Filing the completion data afterwards is the last step: a house left in the register raises questions at the occupancy permit and on a later sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Three things have to be known before ordering the works. First, what the house is built from: buildings from the 1960s to the 1990s may contain asbestos-bearing materials such as corrugated sheeting or old insulation, and asbestos<\/a> is hazardous waste with its own handling requirements and its own price. Second, where exactly the existing utility connections run. Third, whether the building is protected, or whether heritage-value conditions apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The third is the rarest and the most expensive if it surfaces late: in a heritage-value area demolition may be restricted or tied to conditions that also shape the new house’s architecture. They come out in the procedure described in our article on a detailed plan or design conditions<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Very rarely. An old foundation was designed for a different load, different insulation and a different moisture regime, while the new house needs an insulated foundation with no cold bridges. Bearing capacity would have to be proven by survey and expert assessment, and strengthening then often costs more than building new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The exception is a foundation that is recent, documented and dimensionally compatible \u2014 and it has to be decided before the house is designed, because the foundation fixes its dimensions. Types are compared in our article on the foundation for a factory-built house<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most valuable part of a built plot is not the house but the connections. An electricity connection, a water and sewerage link and a driveway all cost a lot to create again, which is why demolishing an old house can leave you better off than an empty plot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keeping them takes planning. Record the connections beforehand and mark them for the contractor: an excavator operator does not know where the old water pipe or power cable runs, and restoring it costs more than marking would have. The same goes for large trees, which no new planting replaces. Reviewing an existing connection’s capacity is covered in our article on an electricity connection for a new house<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Demolishing an old house starts selectively: hazardous waste is removed first and handed to a licensed handler, then the reusable materials come out, metal and some timber among them, and only then is the structure taken down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The plot then has to be made good \u2014 the foundation removed or broken up, the excavation filled and compacted, since a new foundation cannot sit on debris left in a trench. Ask whether making good and the soil fill are in the quoted price, and who is responsible for preserving the connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Waste handling is regulated by law: demolition waste must be collected separately and handed to a handler who issues documents for it, and for hazardous waste the rules are stricter. Those documents prove the work was done properly and the local authority may ask for them at completion, so order the job from a company that takes this on itself; its background can be checked in the register of economic activities<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Demolishing an old house is its own line, not part of the price of the new house. It covers the permit, the hazardous waste, the demolition works, waste transport and treatment, removal of the foundation, soil fill and making good, and the register entry; its size depends on the building’s volume, materials and hazardous waste. The line sits under site preparation, before the foundation \u2014 see the full list in our article on a house building budget<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the house itself we can name indicative figures: interior finishing to a good standard starts from 400 \u20ac\/m\u00b2 + VAT, lower per square metre on larger houses, and the electrical work inside the house from 26 000 \u20ac + VAT. After a consultation, when your wishes are mapped out, we make a more precise offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The calmest order is this: an inspection of the plot and building with a survey of the connections; the concept design and the design conditions or detailed plan; the building design and permit application; the demolition permit; the demolition works and making the plot good; then the foundation and construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The old house stands until the schedule of the new one is certain, so the family can live there while the design is in procedure \u2014 unless it obstructs the surveys or the new house’s position. The decision points are in our article on house construction stages<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Three questions settle it. Are the structure and foundation demonstrably sound? Can the layout change without removing load-bearing walls? Would renovation reach an energy class close to a new house? If two answers are no, demolishing an old house is usually cheaper than a half-finished renovation. The energy logic is in our article on an energy class A house<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The demolition works are the shortest stage: for an ordinary detached house the talk is of days, not weeks. Time goes on the permit procedure, the hazardous waste survey and finding a handler, and on the stages of the new house alongside. Our own indicative timings are one to three months for the design, two to three months in practice for the building permit and about 22 weeks for construction, which interior finishing can extend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Winter demolition is possible, but making good and the soil fill need thawed ground, so plan the earthworks into the foundation’s season \u2014 see our article on building a house in winter<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Demolishing an old house goes calmly when the materials, connections and restrictions are established first, and the machines arrive only once the new house’s design and schedule are certain. If you have a plot with an old house, write to us through the contact page<\/a> and we will say in what order to proceed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7664,"template":"","valitud":[],"useful_category":[],"class_list":["post-12658","useful","type-useful","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyhome.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/useful\/12658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyhome.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/useful"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyhome.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/useful"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyhome.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyhome.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/happyhome.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"valitud","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyhome.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/valitud?post=12658"},{"taxonomy":"useful_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/happyhome.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/useful_category?post=12658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Denmark](\"https:\/\/happyhome.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/TTUN4647-2048x1536.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
2. What to establish before demolition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
3. Can the old foundation be used<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
4. What is worth keeping from the plot<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Iceland](\"https:\/\/happyhome.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/tv9.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
5. How the demolition works run<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
6. Waste and documents<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
7. Which budget line demolition belongs to<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Holland](\"https:\/\/happyhome.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/5C475CF1-071F-4E05-B108-95DE0043A33E.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
8. The right order and the schedule<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Renovate or demolish: how to decide<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Belgium](\"https:\/\/happyhome.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/01-1-2048x1365.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
How long it all takes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n