House construction versus reconstruction - iDNES.cz

Build a new house or renovate an old one? This is a question to which there is probably no universal answer.

This is because it does not only concern the technical or financial side of the matter, but hides many sub-questions directly related to the lives of individuals or entire families. There are countless proofs of this, you just have to look around your surroundings or recall your own experience with purchasing housing.

Story one

The parents offered their son Pavlo the unused half of their family house after the marriage with the possibility of adding additional rooms and modernizing the living space. First, he accepted the proposal and began preparations for the reconstruction. In the end, it didn't happen.

Pavel preferred to build a new house not far from his parents. He came to the conclusion that it would be better to build a new home than to "push" money into the old one.

The second story

Karel Malina lived on a housing estate in the district town. He bought a well-preserved house in a nearby village, which he initially used for family recreation. Then he embarked on a complete renovation and finally moved into the modernized house with his wife. In doing so, he fulfilled his resolution to free up a more spacious apartment in the city for his daughter's large family.

Innumerable similar life "incidents" can be cited. All of them would lead to the conclusion that deciding whether to build new or reconstruct the old is primarily a matter of individual life situations - but also of very different wishes and desires. And finance too.

Whoever has the entire sum available for a new house can have it built on a turnkey basis. For those who get financing gradually, reconstruction is probably better, where partial repairs can be done gradually and the house can be partially used.

New smells like new

Today, new family homes are mushrooming, both in cities and in the countryside. They generally represent a fulfilled desire for comfortable living in the style of the present day - with a sufficient number of rooms for parents and children, equipment for hygiene, food preparation and rest.

The situation with construction is eased both by the availability of building materials and construction companies, and by the possibility of choosing a house in a large price range, depending on the balance on the account. "More and more people are abandoning the practice of gluing a house with their own help like a swallow's nest and prefer building a house on a turnkey basis from a company," confirms Aleš Kocourek from one such construction company.

Similar selection is facilitated by typical projects in different prices and variants. In the TOP family houses 2005 catalog, for example, we can find both the inexpensive Tom house with a 3+1 attic for 980,000 crowns, and the five-million-euro Daniel 7+1 villa with an attic and a garage.

The construction of houses is also facilitated by the use of new technologies and materials, the benefit of which is not only healthy living, but also economical operation. energy use.

Where to build?

Finding suitable land is increasingly difficult, especially in cities where building plots in "lucrative" locations with easy access to transport, shops, kindergartens, schools and entertainment centers have already been used up.

Out of necessity, building plots on the outskirts of the city also come in handy, where even a beautiful house can resemble living on a lost farm. At least until this "emergency colony" becomes a proper city district with everything.

Exceptions include individuals who manage to profitably buy a dilapidated building in the "civilized" part of the city, which is not under the protection of preservationists. They can then demolish it and use it for a new building. For example, the singer Marie Rottrová was so lucky, who longed for her own house in Prague. She bought a dilapidated house on the outskirts of town, had it demolished and built a new villa according to her wishes.

Writer Michal Viewegh, who previously lived with his parents in a house in Sázava, dreamed of living not in the city, but in a place close to his heart. He eventually bought land near his parents and had a new house built on it for himself and his family.