To re-build or to renovate

Jagvir Goyal.

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After his retirement Mr Gupta was in a dilemma when it came to moving into his own house from government accommodation. He was in a fix whether to go in for extensive renovation or complete re-building of the house. There were differences in opinion within the family. He had prepared a fairly good sketch plan of his house as the original plans were not available.

Whether to renovate or build afresh is a common query that a number of people have. There are many factors that have to be kept in mind before making the final decision. Here are the most important ones:

Check the age of building

Though buildings and houses survive for much longer and though there are no set rules to determine the life of the buildings, engineers assume the life of an average building as 50 years. Therefore, check when the house under consideration was constructed. If it is over 35 years old then it is a better option to go in for rebuilding the structure rather than renovating it.

The house plan

Check if the old house plan can be altered to convert it into your dream plan. There is an altogether shift in the line of thinking now as far as the plan layout of a house is concerned. People look for bigger bathrooms and kitchens now. Earlier, the minimum size used to be given to these and extra than bare minimum size was considered as a wastage of space. Now, the general preference is for a double height lobby and bigger bedrooms. Emphasis is more on having big rooms than having more number of rooms. Go for renovation of the house only if it is possible to provide a modern look to the renovated house.

Structural feasibility

Check if it is structurally feasible to renovate the old house. Renovation of old house will demand removal or shifting of certain walls. A beam may have to be laid below the roof slab at the location of a wall being removed. Check whether supports are available for the beam to be inserted. A structural engineer will have to check whether the new load bearing structure provided after the alteration of the old structure is safe or not. This aspect is very important from safety and earthquake resistance point of view.

Roof and walls

Check the specifications of the roof and walls provided in the old house. In case a reinforced brick roof slab had been provided earlier, there is no use of retaining such a roof slab. In such case, it will be better to lay a new RCC roof slab. And if roof slab itself has to be removed, then there is no use of going for renovation, rather new construction should be preferred. Check the walls also. Check if these were built in cement mortar. If the walls were built in mud mortar then these might be termite infested and retaining such walls in new house shall amount to total wastage of funds. In the 1970s, there was a trend of building walls in mud mortar and saving cost of cement. These days, no one uses mud mortar. In many cases, when we buy an old constructed house, the wall masonry is found to be in mud mortar. While buying an old house, one should always check a number of walls by removing the plaster and checking whether the wall brick masonry is in mud or cement mortar. Go for new construction if walls are in mud mortar and roof slab is of reinforced brick type.

Check heritage status

Many people live in very old and pre-partition time houses. They have a sort of attachment to these ancestral properties. Some of these properties may be worth acquiring the heritage building status. Archeological society of India classifies heritage buildings as Grade 1 buildings, grade 2 buildings and so on. Buildings of historical importance fall under grade 1 category. Buildings under each grade have a precise definition. No development, alteration, demolition or repair is permissible for buildings having heritage status without permission of concerned authority. Though there are remote chances that the building you are living in has the heritage tag attached to it yet this factor should be kept in mind by those occupying very old buildings.

Check the usage

Are you going to live in the house after its renovation or construction? In case the children have moved to US or any other country and you too plan to move to stay with them then what's the use of renovating or constructing a new house? One should go for new construction or major renovation if he himself is going to live in the newly constructed or renovated house. Renting it out after construction or major renovation is again a bad idea. In case one has not to use the newly constructed or renovated house himself, then he should go for bare minimum renovation only.

Resale value

The way the value of an old car doesn't increase after overhauling, the resale value of an old building also doesn't increase much after its renovation. If you are going to live yourself in the renovated house then only it is worth going for renovation. If there are plans to sell the house after using it for a few years then it shall not be wise to spend a fortune on the renovation of the house. In such a case, only reasonable amount of renovation should be carried out.

The location factor

Location of the existing house also plays an important part in deciding whether to go for renovation or altogether new construction. A house may be located in a street or may have bad connectivity or located in a congested area. There may be no greenery around and environment may be polluted. In such a case, it will be better to either move to a new location by selling this house or to renovate it to a reasonable extent. If the house is located in a prime location then going for new construction will pay dividends and all the money spent on new construction will not go waste but shall add to the value of the house.

Check for cracks

Before beginning with the renovation of old house, it should be thoroughly checked for cracks and presence of termite. The nature of cracks should be studied and if these are structural cracks due to settlement of foundations then one should think twice before going for renovation. Existence of termite colonies is another such factor. Once the termites enter a house, regular anti-termite treatment becomes very important. Otherwise it becomes impossible to get rid of it. Settlement of floors should also be checked. Going for 'tile on tile application' in case of already settled floors will not be a wise option.

Check the pipes and wiring

Old water supply and sanitary pipes may have outlived their life and shall need replacement during renovation. While doing renovation work, we often want to add a new toilet to the house. Often it is not feasible to connect new pipes to the existing water supply and sanitary pipe network and the whole system has to be replaced. Similarly, the electrical wiring in the house may also require total replacement. Check these aspects and the cost on their account before deciding whether to renovate your house or to rebuild it.

Coming back to the case of Mr Gupta … the walls of his house were built in mud mortar and he was not sure about the type of construction in roof slab. The house plan demanded a total change and there were no budget constraints. The building was about 40 years old and located at a prime location. So the unanimous decision was to build a new house instead of renovating the old one.

Check your budget

Dismantling an old house and building a new one demands more funds than those required for the renovation of an old house. So check your budget. The cost of construction has gone up considerably. New construction now demands more than at least Rs 2500 per sq ft area if top class specifications of materials are to be chosen. Go for new construction if the required budget is available. Renovation of a house though less costly involves much more hassles and headache.

— The writer is HOD and Chief, civil engineering department in a Punjab PSU