demolition costs

vpande · Feb 27, 2007 9:59 pm

I was wondering what the approximate cost would be to demolish a 40 year old 14 square brick veneer house in melbourne.

whats the best way to go about this. should we go through recycling companies.

thanks

vpande

leonda · Feb 28, 2007 7:53 am

Hi,
l am no expert but we have just been down this track of getting numerous companies to quote on the demolition of our house. We have a double brick 1940's house with asbestos sheeting. l think it would be around 20 squares in size. We got 5 quotes ranging from $8000 to $15000 and went with a company closer to the lower end of the scale because we have seen their other demolitions in our area and were pleased with their work and the condition of the site once they had finished.

We did enquire about recycling everything from the bricks to the roof tiles but in the end it worked out cheaper and easier just to demolish and let the demolition company take what they require rather than try to salvage off items bit by bit.

Hope that helps,
Leonda

Vlad76 · Feb 28, 2007 9:08 am

Expect around 10k give or take 2k.
Depends on whether you have asbestos in the old house which would need to be removed by a special contractor.

owl · Feb 28, 2007 12:04 pm

We're in Melbourne and have been quoted from $7500 TO $ 11500 - our house is about forty years old with asbestos. I have got five quotes.

mercersio · Mar 03, 2007 3:22 pm

Just a word of caution though.

Never go for the cheapest quote. Always ask for a reference. So many times have I gone back to a home that was getting demolished and basically just "CLEANING UP", where Workcover shut the job down due to the demolisher just smashing Asbestos fibro and quickly picking it up and loading straight to the truck.

I let you in on a big secret!

The reason they can charge you that cheap, is because they think that they can go in smash everything, load the truck. Bring the machine demolish the house and be out in 2 days. By the time the authorities come the house is gone. Its quick money. So always be careful there are alot of Cowboys out there.

On the other hand, in your case with the brick home, if its soft motar, ask them if they are going to salvage the bricks. If they are, then any price around $8.5K is resonable, thats not taking into consideration any excavation, tree removal or other variations.

And ALWAYS ask them to provide you with a "Safe Work Methord Statement". It covers the demolisher and yourself should anything go wrong, ie: work accidents, property damage, etc...

In it should include mainly:
-The name of the demolition contractor
-Their Demolition licence number (ensure that it's current)
-Their planned demolition sequence
-Asbestos removal licence (Depending on which state you are in, check to see if they are authorised to remove asbestos)
-Copies of their Puplic Liability Certificate of Currency (if removing asbestos, they must have asbestos cover on the certificate.) & Workers Compensation Certificate of Currency.
-Register of tickets held by all employees onsite, including Supervisor Certificates

There are many more to list, but this list is the main one that you as the "principal" should seriously consider and verify.

Justin · Mar 03, 2007 7:21 pm

We'll be demolishing a 1948 13sq brick veneer place in a month or so. Vlad hit the nail right on the head, you'd be looking at $10k give or take a couple of grand.

Demo companies are pretty cavalier about what they can recover to offset your costs, most of them that came around to quote us didn't even bother to come inside the house, but they all have the condition on the quote that they've got salvage rights on ALL contents (unless you nominate items you'll recover up front).

I reckon it's a bit of a lurk actually, if you've got the time, inclination and patience (and if your internals are worth it) you might be better off selling/ebaying all your removable house bits. Maybe try getting the demo people to quote on zero salvage ? We decided it wasn't worth mucking around, as we've got a very complicated and time-constrained situation with respect to commencing building, and thus can't afford the grief. We're happy with having gotten a very competitive quote from a company that was recommended to us.

Cheers,

Justin.

vpande · Mar 04, 2007 9:58 pm

Thank you all for your feedback.
vpande

guym · Mar 11, 2007 1:00 am

Justin

We'll be demolishing a 1948 13sq brick veneer place in a month or so. Vlad hit the nail right on the head, you'd be looking at $10k give or take a couple of grand.

Demo companies are pretty cavalier about what they can recover to offset your costs, most of them that came around to quote us didn't even bother to come inside the house, but they all have the condition on the quote that they've got salvage rights on ALL contents (unless you nominate items you'll recover up front).

I reckon it's a bit of a lurk actually, if you've got the time, inclination and patience (and if your internals are worth it) you might be better off selling/ebaying all your removable house bits. Maybe try getting the demo people to quote on zero salvage ? We decided it wasn't worth mucking around, as we've got a very complicated and time-constrained situation with respect to commencing building, and thus can't afford the grief. We're happy with having gotten a very competitive quote from a company that was recommended to us.

Cheers,

Justin.

Hi Justin,
who was the company?

Regards
Guym

Justin · Mar 11, 2007 10:07 am

Moorabbin Demolitions - 03 9558 7400

ausdesign · Mar 11, 2007 12:00 pm

Good post mercersio.
As an 'indication' what does asbestos removal add to the cost.

mek · Mar 11, 2007 5:14 pm

Have you considered selling your house? We had an 11 sq. brick veneer house, built in early 1960s, it got sold, cut in half and taken away to country Vic. Saved us demolishing it and we got some pocket money out of it!

Siatros · Mar 12, 2007 12:04 am

Hey mek - we are considering this but dont know where to start! Can you point us in the right direction please?

mek · Mar 12, 2007 4:05 pm

We are in Vic and got our house sold to Golden Age Homes, tel. 5964 4077, 1300 135120, www.gah.com.au. They come and look at your house, if they think it will sell they will take photos, put them on their website, I think the contract says 90 days, if they find a buyer within this period they will buy it off you.
We got ours sold on the same day they took photos.

vpande · Mar 12, 2007 4:44 pm

Thank you Mek. I have already been well over my initial budget.... I hope our house will sell too!
cheers,
VP

mercersio · Mar 18, 2007 2:36 pm

ausdesign

Good post mercersio.
As an 'indication' what does asbestos removal add to the cost.

Hi ausdesugn,

Thank you.

It will depend on the size of the job, but generally, your main costs is labour & waste. Removing the asbestos would normaly constitute 30% - 45% of the job on a 2/3 b/r home and more on a full fibro home.

So depending on the size of the team that will be removing it & how they are transporting it to an approved EPA facility,( bins or trucks), you will be looking at no more than 50% of the quotation price.

In Sydney alone, prices went up in July, 06. Now asbestos $170/tonne to dispose, and on an average home, you would expect to take out 4-5t of asbestos.

Also increases in workers comp Asbestos Levy have also gone up to 17% from 14%.

Removing the asbestos is surprisingly costly when you add all the costs thanks to all the "red tape" around it.

Rod1949 · Mar 20, 2007 4:48 pm

What a rip-off, here in Perth it is $55 tonne. Last year I demolished my house, I had 300kg's of asbestos and it cost $17.00 to dispose of at the disposal site.

devank · Mar 21, 2007 2:45 pm

mercersio,
In NSW, what is the average total demolition cost for a double brick single story house?

- devank

mybabymonsters · Apr 06, 2007 3:29 am

We live in Perth and demolished an old house late last year. We paid around $10k, including removal of asbestos sheeting. They hose it down and remove it and wrap it in black plastic. We asked our builder for recommendation of 3 demolition companies and chose the best one from there.

azi · Apr 29, 2007 6:47 pm

I think transporting is a great idea regardless of whether we get any $ from it - it alleviates my guilt about adding to landfill - but it would be nice if it helped to pay for our new house...

So, I looked into how much you might get. - going though a reputable remover, who takes care of all the permits etc - seems they pay between $1,000 and $15,000 depending on the house.

Much better than demoliting

Cheers