Demolition is great because you can quickly see big changes in the project. And, let’s face it, it’s kind of fun. However, there comes a point when the floors are gone, the kitchen and bathrooms have been gutted, and there are great big holes in the walls and ceilings and you stop and look around and think, “What have we done?!!!”
Always Have a Plan
Demolition started on Day 1 for us. We had the dumpster delivered that day, and armed with our tools and more than a few YouTube videos, we jumped right in. For a list of what tools you’ll want to have on Day 1, see our last post of The Planning Stage of a Flip House.
We’re not demolition experts, and we knew we weren’t going to knock this out in a day, so we put together a To Do List for the order we wanted to get things done. We knew we had trades coming in soon, and we wanted everything out of their way so they could get started.
The very first thing for us to tackle were the overgrown vines along the back of the house. They were covering the electrical and other boxes on the back of the house which our electrician was going to need access to in order to move and rewire the electrical box. They had also grown through the covered patio roof and even into the attic in a couple of places, so they had to go before they did any more damage. Finally, when it came time to paint the house, the vines would just be in the way, so we decided everything had to go. Unfortunately, these vines turned into an even bigger project than we first thought as they left little “feet” everywhere they had attached to the house. We tried scraping and using a wire brush to get them off, but in the end, a really good pressure washer was what did the trick. Later, we had to dig down to get the giant roots out of the ground. I think off and on, we easily spent 6 days getting it all cleaned up.
After the vines came the maroon carpet, scraping out the old tile floor, and removing all of the baseboards. We also removed all of the interior doors and door frames, and then finally started on the bathrooms. Outside, we cleaned up the yard by removing some bushes, moving around some rose bushes, and taking out one giant grapefruit tree (we left 3 more as well as an orange and 2 lemon trees).
To save us from having to get a porta-potty and sticking it in the front yard, we decided to keep a working bathroom. So in the main hallway bath, we kept the toilet and sink in until the very last minute, even though everything else came out. By doing it this way, we only had to go a couple of days without a working bathroom while we tiled the floor and got the new toilet installed.
12 Demolition Tips
By doing demolition ourselves, we actually learned a lot, and I’m glad we did it. It wasn't easy, but here are some tips that might help you out:
1. By cutting the carpet into narrower strips, even we could easily carry the pieces out to the dumpster.
2. You really can figure out how to do almost anything on YouTube, and it was an invaluable source for learning how to do things like getting rid of the popcorn ceilings and the easiest way to remove baseboards.
3. Sometimes the big sledgehammer is the only tool that will do the job, but you use it a lot less than you think you will. I know that I also learned that I only have so many swings in me with that thing before I need to take a break!
4. Habitat for Humanity (check your local organization) will come and remove your cabinets, doors, and appliances for free! You just need to make sure you schedule them in advance and they will want photos to determine if they even want your stuff. The best part? It's a charitable donation and could have tax benefits.
5. Appliances typically can't go into dumpsters, so they can be kind of a pain to get rid of. For appliances that Habitat for Humanity didn’t want (they don't take older units), if you list them on the mobile app OfferUp for free, there are lots of people willing to come pick them up (you could even sell them if you wanted to). We gave away both the refrigerator and the stove for free and it was the perfect solution.
6. A decent pair of leather gloves and some safety glasses aren’t just a good idea, they’re essential.
7. Get to know the neighbors and exchange phone numbers. There are so many good reasons to do this:
· They can help keep an eye on the house and if they see something that doesn't look right, they can give you a call (we got one of these calls, even though it turned out to be a false alarm).
· It also works to their benefit. When it was time to paint the fence, we texted to let the next door neighbor know so he could move his car.
· Neighbors often like to talk, and it can be a great place to get information about the neighborhood and even stories about the house you’re renovating.
· Finally, they can be a source. We needed a pool guy, and got a recommendation from one of the neighbors. We ended up really liking him and would use him again.
8. Sometimes the hardest part of demo, is getting the trash to the dumpster! But by breaking it up into manageable pieces and helping each other carry heavy buckets, we were able to manage it. We also used our wagon a lot.
9. If you have an amazing brother-in-law (or friend) with awesome power yard tools, let him help you. (Thanks Mike!)
10. Have a dedicated spiral notebook for the job and take it with you everywhere. In it, we put everything from measurements to paint colors, timelines to daily to do lists, shopping lists to notes on conversations we had with trades. It wasn’t neat, but I swear, every time I didn’t have it on me, I regretted it.
11. Glued down wood floors are no joke to remove, and when EVERYONE you talk to says don’t even try it yourself, believe them! We killed two days and even rented a machine to remove those things and probably only got rid of about 20 square feet. We finally succumbed and hired it out.
12. Do what you can, and then leave the rest like structural and electrical (and glued down wood floor removal) to the experts.
You Have to Multitask
During this time we were easily working 6-1/2 to 7 days a week. We would spend a few hours every morning going through design decisions and combing through online stores to find everything we were going to need once demolition was done. There is so much that needs to be bought, that once again, we made a list to keep track of it all (we’re definitely list people!). Specifically, we kept a spreadsheet with these headings:
|Order date | Product | Qty| Vendor | Due Date | Date Rec’d | Notes |
Everything we could think of that we were going to have to order went on this list, and as it was ordered, we would fill out the rest of the boxes. Some of the products we ordered online, some we had to go shopping in stores. I think being a good shopper is an essential skill to have in flipping houses. After all, we wanted quality products at discount prices and sometimes that took time to find.
We continued to use FlipperForce to keep track of all of our expenses and to help us stay on budget. It's important to stay on top of the finances!
In addition to demo, finances, and shopping, our General Contractor and some of our trades were also starting their work, so we had multiple meetings with them about schedules, timelines, and what needed to get done.
Flipping a house isn’t easy work. There is sweat involved, long hours, and countless decisions to be made. But we were finding it was something we really enjoyed doing.
Next: Putting it all back together again!
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