600mm wide) on the site? (how many and what are their locations)

• Is there a swimming pool or a bore on the site?

• Are there any old bores or underground structures?

Site Costs

• What Council (within Perth) is your property in?

• Does the site have a slope to it?

• Are the neighbours higher or lower than your current (old) home levels?

• Do you have underground power or overhead power?

• Does the existing (old) home have deep sewer or is it connected to a septic tank?

Building Costs

• What are the rooms that you want within your Home?

• Is there an approximate overall size you are aiming for?

• Do you want the home finished off at a basic level or do you everything completed (Turnkey)

• On a scale of 1 to 10 what level of Builder specification are you expecting?

• Do you have a Target Budget for the overall expenditure?

Holding Costs

• Are you aware of Rental costs in your area?

• Do you know how long the entire process will take so you can budget for rental accommodation?

• If you need to borrow money, are you aware of the interest rates and costs associated with Building?

*Please note our over-the-phone feasibility is based on my experience and the averages for the Perth area. If you are at an early-early stage and want to calculate it out yourself, below is a general guide we work on!

Our general guide for DIY (demolish and build) pricing -

Demolition allow $30,000

Site Costs allow $20,000 (remember this is a guide, your site costs may be $10K to $50K)

Construction Costs -

Single Story Homes will range from $800m2 to $1200m2 (base Price)

Double Storey Homes will range from $1050m2 to $1500m2 (base price)

Turnkey Costs -$45,000

Most of my clients building a new home will spend $30K to $80K to finish the home off so it is at the level of an established home. (floor tiles, carpets, Lighting furniture, internal wall paint, window treatments, curtains, landscaping, paving, gates, fences, pool, air conditioning). These can happily be done by your selected builder or you may want to do it yourself to save money (approx 10%).

Holding Costs we would recommend allowing $15,000

The below example is based on a single storey home I recently gave a feasibility for in the Suburb of Duncraig. I spent over 45 minutes on the phone going right through the clients requirements and specification expectations. They have now moved to step 2.

Survey and House Design Stage!

Survey

If I haven’t scared you off yet with the reality of a demo and build, the next stage is to get stuck into things properly. This involves organising a Survey of your block and designing a home based on your requirements.

Once the survey is back, we are now in a position to firm up the demolition and site works initial feasibility!

Items such as trees on the boundary, old concrete bore water cylinders, brick walls on the boundary plus the overall levels can be looked at closer via the survey for accurate amounts. If there is anything different from our first initial feasibility we will amend the excel spreadsheet of predicted costs. If we are still unsure we will have the costs confirmed by our base of professional Trades and Builders.

Design Wish-List

Before we start your new home design, we will have you complete our online "Design Wish-list. This is a comprehensive questionnaire where you simply tick the boxes to tell us exactly what you want, need, or hope for in your new house design. As an example, we ask over 20 questions about what you want in your Kitchen! It also covers the ideal location of each room, preferred specification plus your ideal target budget.

Why we recommend a Custom Design!

In my opinion, the best designs are custom designs. Yes, there are display homes out there that may be close to what you are after, but when I speak to my clients and really go into things, there are often rooms missing or dimensions of rooms that are not ideal! Working in the Building Industry for over 20+ years I found only a very small percentage of clients actually build a builders display home. The other 90% built off an existing plan or had a custom “dream-home” design created. Most display homes are like Rolls Royces completely specked up to the eye-balls to impress, and have the price tag to go with it!

Designer Selection

Once your Design Wish-list is completed, we have an in-house design consultant, or you can select your own from our recommend designer database offering 15 reputable independent designers. One of the most under-thought items when putting a home together is how good is the designer! Every designer offers a different style and different function of space. Symmetry, form, balance, traffic flow, and proportions are all qualities we look for to source the best design.

Walking into a builder’s office without reviewing previous design work is a recipe for the unknown. Just like your favorite restaurant, it is the very reason why we offer a flexible designer service so we increase the chances of getting things right for you.

Design Review

Approvals, Contracts, Demolition & Construction

This is actually one of the easiest steps. You have chosen your design, you have chosen your Builder. You can now enter into a Building contract whereby government approvals will be applied for and approved.

Finance is approved, your colour selections are finalised plus a demolition permit is completed. Now is the time to move out of your (old) home. Demolition can now start. Once completed your builder will start civil works and site works concurrently to begin the construction of your New Home!

Congratulations, you have now completed a Demolish and Build!

Demolition Steps!

So if you decide to go ahead and complete a “Demo & Build” it is essential you understand the process so you aren’t caught out in the whirl-wind of building decisions and time frames! A lot of our clients organise their own demolition or we project manage the work from our end. If you want to do it yourself at the very minimum we need to inspect the quotation and make sure it allows for all the required items. Unfortunately, in a competitive market, we have seen cheaper quotes, but upon an inspection, they are missing very-very important items that will only cost more money later.

Demo Permit

A demolition permit is a legal approval by the local council to remove an existing home. The paperwork required is called a BA5 "Application for demolition permit". As a rule, we prefer to have this lodged at the earliest as it can take up to 4 weeks for sign-off and stamping. Your name and the demolition companies details must be added, signed, and submitted to the local council. The form is required to be stamped and signed off as per the Building Act and regulations. Typically the demolition contractor will facilitate this.

Rat Bait

When you get the call that rat baiting can start, this is a move in the right direction! Rat bating (depending on council) will typically take 2 to 3 weeks to complete.

Temporary Fences

A common requirement is the need to have temporary fences to stop children and onlookers from entering the site. Soon there will be machinery, trucks, and tradespeople who need a safe working area.

Disconnection of Services

Often not something you think of in your quotation is the disconnection services. Sewer, Gas, Water, and Electricity all have to be disconnected by licensed tradespeople and capped off in the verge area. In some cases, the service provider has to be involved.

Removal of “Resale” items

There are essentially 3 types of demolition.

1. Demolition with machinery only

2. Demolition by hand

3. Both items 1 and 2 combined

Where machinery only is used, this is a fairly broad stroke on the work that will happen on site. Nothing is spared or saved or resold. A quotation on a machinery-only demolition is typically a lot cheaper.

Demolition by hand may also be required where we have older homes backing onto other homes, or where there may be a danger to the neighbouring houses. Although demolition by hand can cost more, it is often done because there are items within the old house that can be salvaged for resale. Wooden floors, wooden window sills, solid core doors, are all examples of items that the demolition contractor can actually sell down the track. In some cases, we have had jobs in older suburbs, where the demolition contractor has actually paid the client to remove the home because the saleable items are worth more in his salvage yard than the cost to physically demolish. 80% of the demolition jobs that we project manage are machinery-based and range from $15,000 to $25,000 on average*. We have seen "Demolition by Hand" on some old fibro homes down as little as $7,000, but this is the exception, not the rule.

Tree Lopping

Every old home has established trees and unfortunately most end up going. Our motto is, remove everything and start fresh. Only the very best established trees should be kept. If you plan to keep a tree make sure you have a meeting with the demo contractor before he starts the work or nail a sign on the tree. Designing and building a home around existing trees sometimes just won't work. We have even hard Arborists (doctors for trees) assess the tree’s future life. Some councils will not let you run a driveway under the foliage of a tree as it is shown over a 10 to 15 year period that the tree will die from pressure on its root system. A demolition company is sometimes connected or has a tree lopping division, so these are good questions to ask if you are attempting to organise this yourself.

Tree and Root Removal

What you now might see on the site is a sea of Fallen trees laying on the ground with an old home missing some of its more expensive parts. Unfortunately for the demolition contractor, the rules changed whereby green waste and housing waste can no longer be mixed. Disposing of rubbish is one of the major costs. I have heard stories of a 6 by a 4-foot trailer with mixed waste in the Belmont council refuse costing $80 to dispose of...

Most tree lopping companies don't have the ability to remove large tree roots out of the ground. The rule is, when demolishing and cleaning a building site, all root matter must be removed. If a demolition contractor offers to stump grind, then you have a bad demolition contractor. Stump grinding will only bore down approximately 600mm into the ground leaving all the large roots to rot away over time. We have seen situations where paving has dropped 300mm into the ground because old root systems of trees had not been removed ( more on this later) All the trees, roots, and branches are picked up and taken away in a separate truck.

Physical Works

Finally, physical works on removing the home (or what’s left of it) can now start. To the uninitiated a demolition contractor does not use a large steel ball swinging on a crane, nor does he use a bulldozer (as our header image shows). The best piece of machinery with greater accuracy is a Digger. Using a digger allows the demolition operator to lift the steel bucket over a wall and pull the wall in towards him. This is advantageous where there is a fence or a home next door and avoids unnecessary external damage.

Bores, Septic tanks, Swimming Pools

A common concern is what am I going to do with my bore, septic tank, or swimming pool. These are often difficult questions for the demolition contractor and the Builder. Our recommendation for a bore is to have the first 600mm of concrete chiseled in by the demolition contractor and simply left as a hole in the ground ( we are presuming we are building over the bore in this situation, if we are not building over the bore then it can stay as is. At the house design stage, if the home is going to sit over the bore, the builder will allow for a suspended slab. Unfortunately, even if the bore was filled with soil ( which it can be for peace of mind) it would be impossible to get a compactor into the hole to compact the soil to the engineer requirements.

A septic tank and a pool is a broader, shallower object in the ground and can be backfilled and compacted.

Removing a septic system -

1. The concrete lid needs to be removed.

2. Any sewage waste needs to be professionally removed.

3. Concrete edges need to be chiseled into a depth of 600mm

4. The septic system needs to be filled with clean compaction soil

5. The soil needs to be compacted in layers of 300 mm

6. A plumber needs to certify the work has been done correctly (keep this piece of paper for later)

7. We also recommend a compaction certificate over the area verifying the compaction strength

Removing a swimming pool-

1. Concrete edges or fiberglass edges need to be chiseled into a depth of 600mm

2. Clean soil needs to be added in 300mm layers being compacted each time

3. We would recommend a compaction certificate if you are building your home over the old pool.

Separation of Items

Once everything has been pulled down and leveled, things need to be separated into piles to be carted away to the appropriate area at the rubbish tip or refuse center. The main items here are bricks/concrete, timber, and steel. If this isn't done the rubbish disposal costs would be far higher.

Raking the Site

We mention this item as some demolition contractors do not offer this as a standard within their quotation. We have had situations where part of the demolished ruins have been buried underground or there are bricks and light debris left on the surface. Once discovered by the Builder, they will pull up tools, work out a price to remove the debris, and wait for the client to pay the bill before they start again. Raking of a building site is where the digger operator changes the buckets at the front of his digger to a bucket that looks essentially like a rake. The bucket is dragged through the ground removing anything larger than the size of a squash ball. Root matter, Broken concrete, broken bricks are all removed from the ground leaving a sandy site. Some demolition contractors only rake to a certain depth. Our recommendation is to have the site raked to a minimum depth of 600mm to 800mm. This will give the greatest longevity for the future home that would be built and completed on the building site.

Leveling the Site

Some demolition companies are also earthworks operators. The ground can be left as is or the correct level can be created and compacted ready for construction to start. In some cases, a more reputable builder will organise a second survey of the building site. As an old home has been removed, sand, soil, and debris have dropped the natural ground level, so additional compaction soil may have to be brought in, i.e additional costs or work is required.

Demolition Trouble Shooting

Photos

We recommend you take photos of the following, they may be needed or referred to during the demolition process.

1. The old home (inside and out)

2. Meter box equipment and metre box readings

3. Water metre and water metre reading

4. Kerbing

5. Footpaths

6. Telstra pits

7. Neighbouring Fences

8. Trees

Leave a Key out!

We recommend you find a good place to hide a key to the existing home as it will be easier for the demolition contractors to give you a better quotation if he can look inside the home. This saves you driving out each time to open the house up whether it be tradespeople, service providers etc.

Dilapidation Report

If you are the “checklist type” we would also recommend a dilapidation report. This is where a registered builder or engineer inspects the neighbouring homes by video and photos. In the event, a neighbour complains they have a structural crack in their home it can be cross-referenced from past information.

Contractor Terms and Conditions

Demolition contractor terms and conditions will vary considerably from company to company. from our experience items that need to be queried or cross-checked are -

• Starting time frame

• Damage to a fence or neighbouring property

• Responsibility for disconnection of services

• Council approvals

• Verge clean up

• Insurance

• Asbestos licence/permits

• Payment terms

Where do I Start !

For all "Demo and Builds" I personally prefer to visit you on site for an eyeball of your building site to ensure greater accuracy or give me a call to discuss!