# Forum Home Renovation Demolition  Demolishing Brick Work - High Set House

## Outbreak Monkey

Hey all, 
We recently purchased a high set house in Brizzy. Underneath has been built in at some point in time, the slab is all wonkey and in many parts, and the headroom ranges  from 1900 to 2200mm... 
We want to get downstairs 'nice' - and were thinking either:
Raise the House or Dig Down... 
Raising the house will mean demolishing the brick veneer walls front and back - these might also have inset brick peers so we might need posts right up to the roof.. (sides are weatherboard up top).. 
Digging down we might encounter granite (we're near on old quarry with granite throughout our yard) - plus we're left with the front and back foundations protruding in to the living areas... 
How hard do you all think this brickwork will be to pull down? - What do do with the bricks? Are they expensive to dispose of? 
Any thoughts as to which approach is more cost effective?
Also, is either method more prone to the 'gotchas' and complications? 
Any help is much appreciated!
Nik.
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Pics of Front/Back so you can see the brick work I'm talking about, and underneath (which is now do the interior framing).

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## Bloss

Really needs an onsite inspection, but it would unusual if the best option were not to dig down. From the pics it doesn't look too bad to me - I would be simply doing some minor works and painting with off white or light colours etc to neaten and lighten it up. But I can't really see what brickwork you say needs to be pulled down. 
But I am assuming that you wish to retain the same area, but have it all at one height and a level floor. This is not trivial work. The floor coverings need to be lifted so you can get at the concrete floor which will need to be removed so you can excavate lower. 
If you are lucky it might simply be matter of excavating sufficiently deep to give you a 2400 ceiling height from the top of a new concrete floor (which will need to be 100mm minimum). 
Depending upon the footing depth of the existing walls you might need to underpin with a new pour of concrete & steel reo etc - you will need engineering advice on what is needed and plans and drawings of what must be done. 
As I said I would be living in the place a little longer and seeing what your needs are then having a good think about what changes are the best to meet your needs. In the mean time do some decoration and less heroic changes which make it work better for you at little cost or disruption. 
A finished ceiling height of 2.4m is the normal minimum required for habitable rooms ie. bedrooms, lounge rooms, and living areas etc, but excluding kitchens. These areas, along with non-habitable spaces, require a minimum ceiling height of 2.1m - so if the area you have is called a workshop then you might get away with making it all 2200, but you'd  need to check with council. 
Waterproofing is something you'll have to investigate - it looks like at least two walls are below natural ground level and that means external means of stopping water getting into the space.

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