Demolition in Sydney may very well be the most exciting and speedy phase of construction. For a complete demotion, a home can come down and be entirely removed from the site in a day or two; for a thorough remodel (where large portions of the structure are maintained) the entire demo process can be completed within a week. But while demolition is typically fast and messy, it’s not necessarily mindless and uncomplicated.
There’s actually quite a bit to know about demolition, beginning demolition without a clear strategy can have significant time and financial repercussions later:
- Don’t try and do it yourself. While it may seem straightforward and cost-effective to perform the demo yourself, it’s actually a bit like surgery. An experienced crew knows what to keep and what to tear out. The ideal situation is to have the framing crew take on the demo, the framers will know best what to retain and the accountability chain is direct.
- Take a bottle of wine to your neighbours before demolition begins and make nice. There will be a bit of noise and some mess; you’ll need the understanding and patience of your neighbours.
- Play by the rules and get your permits. Demolition is obvious; the neighbours will notice the 20-yard dumpster sitting in your driveway and the building inspector knows what it means when there’s a Honey Bucket sitting in the side yard.
- Asbestos procedures are a big deal. Nothing will shut down a project quicker than an asbestos violation, so it’s worth doing your homework. Here in the Pacific Northwest, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency is a great resource and their website includes everything you need to know about inspections, removal and applicable agencies. There’s a couple of key items worth highlighting for single-family residences as they can save time and money on a project; if asbestos is identified it can be left in place and encapsulated to avoid the costly inspections and removal procedures; also, a homeowner who occupies the house can remove the asbestos themselves if they feel comfortable doing so. There are procedures for each and the requirements vary from one jurisdiction to the next, so review this for the details.
- Don’t try and live in your house during the demo. There’s going to be a layer of dust no matter what. If you’re the type who’s sensitive to a bit of filth, it’s a great time for that trip to the tropics.
- You’ll demo twice what you thought you would. Once the house is opened up a bit, it will look as though a bunch of drunken sailors originally put it together. It typically makes sense to remove more than originally planned.
- Strip all the walls and unbury all the skeletons. For most significant remodels we recommend taking the walls down to the studs. There always seems to be ridiculous stuff hidden in the wall cavities from that weekend warrior remodel a decade ago. demolition is the time to catch that dubious electrical connection and the fact that there’s no insulation in the wall.
- Listen to the guy on site who says “consider these things…” He’s speaking from experience and he knows what he’s talking about.
- You’ll spend a decent chunk of the budget’s contingency on demolition. A typical project of ours has a 10% budget contingency. This contingency is used for all the surprises that pop up during construction, a price hike in plywood or whatever it is that could come out of the left-field during the process. Because there are so many unknowns and variables in the demolition phase, an unproportionate amount of the contingency is inevitably consumed. Once demolition is completed the level of the variable out and it gets better.
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