How Much Does It Cost To Demolish A House?

“I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll bloooow your house down!” said the big bad wolf.

Everybody knows he was easily successful in demolishing the two little pigs’ dwellings in the children’s story. His tactic didn’t work on the third little pig, though, because “as many claim,” the last house was built to code and no amount of huffing and puffing can tear down that structure.

Most houses these days are like the third little pig’s – built with a great foundation and stability to last a long time — which is why demolition is no easy task. Special techniques are required to make sure that not only is the job carried out the right way, but it also doesn’t compromise surrounding structures as well as environmental components within the area. Due to all these considerations, demolishing a house can actually be a lengthier process than most people expect, and not only that, it can be very costly as well.

So how long does it take and how much does it cost to demolish a house?

In Perth, from the moment of decision to the actual process of demolishing a regular-sized home (say, one with three bedrooms, two baths, a kitchen, dining room and living room) can easily stretch to anywhere from two to three and a half months since council approval normally takes four to six weeks. As for the cost, homeowners with this property size may have to pay $13,000 to $20,000; it really would depend on the size of the property and the complexity of the job. Every home is created differently and there are so many considerations to the demolition job that can contribute to the cost, such as the presence of big trees around the home, plumbing, presence of asbestos, etc. A demolition company usually sends an inspector to assess the property and then come up with a fair estimate of the job — and yes, it’s never cheap.

For those who want to know how to subdivide the cost of the job, though, they are advised to enquire about which aspects of the job they can accomplish themselves or if they can opt for a salvage service for recyclable items like tiles, roof beams, floor boards, and such. Typically, demo companies re-sale the recyclables in their own yards for a good profit so it’s crucial to work this out especially if the owners want to use them in the future or sell these items themselves. Some say that taking out salvage service can actually make the job more expensive, but the important thing to find out here is which aspects of the job can be done away with to save on overall expenses, and which companies are more flexible with their service and have no hidden costs.

Tagged: Bathroom Remodeling, subdivision