It’s either you want to build your own home or renovate the old one. But when you buy a property that already has a home in it, you’ll have to decide whether to “give it a little love” or tear it down and build a new one. How do you know which is the right decision to make?
Both have their advantages and disadvantages, which can help you narrow the choices down to the two—to build or demolish. The decision depends on you since the home can always check the boxes for demolition, but you end up renovating the home out of emotional attachment.
When Is It Good to Renovate?
Renovating might be good unless a home is falling because of age, a termite infestation, or other things. Here are some reasons to consider this option:
It’s your primary home
Remodeling usually doesn’t require you to move out since you can live within the construction zone—with safety in mind. This is a good option for primary residential homes with families not wanting to go through the hassles of moving.
Being on a tight budget
Building a new home is way more expensive than renovating, so if your budget is low, remodeling might be your best option.
You want to keep its authenticity
Some old homes have their charm both in their exterior and interior architectural designs and features. Especially when a certain home is listed by the law under protection, you’ll need approvals for any project you want to embark on before anything else.
Less hassle planning approval
It’s much easier to have your alteration plans approved than to construct a new home. Although it doesn’t guarantee a less hassle process, you usually get approval when you plan to remodel.
If you want to reduce your environmental impact
Generally, reusing things can automatically reduce your carbon footprints as you lower your energy use from avoiding the demolition and building that require new sets of materials and equipment use.
When Is It Good to Demolish and Build a New One?
Before anything else, you need to inspect and accurately determine the real condition of the home. Be aware that houses have their own lifespan, like the roof, structure, and more. When it’s reasonably beyond repair, there’s no other option than to demolish. Here are when you should:
It has low ceilings
Older homes usually have lower ceilings, at least nine feet. Unless there’s a lot of space in your home, it’s not that easy to adjust the headroom. The overall structure will be impacted—the floor above, inside and outside walls, plumbing, wiring, HVAC, stairs, and more.
You plan to stay longer in that home
Your plan might be to live longer in that home and sell it after. This is when your option should be to tear the old home down and build a new home. As mentioned, house materials have their lifespans.
Once it’s built, its life clock starts ticking, reducing its strength over time. But when you strip an old home down and rebuild, it would be like resetting the clock. Your home is easier to buy in the future since buyers or inspectors will always look at the age of the home before making decisions.
It has foundation issues that need repair
Severe problems like buckled or crackled foundations, excessive moisture and mold buildup, weak supports in the ceilings and walls, and many other irreparable issues call for demolition.
It doesn’t give space for additions
When all the spaces are used enough to add any more additions, perhaps you’ll need to tear it down so that you can get your preferred space and layout. There might already be plenty of additions but are poorly designed or built, in which case you’ll only have to consider partial demolition.
You don’t like the plot position
Perhaps you don’t like how dark some areas are, such as the kitchen, and you don’t like the given plot overall. Rebuilding can help you exactly position spaces as you want them to.
It’s not historical, and renovation is pricier
If the home is just an old building, you don’t have emotional connections to it, and the renovation turns out to be more expensive than just building a new home, consider demolition.
If you want to sell it as a vacant lot
So many people would want to jump to vacant lot offers. Knowing that an old home only reduces the worth of the land and you’re selling it, go ahead and demolish the property.
Many would recommend that you get a new one rather than get by with the old one. It might not be easy to decide but make sure that practically prevails to live more comfortably and save more.
