Municipality of De Ronde Venen
Builders in Wilnis
Building work and maintenance in Wilnis, at a fixed price for the work as described and paid in four instalments.
Wilnis lies in the municipality of De Ronde Venen, between Mijdrecht and the Vinkeveense Plassen, with the old centre along the Dorpsstraat and the Herenweg and the post-war expansion in Veenzijde. The ground is peat, and in this village that is not an abstraction: in August 2003, after a dry summer, a peat dyke here shifted and part of the centre flooded. That event permanently changed the way peat dykes and building on peat are regarded in this area.
For building work it comes down to the same thing as in the rest of De Ronde Venen: adding weight means founding on piles, and existing buildings on strip footings move with the groundwater. What is extra here is the swing in dry summers. Peat shrinks as it dries out, which is why cracks in this village are often seasonal: wider in August than in February. Filling them in September produces the same crack the following summer.
In Veenzijde it is houses from the 1970s through to the recent additions, with the usual work: an extension at the back, a dormer, an opening through to the kitchen, and after thirty to forty years the replacement of window frames and pointing. There the foundation is usually known and well documented, which makes an extension easier to cost than in the old centre.
What decides things here
- Peat that shrinks in dry summers: cracks here are often seasonal
- Old centre along the Dorpsstraat and the Herenweg, expansion in Veenzijde
- Extensions go on piles; existing buildings on strip footings move with the groundwater
- Permits run through the municipality of De Ronde Venen
Work we do in Wilnis
Extensions
Extra room at the back or the side of the house, at a fixed price before the first brick is laid.
Loft conversions and dormers
A storey added or a dormer let in, without the structure below becoming a problem.
Openings in load-bearing walls
A wall out, a steel beam in, and a calculation that stands behind it.
Bathrooms and kitchens
A complete wet room, with one party responsible for the pipework and the floor as well.
Maintenance of the house
Pointing, window frames, rot, gutters and painting, surveyed and planned instead of postponed.
How building work in Wilnis runs
Nine steps. Each one states who is there, how long it takes and what you pay at that moment. On the steps where money actually changes hands, the amount is set in the heading face under "What you pay" and the step number is filled in. Handover is called oplevering in Dutch, and it is the step your contract will refer to.
Step 1: Phone call
You call, or leave a callback request. We ask about the type of work, the year the house was built, the place and roughly what you have in mind. By the end of that call you know whether this is work we take on and whether your budget and your plan meet. If they do not, we say so there and then.
- Who is there
- You and the work planner
- How long
- 15 minutes, within one working day
- What you pay
- Nothing
Step 2: Survey at your house
We come round, measure up, look in the crawl space (kruipruimte) and the loft, and assess the foundation, the structure and the connections to the existing house. For a loft conversion or a structural opening we establish whether a structural engineer (constructeur) is needed. You hear on the spot which price range is realistic.
- Who is there
- You and the site manager
- How long
- 45 to 90 minutes, within two weeks
- What you pay
- Nothing
Step 3: Quotation with a fixed price
You receive a quotation (offerte) with a fixed price for the work as described, a list of what is explicitly not included, and provisional sums (stelposten) for items you choose yourself. No figure in it is an estimate: what the quotation says stands, as long as the work does not change.
- Who is there
- We supply it, you read it
- How long
- Within five working days of the survey
- What you pay
- Nothing
Step 4: Design, calculation and permit
Only where the work requires it. Drawings, a structural calculation, and the permit application (omgevingsvergunning, the Dutch building permit) with the municipality of Stichtse Vecht or De Ronde Venen. If the permit is refused, the project stops and you pay for this phase only, at an amount stated on the quotation in advance.
- Who is there
- Draughtsman, structural engineer and the municipality
- How long
- 4 to 12 weeks, depending on the procedure
- What you pay
- The cost of this phase, named separately on the quotation
Step 5: Planning and start date
The start date is fixed in writing, with a week by week plan and the days on which it will be loud or dusty. Materials with long lead times are ordered in this phase, so the job does not come to a halt halfway through waiting for a window frame.
- Who is there
- You and the work planner
- How long
- 1 to 2 weeks
- What you pay
- Nothing
Step 6: Work starts on site
Day one: fencing, floor protection, a place to unload, and demolition. From this day there is one site manager who is your point of contact and whom you can call directly on working days.
- Who is there
- The site manager and the crew
- How long
- Day 1
- What you pay
- First instalment: 30 per cent
Step 7: Shell complete
Foundation, structure, brickwork, roof and window frames are in place and the work is wind and watertight. This is the moment you can stand in the new space for the first time, and the last moment changes are possible without demolition.
- Who is there
- The site manager walks it through with you
- How long
- Depends on the job, usually after 3 to 6 weeks
- What you pay
- Second instalment: 30 per cent
Step 8: Services and fit-out
Electrics, water, heating and ventilation are installed and tested. Then plastering, floors, tiling and painting. This phase is quiet but long; it is the phase in which people get impatient and in which the weekly plan matters most.
- Who is there
- Installer, plasterer and fit-out crew
- How long
- 2 to 5 weeks
- What you pay
- Third instalment: 30 per cent
Step 9: Handover and snagging list
We walk the work through together and write down everything you see, however small. In Dutch this step is the oplevering and the list is the opleverlijst. That list is cleared within fifteen working days. Only once every point on it is signed off does the last instalment fall due.
- Who is there
- You and the site manager
- How long
- 1 to 2 hours, points cleared within 15 working days
- What you pay
- Final instalment: 10 per cent, after the snagging list is cleared
The payment schedule
Nothing is paid in advance before work starts.
Each block in the bar is as wide as its share of the contract sum (aanneemsom). The pale block on the right is the final 10 per cent: it only falls due after handover (oplevering), once every point on the snagging list has been dealt with.
| Instalment | Share | When |
|---|---|---|
| First instalment | 30% | The day work starts on site |
| Second instalment | 30% | Shell complete, the work is wind and watertight |
| Third instalment | 30% | Services tested and fit-out complete |
| Final instalment | 10% | After handover, once every snagging point is cleared |
| Together | 100% |
The cost of drawings, the structural calculation and the permit sits outside these four instalments and is named separately on the quotation, so you can see what you would be out of pocket if a permit is unexpectedly refused. The total being paid in instalments is the contract sum, called the aanneemsom in your contract.
Questions about building work in Wilnis
Why does my crack get wider in summer?
Because peat shrinks as it dries out and swells again as it gets wetter. A house on strip footings moves with it. So we measure a crack over at least six months before doing anything to it, and only repair once it is clear whether this is movement or damage.
Is building on peat in Wilnis extra risky?
Not if the foundation is done correctly. The rule is simple: new weight goes on piles down to the sand layer, and new work is kept structurally separate from existing building on strip footings. What it costs depends on the pile length, and that appears as a separate item in the quotation.
Can an extension in Veenzijde be permit-free?
At the rear, often yes, within the limits for depth and built area of the rear garden zone. On the smaller plots there it is usually the built percentage rather than the depth that limits you. We work it out per plot and put the outcome in writing before you receive a price.
Talk through your plan in Wilnis
Calling is quickest. In fifteen minutes you know whether this is work we take on and whether your plan and your budget meet.