Everyone says you should always read the small print on contracts. I try very hard to do that. Every so often I am still surprised. However, there’s not always print – large or small – when going through the steps of building a house. And even if it was in print, it’s not like you always have an option. So, here’s the not-so-small print of things to look out for and be prepared for. (Up until this point, I have tried very hard not to include actual dollar amounts for anything because they can vary so widely and because I don’t want to get too personal. However, I am including fairly accurate figures here because there’s really no good way to give a head’s up without including them. And because otherwise you probably wouldn’t believe me.)
-
Soil sampling: I guess I didn’t talk about this way back in the beginning… We had to have the soil sampled to make sure a house could stand where a house was already standing in order to get a permit to build. So, for $900 we had 3 30-foot tubes of soil pulled from the yard.
-
Asbestos testing and removal: If you plan to tear down a house that might contain asbestos, be prepared to pay at last $6000 for these services. You have to have a “clean bill of health” before being considered for a demolition/building permit.
-
Demolition permit: We paid $100 for a permit to remove the asbestos, and since that was removing part of the house, we didn’t need to pay this fee twice. So, we saved a little money.
-
Building permit: If you didn’t know you needed a building permit to build a house, just stop your project now and walk away. This should be a no-brainer. However, depending on your town, be prepared to write a hefty check. This permit is not usually covered in the builder’s contract and will be several thousand dollars.
-
Disconnect and reconnect of water and sewer: Apparently our village thought we paid enough for our building permit and only asked a nominal fee of about $200 to dig up the street and disconnect the sewer and water. And no fee was asked to reconnect. Phew!
-
Disconnect and reconnect of the natural gas line: Obviously you don’t want gas running to your old house when you tear it down and during construction, so you have to have the gas company come out and dig a hole in the yard to cut the line. Reconnection can’t be done at the same time, so you have to pay again to reconnect. Overall, we paid about $1500 for this to happen. And be prepared to trench the yard yourself to lay the new pipe or the price goes up from there.
-
Disconnect and reconnect of the electricity: This one was a real whopper. We had overhead power lines on the old house, and now we have underground lines on the new home. While we like the aesthetics better, it was the decision (and benefit) of the electric company to run the lines underground. But, kindly, they pass the charge on to the consumer. To the tune of $2000. Originally they wanted $3400 to trench and reconnect the lines because we would have had “abnormal trenching” which means someone would have had to hand dig about three feet with a shovel. The travesty! However, we were able to hire a trencher for $350 to dig for both gas and electric lines and save us quite a bit of money. Otherwise I would have been out there with a shovel myself.
These are most of the “hidden fees” and “small print” that people warn you about. Fortunately we were able to cover these fees to keep the project going because we didn’t really give ourselves the choice, but not everyone may be able to. I’m trying to give help to anyone who is thinking about or in the process of doing a teardown/rebuild. Read the small print. And if there’s no small print, ask some questions and do your research.
