Agniesebuurt · Rotterdam
Top-floor flat from shell to liveable
Work carried out: new layout, herringbone floor, steel pivot doors and completely renewed building services.
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Service area Schiedam
Renovation contractor in Schiedam
Rotterdamse Bouwbedrijf handles complete remodelling and renovation projects in Schiedam. From a pre-war ground-floor flat in Oost or de Gorzen to a walk-up flat in Nieuwland, with one dedicated team that reaches you from our base on Doklaan in about fifteen minutes and knows where projects in Schiedam tend to stall: the foundation, the narrow streets in the old town and the rules of the owners' association.
5.0review score
500+ projects delivered
10+ years of experience
- Our own team of 20 to 30 craftsmen
- One price, no surprises for extra work
- 1-year guarantee on the renovation
Why Rotterdamse Bouwbedrijf
A contractor who knows the reality of renovating in Schiedam
One dedicated team
Our own craftsmen run your project from start to finish. No rotating subcontractors.
Familiar with Schiedam's buildings
From pre-war homes on timber piles and the protected townscape to the post-war walk-up blocks in Nieuwland.
A clear price up front
A clear quote and a realistic schedule. Any additional work is always discussed first.
Our services in Schiedam
How we can help you in Schiedam
From a complete renovation down to a single room. In Schiedam we most often do bathrooms, kitchens and homes that are tackled as a whole. Click through to the service you are looking for.
Full Home Renovation
From teardown to turnkey by one dedicated team.
View serviceHome Extensions
More living space, from foundation to finish.
View serviceRoof Extension
A full extra floor.
View serviceBathroom Renovation
Complete and fully watertight.
View serviceKitchen Renovation
From design to installation.
View serviceDormer Installation
More space and light in your loft.
View servicePlastering & Finishing
Walls and ceilings plastered smooth or ready to paint.
View serviceWindow Frames, Insulation & Energy Efficiency
Better comfort and a better energy label.
View serviceOur work
All projects
Work in buildings like Schiedam's
We carried out these projects in Rotterdam, fifteen minutes from Schiedam. The building type is the same as in Oost, West and de Gorzen: pre-war upper and lower flats and post-war walk-up blocks, in which the layout, the services and the finishing were all replaced in a single project.
Tarwewijk · Rotterdam
Walk-up flat fully renovated
Work carried out: new window frames, toilet, tiling and finishing, handed over turn-key.
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Middellandstraat · Rotterdam
Block split and redeveloped
Work carried out: an entire block converted internally into apartments and studios, façade work included.
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Reviews
What our clients say
5.0average rating
How we work
From intake to handover
01
Intake & design
We visit, listen and think along with you about layout, materials and budget.
02
Quote & schedule
You receive a clear quote with a clear price and a realistic schedule.
03
Teardown & shell work
Stripping out, structure and shell work. The foundation 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's possible in your home?
Request your free renovation planLooking for a renovation contractor in Schiedam?
Arrange a free, no-obligation consultation. We come to you in Schiedam, look at what is possible in your home and draw up a plan with a clear price.
Renovating in Schiedam
What makes renovating in Schiedam different
Schiedam is small in area and old in layout. Within a couple of kilometres you have a listed old town with distilleries and windmills, pre-war working-class districts around it, and the post-war district of Nieuwland. Each of those three layers calls for a different approach, and which one you own usually decides where the money goes.
Pre-war homes in Oost, West and de Gorzen
The typical Schiedam workers' house is narrow and deep, with a small rear annexe, a single-skin rear wall and a staircase right next to the kitchen. Anyone wanting more space almost always ends up with the same two moves: taking out the wall between the front and back room, and replacing the rear annexe with a proper extension. That is structural work rather than demolition, because what comes out is usually load-bearing, so we have it calculated by a structural engineer first.
Timber pile foundations and the groundwater level
Schiedam sits on peat and clay. Homes built before the war generally stand on timber piles, and those only last as long as they stay under water. If the groundwater level drops, the pile head dries out and the timber begins to rot. Cracks running diagonally above the window frames, doors that start to jam and a floor sloping towards one corner are the first signals. We have the foundation assessed before starting a complete home renovation, because finishing a house whose foundation needs replacing is money thrown away.
The old town, the windmills and the protected townscape
The area around the Lange Haven, the Korte Haven and the old distilleries is a protected townscape containing hundreds of listed buildings. Inside there is usually a lot you can do; for the façade, the window frames and the roof the council assesses the plan against heritage and aesthetic rules. Logistics matter just as much: on the narrow quays you cannot simply drop a skip, and material sometimes has to be hoisted in through a window. We arrange that in advance, including the loading permit.
Nieuwland and the post-war walk-up blocks
Nieuwland was built at speed in the 1950s and it shows: tight floor plans, a bathroom of barely three square metres, single glazing and a lightweight floor that carries sound. The biggest gains here come from merging bathroom and toilet into one room that actually works, opening the kitchen up to the living room, and replacing pipework, wiring and the consumer unit in one go. What happens to the building envelope is usually decided by the owners' association, not by you.
Upper and lower flats: sound and access
Schiedam has many buildings that were split at some point into a lower and an upper flat. That has two consequences on site. Everything has to go up a narrow staircase, so we work with smaller quantities of material at a time and plan deliveries day by day. And the deed of division almost always sets requirements for the floor: a hard floor without proper acoustic decoupling guarantees complaints from the neighbours below, and sometimes a legal dispute.
Insulating an old envelope without creating damp
Pre-war Schiedam homes often have no cavity at all, or one too narrow to fill. Insulation then goes on the inside, and that is exactly where it goes wrong: without a vapour control layer and without extra ventilation, moisture condenses behind the insulation and mould appears where you cannot see it. We therefore keep insulating and ventilating together in one plan. Which measures suit which building type is set out on our page about window frames, insulation and energy efficiency.
Common mistakes in Schiedam
- Having the foundation investigated only once the floors are already out.
- Removing a wall in a narrow town house without a structural engineer's calculation.
- Starting work in the old town without arranging deliveries, a skip and a loading permit.
- Laying a hard floor in an upper flat without decoupling, against the deed of division.
Considering a renovation in Schiedam? Take a look at our complete home renovation, bathroom renovation or home extensions, browse our projects or arrange a no-obligation consultation. Besides Schiedam we also work in Rotterdam, Vlaardingen and the rest of the Randstad.
Frequently asked questions
Questions about renovating in Schiedam
Are you a Schiedam-based building company?
We are based in Rotterdam, on Doklaan, which is about fifteen minutes from Schiedam. That makes Schiedam one of our closest service areas: our own team drives there daily and we work without hired subcontractors. Because the distance is short, smaller jobs are easy to schedule here too.
How do I know whether our Schiedam home stands on timber piles?
For homes built before roughly 1970 in the pre-war districts, it almost always does. The year of construction and the building file at the council will confirm it, and the house itself gives signals: cracks running diagonally above window frames, doors that start to jam and floors sloping to one side. If in doubt we have a foundation inspection carried out before we start, with an inspection pit at the pile head.
Are we free to renovate in Schiedam's old town?
Inside the building there is usually a great deal you can do. The moment you change anything on the outside, such as the façade, the window frames, a roof light or a dormer, the protected townscape comes into play, and for a listed building heritage rules apply as well. We agree the plan with the council in advance and handle the planning permission, so the work does not come to a halt halfway through.
What can be improved in a walk-up flat in Nieuwland?
Inside the flat, most things: merging bathroom and toilet into one usable room, opening the kitchen up to the living room, and replacing pipework, wiring and the consumer unit in one go. The exterior and the shared parts are decided by the owners' association, so insulating the façade and roof runs through the members' meeting. We can supply the technical case for that meeting.
Can you merge an upper and a lower flat, or split one?
We do both, but it is never purely construction work. Merging is about the structure around the staircase and cutting through the floor; splitting is about fire separation, sound insulation between the storeys and what the council's zoning rules allow. We map those points out before anything is demolished.
How long does a complete renovation of a Schiedam home take?
For a home that is stripped back completely and rebuilt, we generally allow several months, depending on the floor area and on how much structural and services work is involved. The preparation, covering design, structural calculations and any permits, comes first and often determines more of the timeline than the building work itself. You get the schedule in writing beforehand.
We would like a rear extension. Is that possible in Schiedam?
In most Schiedam back gardens it is. At the rear, an extension up to four metres deep is often permit-free, provided you stay within the rules on height and on how much of the plot may be built on. In a protected townscape and for listed buildings that route usually falls away and planning permission is needed. With narrow, deep gardens we also look at daylight in the back room, because an extension that is too deep leaves the house dark.