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Jobs with the money in plain sight

Building work is hard to compare on photographs alone. What you want to know is the amount, the time on site and what went against us along the way. Those three are set out below per job, including the part nobody likes to write down.

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Three jobs, with the money in plain sight

This is what a job of this size looks like: what the work involves, which budget bracket it falls into, how long it takes and what goes against you along the way. These are descriptions of the type of work in this area, not completed projects with an address attached. As soon as there is finished work with our own photographs, that will stand here instead.

Image of this type of work to follow

Full width rear extension

Terraced house in Maarssenbroek

Budget bracket
€ 50,000 to € 70,000
Time on site
10 weeks on site, 4 weeks of preparation

An extension four metres deep across the full width of the rear wall, with sliding doors, underfloor heating and an opening through to the existing kitchen. Founded on strip footings, because the sand layer here lies close to the surface.

What went against usThe wall between kitchen and living room turned out to be load-bearing while the neighbouring house in the same street had a non load-bearing one, so a structural calculation and a steel beam had to be added after all.

Image of this type of work to follow

Extension and bathroom along the Vecht

House in the ribbon development near Breukelen

Budget bracket
€ 80,000 to € 110,000
Time on site
16 weeks on site, 14 weeks of preparation and permit

A rear extension inside a protected village area (beschermd dorpsgezicht), leaving the view from the street untouched, plus a complete bathroom on the first floor and repointing of the side elevation in lime mortar.

What went against usNo crane could stand on the plot, so every load went to the back over a walkway and the brickwork took two weeks longer than it would on a plot with normal access.

Image of this type of work to follow

Loft conversion on peat

House in Mijdrecht

Budget bracket
€ 60,000 to € 85,000
Time on site
8 weeks on site, 12 weeks of preparation and permit

A full extra storey with two bedrooms and a bathroom, including a fixed staircase in place of a loft ladder, and a check of the existing pile foundation against the added load.

What went against usThe fixed staircase took a good two square metres off the first floor, so the layout of the existing bedrooms had to be reworked and the design needed an extra round.

What comes back in every job

Preparation is longer than the building looks
On two of the three jobs above, the preparation with drawings, structural calculation and permit takes almost as long as the building itself. If you want to build in autumn, you start the first conversation in spring.
Access is a real cost item
Along the Vecht and on the plots in the peat villages there is often nowhere to stand a crane. That costs hours, and those hours belong as a separate line in the quotation rather than hidden inside a price per square metre.
What goes wrong nearly always comes out of the existing building
Not out of the new work but out of what was already there: a wall that turns out to be load-bearing, a foundation that turns out to be something else, a staircase that eats more room than expected. That is why every job here starts with a survey of what exists, not with a drawing of what is new.

Roughly what it costs

Price ranges for this area, so you can see whether your plan and your budget meet before anyone comes round. Each line states what explains the difference between the bottom and the top of the range.

Indicative prices per type of work, with unit, range and the reason for the spread
WorkRangeWhat explains the spread
Extension, single storeyper m² of floor area, shell through to finished€ 2.000 to € 3.200Foundation on strip footings or on piles, how much glass goes into the rear wall, and the level of floor, ceiling and services.
Loft conversion, full storeyper project, terraced house€ 45.000 to € 85.000Whether the party walls run down to the foundation, whether a fixed staircase has to be added, and the thickness of the insulation against the headroom you want.
Dormer to the reareach, around 3 metres wide€ 8.000 to € 15.000Width and window layout, whether roof purlins have to be interrupted, and whether the roof boarding and insulation are renewed at the same time.
Opening in a load-bearing wallper opening, 3 to 4 metres€ 4.000 to € 9.000The span and therefore the weight of the steel beam, how easily it can be brought in, and how much plastering and painting follows.
Complete bathroomper bathroom of 5 to 8 m², excluding tiles and sanitary ware€ 12.000 to € 25.000Moving waste pipes, the condition of the existing floor, and whether the ventilation has to be replaced.
Kitchen, building work onlyper kitchen, excluding the kitchen units themselves€ 4.000 to € 10.000Whether a wall has to go, how far water and waste are moved, and whether an extraction duct to the outside is installed.
Repointing brickworkper elevation of a terraced house€ 3.500 to € 7.000Height and therefore scaffolding, raking out by grinder or by hand, and whether a lime mortar is required inside a protected village area.
Rot repair in a window frameper affected spot€ 250 to € 900How far the rot has gone and whether the profile can still be repaired or the section has to be replaced.

All amounts include Dutch VAT (btw) and apply to houses in this area. They exist so you can judge whether your plan and your budget meet; they do not replace a quotation. After the survey at your house you receive a fixed price for the work as described.

Costing your own plan

Tell us what you have in mind and in which place, and in the first call you will hear which of these brackets it falls into and where the amount is likely to run up in your case.

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Ask us to call you back

Six questions. With these answers we can tell you in the first call whether your plan fits your budget, instead of finding that out after a visit.

The year the house was built, roughly what you have in mind, whether a drawing already exists.

Your details are used only to contact you about this request. How long we keep them is set out in the privacy statement, linked at the bottom of every page.

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