Demolition or renovation? Looking for tips for basements from the 1970s!

Isn't it an AB Elementhus, for which there is a thread here after all with good exchanges between the renovating buyers of similar models? - what is the decisive factor in your case to shy away from this path?

Yes, it is. I have read the threads. However, I clearly smell a musty odor (suspect chloranisoles), a odor remediation seems difficult to me. Apart from that, we would want to change everything. Interior fittings, floor plan, windows. Considering both together, we did not think about it for long. Especially since the costs for the demolition should be manageable.

Floor plans can be changed, even in wooden structures. Suspecting hazardous materials but assuming demolition will be cheap sounds contradictory. Disposal must follow demolition; wanting to deposit hazardous materials is expensive. Experts should handle that.

We are facing a similar project: a fully basemented Okal Haus built in 1969 with the usual pollutant and odor issues, which is why after lengthy consideration a demolition is planned. We also want to keep the basement, as demolishing the basement—whether with a new basement in the existing foundation pit or with compaction and building on a slab—is likely to be significantly more expensive. The plan is to excavate the basement to install new waterproofing and perimeter insulation (here the costs due to the necessary earthworks should not be underestimated, unless you can do it yourself). One should also not underestimate the demolition costs for prefabricated houses from this era. Since this is more of a dismantling than a demolition and the more or less numerous pollutants have to be disposed of expensively, you should expect costs in the mid five-figure range (at least according to the quotes we received).

One should also not underestimate the demolition costs for prefabricated houses from this period. Since this involves more of a deconstruction than a demolition and the more or less numerous existing pollutants have to be disposed of at high costs, one must expect costs in the mid five-figure range (at least according to the offers we received).

Have pollutants been clearly identified at your place, have you done an analysis? At least in the thread about AB Elementhus houses, a test was cited that was negative.

Have you definitively detected pollutants, have you done an analysis?

In the thread about AB Elementhus houses at least one test was cited that was negative.

On the one hand, I have read in various sources that with the early prefabricated houses of that time, especially with OKAL, one simply has to assume that pollutants such as asbestos, formaldehyde, lindane, PCP, etc. are installed. On the other hand, we had someone here who conducts pollutant inspections before demolitions and pointed out potentially pollutant-containing building materials.

Fortunately, our facade was already renovated in the 90s, so the asbestos panels common there are no longer present. Asbestos is probably "only" still found in isolated spots in the interior fittings.

On the one hand, I have read in various sources that with the early prefabricated houses of that time, especially with OKAL, one simply has to assume that harmful substances such as asbestos, formaldehyde, lindane, PCP, etc. are built in. On the other hand, we had someone there who conducts contaminant inspections before demolitions and pointed out potentially contaminant-containing building materials.

On this occasion, I would like to once again point out my warning against replacing, for example, chipboards with a binder contamination that has now subsided with "fresh" ones, whose current lower limits can nevertheless be significantly above the residual contamination of the old ones. That would be like driving out the devil with Beelzebub.