Demolition of the roof of an old, brick barn

Hello construction professionals! We will be building our new home next year from an existing, brick-built barn. For this, we will first dismantle the roof ourselves. The roof frame itself measures about 5m in height, with a base size of 14x17m. The roof construction is basically a self-supporting, massive roof truss and is covered with old asbestos corrugated sheets. No insulation or similar.

My questions regarding this are as follows:

[*]What legal requirements do we need to consider, aside from the building permit? That is, do certain things have to be complied with, apart from proper disposal? [*]What safety measures should we consider? For example, tensioned safety nets due to the height, scaffolding on the outside, ...? [*]What else might we need additionally, apart from an appropriate disposal vehicle and crane? (We would probably store the wood, as far as it is still good)

I would be very glad if some of you could maybe answer one or the other question.

Thank you very much in advance and best regards!

Hi,
without meaning to be intrusive, but if you have to ask such questions:

What safety precautions do we need to consider? For example, tensioned safety net because of the height, scaffolding outside, ...?

I would strongly advise getting at least expert help on site. What you are planning is no small matter. You will be dealing with heavy weights and unpredictable behavior of beams. If a beam has a slightly different center of gravity than you estimated, it will swing around and smash everything in its way like a wrecking ball.

I think this is one or two levels too big for a "hobby handyman group."

And ASBESTOS????
Pray that it’s not asbestos! If it is, good luck:
You have to carefully remove it in a full respirator suit, pack it in plastic, and dispose of it as hazardous waste at great expense. As far as I know, only certified companies are allowed to do that!

I think this is five to ten levels too big for a "hobby handyman group."

Best regards,

Andreas

I can only contribute to the disposal cost, which fluctuates regionally and seems very expensive, but the stuff weighs almost nothing and compared to the construction project the pure asbestos disposal (excluding labor costs) will probably be cheaper than the notary for the land charge.

At this scale, the weight should end up at <2t.

weighs almost nothing??

Maybe I’m missing something right now. But I have these corrugated cement boards in mind, which I would estimate at at least 15-25 kg / sqm. With an estimated roof area of easily 300 sqm, you’re dealing with 6 tons.

I don’t know what kind of cereal you eat in the morning, but if 6 tons is almost nothing for you, I want to have that stuff too!

Best regards,

Andreas

If you are kinder, I can gladly send you my weighing slip with which I disposed of the 48sqm roof of an old garage.

And even if it is 6 tons.... Disposal costs us 1,800 euros. I don't think this project will fail at this point. There are other, much more important issues you mentioned.

Hi,
calm down, have you already seen the smiley? All good, it wasn’t meant to be unfriendly at all. If it really is only 1800 euros/ton, you are right. Without knowing exactly what kind of stuff is there, it’s also pointless to speculate about it. I always have the nursing home in mind where I did my civilian service. There, "asbestos cement shingles" were glued to the wall like slate tiles. They disposed of that stuff with the effort described above and a corresponding financial effort. It’s supposed to have badly messed up the financial statements of the operator for years!
Maybe the disposal of these asbestos corrugated sheets is significantly cheaper. When disposing of it, I would definitely follow all occupational safety regulations very carefully. Otherwise, you might not enjoy your new building for long.

Best regards,

Andreas