A soft strip out takes a building back to its bare shell without touching the structure that holds it up. If you are refurbishing a terrace in Mill Hill, converting a shop near the town centre or clearing a unit before demolition, it is usually the first proper job on site. Here is what it involves, when you need one and what affects the cost.
Soft strip means removing everything that is not structural. The walls, floors, roof and frame stay. Everything fitted inside them goes, leaving a clean, empty shell that other trades can measure, survey and work in.
On a typical house that means two to five days of work. On a commercial unit or former mill floor it can run to several weeks, depending on size and how much has been fitted over the years.
You need a soft strip whenever the next stage of work depends on seeing or reaching the bare structure. Full refurbishments are the most common reason. Much of Blackburn's housing is Victorian and Edwardian stone and brick terracing, and stripping back to the shell is often the only way to find out the real condition of joists, lintels and walls before you commit to a budget.
It is also standard before full demolition. Removing fittings first lets timber, metal, plasterboard and rubble be separated rather than crushed together, which cuts tipping costs and makes the heavy demolition quicker and safer.
Other common cases include commercial tenants handing a unit back to the landlord at the end of a lease, changes of use such as a shop or pub becoming flats, and properties damaged by fire or flood where saturated or smoke-affected materials have to come out before anything can dry or be repaired.
Any building constructed or refurbished before 2000 may contain asbestos, and that covers a large share of property in Blackburn and Darwen. Before a strip out, the law requires a refurbishment and demolition asbestos survey of the areas being worked on. This is an intrusive survey, different from the management survey a landlord may already hold. Common finds locally include textured ceiling coatings, old floor tiles and their adhesive, boxing around pipes, and cement sheet in outbuildings and garages.
If asbestos is found, it is removed first, by a licensed contractor where the material requires it. Gas, electricity and water also need isolating or disconnecting before strip out begins. If the property is listed or sits in a conservation area, speak to Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council before removing original features, as some internal work to listed buildings needs consent. In a terrace, anything affecting a shared wall may also bring the Party Wall Act into play.
Honest pricing needs a site visit, because two houses on the same street can differ widely. As a rough guide, a soft strip of a two or three bedroom terrace in the Blackburn area often falls somewhere between £1,500 and £4,500, including waste removal. Commercial work is usually priced per square metre, commonly in the region of £15 to £50, with heavily fitted-out spaces at the upper end. Asbestos surveys and removal are priced separately.
Lath and plaster ceilings are a good example of how costs move. They are common in older Blackburn houses, they are heavy, and they produce far more waste and dust than plasterboard, so they add labour and skip costs.
A typical terraced house takes two to five days, while shops, offices and industrial units can take one to several weeks depending on floor area and the amount of fit-out. Asbestos removal, if needed, is done beforehand and adds to the programme.
Internal strip out work does not normally need planning permission. Listed buildings are the main exception, so check with Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council before removing anything original, and remember that full demolition has its own notice requirements.
Materials are separated on site into streams such as timber, metal, plasterboard and rubble, then taken to licensed waste facilities by a registered waste carrier. Ask your contractor for waste transfer notes, which show where everything went.