Amsterdam city centre
Completely renovated apartment
Work carried out: complete renovation with a new layout, living room, kitchen, bathrooms and finishing.
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Service area Amsterdam
Renovation contractor in Amsterdam
Rotterdamse Bouwbedrijf carries out complete renovations and remodels in Amsterdam and the surrounding area. From canal houses and 1930s homes to post-war flats, with a dedicated team that knows the Amsterdam way of building, including foundations, listed-building rules and renovating within a homeowners' association.
- Our own team of 20–30 craftsmen
- One price, no additional-work surprises
- 1-year guarantee on the renovation
Why Rotterdamse Bouwbedrijf
A contractor who knows how Amsterdam works
One dedicated team
Our own craftsmen who run your project from start to finish. No rotating subcontractors.
Familiar with Amsterdam properties
From timber foundations and pile rot to heritage rules and renovating within a homeowners' association.
A clear price up front
A clear quote and a realistic schedule. Any additional work we always discuss first.
Our services in Amsterdam
What we can help you with in Amsterdam
From a complete home renovation to individual jobs. Click through to the service you are looking for.
Renovate
From full renovation to extra space
Our work
All projects
Projects in Amsterdam
The heart of Amsterdam
Home remodelled and finished
Work carried out: remodel with a new kitchen, bathrooms and full finishing.
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Amsterdam city centre
Kitchen, bathrooms and finishing
Work carried out: services renewed, tiling, sanitaryware and a sleek finish.
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Reviews
What our clients say
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Tell us what you have in mind. You get a free quote, usually within one working day.
How we work
From survey to handover
01
Survey & design
We come to you, listen and think along with you about layout, materials and budget.
02
Quote & schedule
You receive an itemised quote with a clear price and a realistic schedule.
03
Teardown & structural work
Stripping out, structure and shell work. The base of your new home is in place.
04
Services & finishing
Services, bathroom, kitchen, plastering, floors and painting.
05
Handover & guarantee
We walk through everything together and hand over turn-key, with a guarantee.
Curious what is possible in your home?
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Renovating in Amsterdam
What makes renovating in Amsterdam different
No city demands as much preparation as Amsterdam. Foundations, listed-building rules, apartment ownership and the logistics of the old centre often matter more here than the renovation itself. Below is what we see again and again in the Amsterdam practice.
Foundations on timber piles
Many Amsterdam buildings from before 1970 stand on timber pile foundations. If the groundwater level drops, the pile head can dry out and pile rot sets in. Before we start a major remodel or a full home renovation in an older building, we assess the state of the foundation. Sometimes foundation repair is needed first, because fitting a new kitchen or bathroom on a foundation that is due for replacement is money down the drain.
Listed buildings and protected townscapes
Large parts of Amsterdam fall under protected townscape, and many buildings are national or municipal monuments. Inside there is often plenty of scope, but for the façade, the window frames and the roof the requirements of heritage and planning rules apply. Energy upgrades then usually cannot use standard HR++ glazing, but heritage glass or secondary glazing works well. We agree this in advance and take care of the permit application.
Typical Amsterdam homes
A narrow, deep canal house with crooked walls and a steep staircase calls for a different approach than a 1930s home in Plan Zuid or a post-war flat in Nieuw-West. In older buildings we allow for uneven floors, single-brick walls and limited load-bearing capacity. That shapes the structural choices, for example with an extension or the removal of a load-bearing wall.
Renovating in a homeowners' association or apartment
Many Amsterdam homes are apartment rights. A renovation then often needs the consent of the homeowners' association, certainly for work to shared walls or the structure. There are also noise requirements: a hard floor without proper sound insulation is guaranteed to lead to complaints from the neighbours below you. We take this into account from the design stage onwards.
Logistics in the old centre
Working in the old centre of Amsterdam means narrow streets, canals and barely any parking. Materials sometimes have to be hoisted in through the window frame and building waste removed with a loading and unloading permit. These logistics partly determine the schedule and the costs, and if you underestimate them a project can quickly overrun, precisely in the centre.
Energy upgrades within the rules
Insulating older Amsterdam buildings is sensible, but not without care. In listed buildings you often insulate from the inside, and then the risk of damp is real: without good ventilation, mould forms behind the insulation. We keep insulating and ventilating in balance. You can read more about this on our page on insulation and energy efficiency.
Ground lease (erfpacht) when you add space
Much of the land in Amsterdam is municipal ground lease, or erfpacht. For a new bathroom or kitchen it makes no difference. Once you add floor area, with a roof extension, a rear extension or a basement, or change how the building is used, the lease conditions can come into play: the municipality, as landowner, may need to consent, or the ground rent may be recalculated. Check your lease deed while the design is still on paper, not once the permit is in.
Neighbourhood by neighbourhood
Amsterdam is not one housing market but a dozen. What a renovation involves depends more on the neighbourhood and the year the building went up than on the size of the job. This is what we typically find in the areas where international owners most often ask us to work.
c. 1870 – 1930
Oud-Zuid & De Pijp
De Pijp was built fast and cheaply: upper-floor apartments with sagging timber joists and thin party walls. Oud-Zuid adds townhouses and the Amsterdam School walk-ups of Plan Zuid. Floors, sound insulation and association consent come first.
17th – 18th century
Canal belt & Jordaan
Narrow, deep canal houses, many of them listed. Large items come in through the window via the hoisting beam, deliveries follow the centre's time windows, and in a listed building even interior changes can need a permit.
c. 1880 – 1930
Oud-West & De Baarsjes
Walk-up apartments, some in blocks that have had or still need foundation repair. Amsterdam is strict about merging or splitting homes: that usually needs a separate permit on top of the building permit.
c. 1880 – 1930
Oost & Watergraafsmeer
Upper-floor apartments around the Oosterpark and family homes in the Watergraafsmeer, a reclaimed polder with soft ground. Betondorp's 1920s concrete houses need a different approach to openings than brick homes.
1910s – today
Amsterdam-Noord
Compact garden-village homes in Tuindorp Oostzaan and Nieuwendam, where a dormer or rear extension adds the most space, old dike houses that need water-board consent for groundwork, and new apartments on Overhoeks.
2000s – today
IJburg & Zuidas
Newer apartments in large associations with strict house rules on working hours, lifts and floor sound insulation. Self-built homes on Steigereiland come with plot rules that limit extensions and roof terraces.
1950s – 1980s
Nieuw-West & Zuidoost
Post-war flats in Nieuw-West are often system-built: concrete walls that are load-bearing and no cavity to insulate. The 1980s family homes of Gaasperdam and Holendrecht often have a damp crawl space worth tackling first.
Common mistakes in Amsterdam
- Ignoring the state of the foundation and only discovering after the renovation that repair is needed.
- Applying for a heritage or environmental permit too late, so the work grinds to a halt.
- Forgetting homeowners' association consent, or laying a hard floor without sound insulation.
- Insulating from the inside without ventilation, resulting in damp and mould.
Considering a renovation in Amsterdam? Take a look at our full home renovation, bathroom renovation or window frames and insulation, browse our projects or request a free consultation. Alongside Amsterdam, we also work in Rotterdam, Amstelveen and the rest of the Randstad.
Frequently asked questions
Questions about renovating in Amsterdam
Are you an Amsterdam-based construction company?
We are based in Rotterdam and work across the whole Randstad, with Amsterdam as a fixed part of our service area. We have delivered several apartments turn-key there, including in Amsterdam city centre. You work with our own team and a single project manager, not with subcontractors hired in per project.
How do you deal with Amsterdam's foundation problems?
Many pre-war buildings in Amsterdam stand on timber piles, and in parts of the city the quality of the foundations is a well-known risk. Cracks in the brickwork, sticking window frames and sloping floors are the warning signs. Before a major renovation we have the foundation assessed first. If repair is needed, that comes before the finishing: a new kitchen in a subsiding building is money down the drain.
Do you take listed buildings and protected townscapes into account?
Yes. Large parts of the old centre are protected townscape and many buildings are national or municipal monuments. Inside there is usually plenty of scope, but the council assesses work to the façade, window frames and roof against heritage and planning rules. We agree this in advance and take care of the environmental permit.
Can you renovate in an apartment with a homeowners' association?
Yes, and in Amsterdam that is the rule rather than the exception. Work to shared parts, the structure or the façade needs the homeowners' association's consent, and the deed of division often sets requirements for floor finishes and sound insulation. We provide the documentation you need for the association and keep to the agreed working hours.
How do you handle deliveries in the canal district?
With a plan drawn up in advance. In the centre there is often no room for a skip or a crane, and there are rules on road closures and parking. We work with smaller equipment, use the hoisting beam or lift materials in through the window frame, and arrange the exemption with the council. That logistics work is in the quote, so it does not become a separate cost afterwards.
What does renovating with neighbours above and below you mean?
That the work runs in phases and that noise and vibration set the pace. We keep to the permitted working hours, inform neighbours in advance of demolition work and limit breaking-out to the agreed days. In an apartment we pay extra attention to the impact sound insulation of the floor, because that is the most common source of complaints afterwards.
Do you also work for investors with multiple apartments?
Yes. For owners with several units we work to a phased schedule, so the first apartments can already be let or sold while the rest are still in progress. We standardise the finishing where we can and sign off the first unit as a reference, so a mistake does not repeat itself across the whole portfolio.