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Cost-Influencing Factors For Home Demolition

8 April 2015 by Jessica Scott

Thinking about starting from scratch and having a custom home built to suit your needs? If so, and if you're looking to save money, you might be considering the option of building your new home on your current property. Of course, this will require you to have your existing home demolished. Before you decide to go through with this plan, you'll want to be aware of the many factors that can influence the cost of a home-demolition project; after all, demolition isn't quite as simple and straight-forward as you may think.

Presence of Asbestos

If your home was built more than a few decades ago, there's a good chance that it could have been built with materials containing asbestos. Upon demolition of the home, that asbestos could become airborne, which can be very dangerous to your health and the health of the demolition workers. As such, your demolition team will need to test for asbestos before they get started. If it's found, an outside team of asbestos abatement professionals will need to be hired so that demolition can be done safely, which will drive up the total costs of the project.

Foundation Demolition

Depending on the layout and footprint you're considering for your new home, you may be able to save thousands of dollars by not having your existing home's foundation completely demolished. Often times, demolishing an existing basement foundation can be quite pricey; removal of concrete slab foundation is less expensive, but can still add a pretty penny to your total demolition costs. It may be worth it to speak with your new home designer to see if you can work the existing foundation into the design as a means of saving money.

Permit Application Costs

Any time a building--be it residential or commercial--is demolished, a permit must be obtained from the local city or municipality offices. Your demolition company, like Alpart Scrap Iron & Metals Inc, should be able to handle obtaining and filing the necessary paperwork for you, but you'll be responsible for paying any costs associated with applying for the permit. Usually, these expenses don't add up to be much, but it's still in your best interest to be aware of them, as the application costs can vary from city to city.

As you can see, there's a lot involved in planning to have a home demolished. As such, you'll want to keep cost-saving measures in mind as you plan for your home demolition.

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