Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Mar 10, 2011 1:00 pm Hi! I am now in the process of selecting a demolisher to knock down the old run down house we just bought. (Will be rebuilding with Porter Davis after that). There is asbestos present apparently, and many trees to remove including a couple of huge ones. What do I need to watch out for when selecting a demolisher? And what should I watch out for before signing off completion? Please share pleasant experiences or horror stories ... thanks! We're in Melbourne, by the way ... Re: What to watch out for when demolishing a house? 2Mar 10, 2011 8:46 pm From my own experience and from what I’ve heard since, demolition companies seem to be notorious for being late. So make sure you factor that in when booking. Check if the demolition company can arrange for demolition approval with the council and the disconnection of services (eg. electricity, gas) on your behalf. Makes it easier for you. Also, when they remove the ‘huge’ trees, this may leave a large void in the ground when the roots have been pulled out. Check with the demolition company as to whether they think you’ll need a compaction certificate and if so, whether they can arrange this and how much it’ll cost. That’s if the huge trees are situated on the block where the new house will be getting built. Finally, shop around. Demolition prices vary a great deal although, the cheapest might not always be the best. Maybe ask your builder if they can recommend a reputable company. Re: What to watch out for when demolishing a house? 3Apr 05, 2011 4:03 pm HELP! Has anyone demolished a property with asbestos in it and if yes, how much did it cost you? Our demolisher quoted $13k for demolition of a single-storey stripped-bare house with asbestos in the eaves, plus removal of a number of medium to small trees (removal of two big trees on a separate quote). They started on the job and came back saying there's asbestos in the roof and wanted another $8k!! I can't verify what they are saying unless I ask them to stop work and call in another demolisher for a quote. Would like to know if what they are quoting is reasonable or a rip-off?? Anyone with such experience ... appreciate your comments ... Re: What to watch out for when demolishing a house? 4Apr 05, 2011 4:49 pm mims Hi! I am now in the process of selecting a demolisher to knock down the old run down house we just bought. (Will be rebuilding with Porter Davis after that). There is asbestos present apparently, and many trees to remove including a couple of huge ones. What do I need to watch out for when selecting a demolisher? And what should I watch out for before signing off completion? Please share pleasant experiences or horror stories ... thanks! We're in Melbourne, by the way ... Cap all sewer pipes. It cost one member on here $70,000 for missing that and the sewer filled up with concrete when the slab was poured. Read your builders terms & conditions about your mutual responsibilities. Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: What to watch out for when demolishing a house? 5Apr 05, 2011 4:58 pm ed @ ecoclassic mims Cap all sewer pipes. It cost one member on here $70,000 for missing that and the sewer filled up with concrete when the slab was poured. Read your builders terms & conditions about your mutual responsibilities. Ed now thats a scary story...surely that cant be the land owners fault. Re: What to watch out for when demolishing a house? 6Apr 05, 2011 5:47 pm tintin ed @ ecoclassic mims Cap all sewer pipes. It cost one member on here $70,000 for missing that and the sewer filled up with concrete when the slab was poured. Read your builders terms & conditions about your mutual responsibilities. Ed now thats a scary story...surely that cant be the land owners fault. It was specifically excluded by the demolition company and the builder... and the owner missed it. "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: What to watch out for when demolishing a house? 7Apr 05, 2011 7:00 pm Mims, we used Pearcedale plant hire, recommended from here, they weren't too bad. Cheaper than Whelan the wrecker. we organised the following things ourselves. Disconnection and Abolishment of all services. (Gas, Power and Water,Sewer) Underground power pit connection. Council asset protection levy (covering our build as well) They removed our garage, house, all trees driveway and remains of our previous fence. They also did not perform any salvage on the house, which allowed us to sell heaps of stuff from the house , including heater airconditioning, kitchen laundry etc. It cost us double in fees and disconnections, re connections than the actual price for actual demolition Initial Deposit 05/09/2010 Tender 21/10/2010 Contract 26/11/2010 Site Start 11 Feb Bricking underway 28/03 Fitout commenced 20/04 PCI 08/07 Settlement 15/07 build Blog http://foxley29.blogspot.com/ Re: What to watch out for when demolishing a house? 8Nov 04, 2011 8:40 pm Now that the demolition is way past us, this is what I have to say about it. First of all, submit the application for the demolition permit yourself, even before you select your demolisher. This way, you won't have to wait until you have selected your demolisher (which will take some time pending quotations and communications), and then wait for them get the paperwork done with the building surveyor and then submit the application for you. In our case, we left the permit application with the demolisher and the application was only submitted a week after we supplied all the documents, and the approval took another two weeks. Also, organize abolishment of your gas and power and removal of the phone cables yourself - you can control your schedule better if you do it yourself. Remember to also apply for your asset protection permit and take lots of photos of your footpaths, crossover, nature strip and nearby signposts from all angles. If the demolisher damages anything (which is highly possible), it is not likely they will repair them for you but the Council will not refund your deposit until you do. When getting a quote, ensure that the demolisher checks for asbestos both inside and outside the house, especially in the roof. They might need to send samples to the lab to test for asbestos. Salvage whatever you can sell before the demolition. If the house is already vacant, you might even want to salvage whatever you can before you call the demolisher in for a quote as their quote might be inclusive of what they can salvage from your place. Then plan for a holiday just before the demolition starts. You'll be pleased to return from your holiday to see a nice piece of flat land. 4 14293 Unless there is something in special conditions the builder does not have to give you timeline. If your demolition contractor has not removed Asbestos and it was found… 12 28800 Thanks for the informative response! I'll feed that back to the site supervisor. 2 4110 |