Cost savings for demolition and new construction?

I am currently working on a similar project and can share the following "experience" regarding the tendering process, although not yet regarding the implementation.

- Check to what extent the two existing halves share a common fire wall. If this is the case, during the demolition of your half this wall must remain, i.e. your new building will move further to the side along this wall
- With separate demolition, depending on the depth of the possible new basement, underpinning of the remaining building may be necessary. Here, budget around 1-1.5k€ per meter
- Make a soil survey including contamination screening. The landfills want this information, as do the demolition companies.
- To save costs, try to strip out as much as possible, but if there is an existing gas heating system, stay away from it
- Remember that a demolition permit is mandatory. This can take up to 3 months (in our case)
- A street closure may possibly be necessary. This may have to be applied for by you. Not all demolition companies offer this
- Clarify whether the municipal ordinance for unexploded ordnance removal needs to be called in. In the neighboring municipality this is necessary... an additional 2k€
- Obtain many quotes. These can differ significantly in price!
- Possibly carry out any clearing yourself (can save costs)

These are the things I can think of off the top of my head... there is certainly more to consider.

Regardless, I consider your cost calculation very ambitious. For a similar building size but with basement and garage we have quotes in the range of 800-900k€ (solid construction - architect-designed house; presumably with a general contractor). In addition, there are the known ancillary costs, architect, structural engineer, various surveys etc. which alone have already amounted to about 70k€. However, I am fortunate to be building on my own land, so I do not have to buy the plot first.

Building a house is exciting for me, but requires a lot of preparation and I learn new knowledge every day.

We had to lay everything new from the street. The house connections were original. Find the budget too tight for your project.

We did not do the gutting ourselves. The demolition company did it. They were so fast. Besides, I would have gutted much more.

We didn’t do the gutting ourselves. The demolition company helped with that. They were so fast. Besides, I would have gutted much more

What did they leave standing that you would have ripped out as well?

What did they leave standing that you would have also pulled out?

I would have to look for the pictures exactly. It's been a few years. They knew exactly what was okay and what wasn't. Sometimes I was surprised how picky they were, for example insulation around the chimney, and then on the floor only what could be removed quickly and everything that took more work stayed. They didn't touch the wallpaper at all. I would have just removed everything very thoroughly. Whether wallpaper, floor, or cables

If I remember correctly, you had a simple complete demolition (apart from being cautious because of the slope). So there was nothing to gut in the sense of rewinding back to the shell. When clearing out the existing building, it is about very different aspects:

They knew exactly what was possible and what wasn’t. Sometimes I was surprised how picky they were, e.g. insulation around the chimney and then on the floor only what could be quickly removed and everything that required more work was left. Wallpaper wasn’t touched at all.

... namely "waste separation," so as not to end up with the total volume in the most expensive landfill category "completely mixed." Then, always balancing cost savings and time investment, as much volume as possible is roughly "pre-sorted" before the sledgehammer is swung. Only copper thieves bother with cables, not demolition contractors.

however, if there is an existing gas heating system, steer clear of it

Why? The gas connection is decommissioned beforehand anyway. After that, you can easily remove them. In our case, they also found a buyer for these together with the radiators.
Here’s a tip: Get in touch with all utility providers as early as possible. Sometimes they take longer than expected. Almost our schedule failed because of disconnecting the gas connection, as they hadn’t indicated on their website that they need 3 months’ notice.

The demolition permit was processed as part of our building application.