Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
tonyzzztony

Cost of demolition

tonyzzztony
11 years ago

We're considering buying a house in a good location but the house is in pretty bad shape. We're wondering the cost of demolishing and cleaning up the site. The house is 1000 sq ft with a two car garage. Anything that can possibly be salvaged? I understand the prices vary, we are in the metro Detroit area.

Comments (7)

  • myhappyspace
    11 years ago

    We are tearing down an old house and shed on the land we bought. I think it was about $1k, if I remember correctly. I don't know if this works in the metro areas, but where we live the local fire department will also burn them down occasionally for training. We would have liked to have done that, but the permits take longer and we didn't have time to wait.

  • live_wire_oak
    11 years ago

    It can run anywhere from someone pays you for the salvage privilege to 30K to deal with all of the permits and environmental impact reports and cleanup from all of the nasty lead, asbestos, and heating oil that the demolition will have to deal with. The only way to know what it will be in your location is to call around and get some estimates.

  • dpusa
    11 years ago

    In our metro area, we were told about $10k if there is an existing home with a basement, and $500 per mature tree.

  • Annie Deighnaugh
    11 years ago

    I don't remember how much it costs, but it is more expensive to salvage stuff as it takes more time. Also, as far as salvage, only what you know you will use. If you save stuff and think, well maybe, most likely it will end up in a junk heap. We salvaged some old beams and the old shimmer glass windows and a few light fixtures, which we have used. The old back door with the strap hinges is still around somewhere but we haven't used it. The rest was out.

  • Beth Parsons
    11 years ago

    We paid around $8,000 to demo a 2200 sq/ft house and tear up the slab foundation. The demo permit was only $125 and the rest was the labor for the dozer and backhoe at $75/hour and dumpster fees at $305 for each rolloff.

  • mjlb
    11 years ago

    Around here you need a demo permit, and also must have property looked at for asbestos. Special asbestos removal and disposal is required, and for any other hazardous materials. I don't have numbers in front of me, but seem to remember about $7,500 to knock down and remove a 1500 sf house, with only a small area of asbestos.

  • SweetFish
    11 years ago

    Im just about to demo our house in northern NJ. Its going to run me around 17k. Heres a breakdown of the costs:
    $600 for gas company to disconnect service for demo. (all the other utilities did it for free)
    $500 for asbestos inspection - luckily none was found. If asbestos is found it can be another 2k-5k for removal.
    $800 for single tree removal
    $200 to bait the property for rodents
    $1200 for a topographical survey
    $15k for demo and removal of 3000 sq ft house
    Hope this helps