A Guide on House Demolition: Can You Do It by Yourself to Reduce Cost?

Whether your house is very old and needs to be demolished or you want to demolish a property after buying it, to rebuild it according to your liking, it does not come cheap. A typical demolition depends on the condition of the house and ranges from $3,000 to $35,000. How much can you do by yourself to reduce costs? Let’s find out.

Planning

First, clear out any paperwork with your lender regarding the mortgage on your house. If you have not cleared your mortgage, it is nearly impossible to get a permit for house demolition vancouver, and even if you can somehow pull it off, it will involve a lot of legal complications. Afterward, you need permission from civic authorities and inform your neighbor.

Seek advice from an expert about the whole procedure. They can inspect your house and guide you from where to start the demolition process and whether your house has something that can be harmful to nature, such as asbestos, lead paint, rotten wood, mold, or other hazardous elements.

An individual cannot demolish a house. But one can at least do half the job before hiring a company. Demolition of a house involves two steps- deconstruction and demolition. Demolition involves heavy machinery and breaks down the house completely. Deconstruction means dismantling parts of the house by hand tools to salvage the most valuable material.

Contact a demolition company that best fits your budget and has a good track record. Then start by removing your furniture. Shut all the utilities such as water, gas, and electricity. Put up a deconstruction sign in front of your house to make people aware.

Procedure

After everything is settled according to your plan, start deconstructing the house. This is a long and tedious process, you can hire companies to do this job, but if you want to save some cost, you can call some of your friends to lend you a few extra hands. Start by tearing down the drywall with scrapers. Use a plastic sheet to place on the floor so that you can easily collect the debris.

While you are deconstructing the house, salvage anything that you can think has resale value or donated for charity. Things like wooden doors always have value, similarly salvage wiring, light fixtures, flooring materials, copper pipes, sink, tubs, steel, and iron materials. If your roof has tiles, then remove them in the deconstruction part itself. Remove all the insulation from the walls. Wear helmet, gloves, mask, and eye protection gear for safety.

When deconstruction is done, it is time to call the heavy machinery. Give a call to the company you hired for the job. Secure the area for the excavator to operate. It’s time to watch the show as the demolition process begins. The demolition process must start from the roof because you don’t want the roof to fall flat on the ground and hurt someone. After demolishing the top of the house, the removal floor of the upper layer is done and proceeded gradually. Lastly, debris is cleaned up using a bulldozer and wheelbarrow and taken to the dumpster.

Conclusion

There are quite a few things to do yourself that can reduce the cost of the demolition process. It is always good to do thorough research and prepare the paper. Moreover, if you can salvage the valuables while deconstructing, you can reuse them or sell them to earn some extra bucks.