# Forum Home Renovation Demolition  Need some tips on Demolition

## jacobsmith01

Im going to Demolish the back of my house which is an old extension that has been badly built by previous owners  :Doh: . It is a skillion roof extension roughly 7m x 10m and so far I have only removed the raked ceiling plaster and exposed the rafters so I can see what im in for with the roof side of things! 
Its really not worth me trying to fix all the building mistakes on this extension so I would rather demolish it all back to stumps and start again. 
I've never demolished on this scale before so am looking for any tips for doing this kind of job. What is the order I should demolish in? 
I am thinking of retaining most of the floor boards to re-use and some of the structual timber but will build all the new walls from Treated Pine cause we have a bad termite problem here  :Cry:

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## jiggy

If it is a timber structure then its pretty straight forward. If you want to save the floor it may be worth laying some sheets of 3mm mdf as a protection and easy to shovel off, start with all  internal linings, expose all windows and doors. get your sparky in to remove wiring. Then work from the roof down. A good pinchbar / crowbar and a handsaw or reciprocating saw will see you through most of it . I use a flat shovel to lever off the gyprock, it tends to come off in larger pieces. Good luck and have fun. Take pics before and after!

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## jatt

I removed the entire (skillion roofed) extension out the back of my place before having the main part of the house removed.  If you are careful when going about it, then its surprising what can be saved and reused.   
Recon the idea of covering the floor in MDF is a good one, especially if its a pine floor.  Wasnt able to save any of my pine floor, it just cracked badly when I tried.  Oh well up the chimney.  The hardwood floor I removed from another joint just down the road faired much better.  The method of cutting the floor up in sections with the chainsaw and knocking the boards off proved to be quite effective. 
All the usual disclaimers like getting services disconnected, keeping an eye out for asbestos (not trying to start yet another long winded discussion on that one).  
Good luck with it.  As always lots of fotos.

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## jacobsmith01

Thanks for the tips. The floor boards are hardwood and if I am to re-use them they will most likely need to be put through a planer to make them like new. If the boards dont come up easy with a pinch bar then I might have to use the chainsaw method and cut it out in sections. Yeah I am getting the electrician in soon to dissconect the power from the back but I rekon i could do the plumbing myself. The only pluming to remove is the kitchen sink so shouldnt be to much trouble.

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## Bloss

Might sound self-evident, but start at the top and work down . . . and for every bit you are about to move make sure it a) isn't holding up or otherwise supporting other parts than might collapse and b) make sure that you are able to carry the load of whatever it is you are removing, or if allowing it to fall a that you are certain of where it will land and that no damage will happen when it does. And take great care - demolition is dangerous work for you and anyone in the way of materials being removed. Even nails etc in timber that has not been debugged.

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## asbestosMan

The best advice I can give having a fair bit of experience in demo work, is to avoid rushing in, have a think about the most effective way to do the job, and how to use leverage on your side. Oftentimes when demolishing sheds we would cut the structural points and be able to pull the whole thing down in one big heap, saving lots of time, energy and unnecessary hazards! Bloss makes some good points demo can be dangerous work so be smart and use common sense and you will be sorted  Asbestos Information and Advice

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