Teardown or renovate? How we decide in Darien and Greenwich

Every few weeks someone calls about an older house. They just bought it, or they’ve been in it for twenty years, and they want to know whether to renovate it or knock it down and start over. After thirty years of doing both in Darien, Greenwich and Fairfield County, here is how we think it through.

It starts with the budget, not the house

The first thing I look at is the budget. Not the foundation, not the framing. The budget.

A renovation can cost more per square foot than new construction, but a whole new house costs more in total, and not everyone has that total. So before we talk about what the house needs, we talk about what you can spend. If the money is there for a new house, that changes the conversation. If it isn’t, the house is getting renovated, and the job is to do that well.

Where the line is

The number that matters is the total, not the price per foot, and there’s no fixed percentage. Here’s the kind of case where I’d say build new. A new house on your lot would run three million. You’re looking at gutting the whole house for a million and a half. The lot is a good piece of land, the street is strong, the neighborhood is strong, and the existing house has nothing spectacular about it. Spend that kind of money on a gut and you still have an old house. Spend double and you have a new one, and in these towns a new house always sells. Everybody wants one.

One thing to be clear about: this is about gutting and renovating the existing house. Additions are a different calculation. Putting a family room, a mudroom or a second floor on a solid house is usually worth doing on its own terms, and nothing in this post says otherwise.

A few things move the line:

What you paid for the house. If you’re in at a good price, you have room to tear down. If you paid up, you may not.

The size of the house and the lot. A big house on a small lot is often worth keeping. You’re not going to get a bigger one in its place, so renovate it.

The neighborhood. Look at what finished houses actually sell for on your street before you spend anything. A new house is worth more than a renovated one, but it has to be worth enough more.

What the house is made of. A stone house stays. More on that below.

The hidden costs are all on the renovation side

The biggest mistake people make when they renovate instead of rebuild is underestimating the hidden costs. A renovation has a lot of them. New construction has almost none.

On a new house, once the foundation is in and we haven’t hit water or ledge, the surprises are over. From that point the only extra money is money the customer chooses to spend. Nobody opens a wall in a new house and finds something they didn’t expect.

On a renovation you open walls for a living. What’s behind them decides the budget, and you don’t know until you’re in there.

How old is too old

There’s no fixed age, but there’s a point where renovating stops being serious. We replaced a 1920 house in Darien with a new one, and renovating it would have been a joke. Nothing in it was worth tying onto.

The exception is a house you couldn’t build today for any reasonable money. A limestone house, a real old stone chateau, the kind of masonry nobody is putting up anymore. If it’s a stone house, you don’t knock it down. You renovate it. Keep the shell and give it a new interior.

What’s worth saving

Old houses do have things in them worth money. We’ve pulled leaded glass windows and massive old beams out of small old houses and reused them or sold them, because there’s a market for that. But that only matters if it matters to you. If what you want is a fresh new house and the old stuff doesn’t have any pull, that’s one more reason to take it down and start clean.

What a 1950s foundation tells us

A lot of the houses we see in Darien from the fifties and sixties sit on stone rubble foundations. That by itself doesn’t kill a renovation. A rubble foundation can always be modified to carry the new structure. It’s work, but it’s known work.

When the house has settled, you can’t tie onto it

Framing is a different story. If an older house has settled and is no longer square or level, it’s very hard to tie an addition onto it. One side of the house is a little off, and now your new addition has to be built crooked to meet it, or you spend real money correcting the old structure first. Old additions stacked on older additions make this worse. This is the point where a lot of renovations stop making sense.

Wiring, pipes and oil tanks

Three things in an older house that almost always have to go:

Electrical. Old panels and knob and tube wiring cannot be added onto. You start fresh.

Plumbing. Old lead and brass pipe won’t take new fittings, so it all comes out.

Oil tanks. Tanks inside and out eventually corrode and need replacing, and sometimes just getting to an existing tank is the hard part. An underground tank is heavily regulated and has to be handled by the book. A basement tank isn’t regulated the same way, it’s just a pain to get out.

None of this is a reason not to renovate. It’s a reason to budget for it before you start, not after.

When keeping the old house is the smart move

Some houses are worth keeping for a reason that has nothing to do with the house itself: zoning. Plenty of older homes in Darien and Greenwich sit closer to the street or the property line than today’s rules allow. As long as the structure stays, it keeps that footprint. Tear it down and the new house has to follow the current setbacks and coverage, which can mean a smaller house, or a house that sits somewhere you didn’t want it. In those cases renovating is the better deal even when the numbers are close.

The 50 percent rule if you’re in a flood zone

If the house is in a flood zone, there’s a federal rule that can change everything. If the cost of your renovation is more than half the value of the house (the structure, not the land), the whole house has to be brought up to current flood code. For most houses near the water in Darien, Rowayton or Old Greenwich that means raising it.

We’ve raised two or three houses over the years. One we knew about going in. One we didn’t. Find out early whether the house is in a flood zone and where your renovation lands against that line. It can turn a renovation into a teardown, or add a house lift to a budget that didn’t have one.

The footprint fight

There’s another cost to a renovation that never shows up on a bid. You’re working inside a footprint somebody else chose sixty years ago. Every change is a fight to get the space you want, weighing one layout against another, giving something up here to get something there. On a new house you have complete control over what happens. The plan is the plan, and nothing in the walls argues with you.

Why renovation bids run high

Here’s something people don’t expect. None of the trades want to bid renovation work. It’s more involved, it’s harder to price accurately, and every sub adds money for trouble. Sometimes that extra money doesn’t even cover the trouble. A renovation is a less efficient job because so much is unknown until the walls are open.

A new house is simple and clean. Everyone knows exactly what they’re bidding on, and it shows in the price.

If you’re on the fence, do this first

Check your budget. Then talk to a realtor. In these towns a new house is worth a lot more than a fully renovated one, so if the money is there, a teardown is usually worth it. But the math only works if you can fund it. Spending a million to add a million and a half in value is a great deal on paper, and it’s no deal at all if you have seven hundred to work with. A realtor can tell you what the finished house is worth on your street, and that tells you how hard to push.

If you want a second opinion on a specific house, call (203) 655-1118 or email Jeff@scalisebuilding.com. We’re glad to walk through it with you before you commit to anything.

Common questions

Is it cheaper to renovate or tear down in Darien?

Per square foot, renovating is often more expensive. In total, a new house usually costs more. When you’re gutting the whole house, the lot and the street are good, and the house itself has nothing special about it, building new is usually the better deal, as long as you can fund it.

Does this apply to additions?

No. An addition on a solid house is a different decision. This is about gutting and renovating the existing house.

How old is too old to renovate?

There’s no set age, but a house from the 1920s is usually past saving unless it’s something you couldn’t build today, like a stone or limestone house. Those are worth keeping and refinishing inside.

Can you add on to a house with knob and tube wiring?

No. Old panels and knob and tube wiring can’t be extended. The electrical gets replaced.

What is the FEMA 50 percent rule?

If a renovation costs more than half the value of the house structure and the house is in a flood zone, the whole house has to meet current flood code, which usually means raising it.

Should I keep a house that doesn’t meet current zoning?

Often, yes. The existing structure keeps its footprint. A new house has to follow today’s setbacks and coverage rules.

Are old windows and beams worth anything?

Sometimes. Leaded glass and big old beams can be reused or sold. Treat it as a bonus, not a reason to keep the house.

Can a bad foundation be fixed?

A stone rubble foundation can be modified to carry a new structure. A house that has settled out of square is the harder problem, because an addition has to tie onto it.