Renovating a rental property in Nieuwegein and Utrecht

Renovating a rental property is different from renovating your own home. You do not live there, so it comes down to one question: what has to happen so the next tenant can move in, and what can stay as it is. I work for landlords in Nieuwegein and Utrecht and do the work myself. For the full picture see the page for landlords.

What usually has to be done to a rental property

Bathroom and toilet. The place where most of the work is. Old shower and tiles out, pipes and drainage checked, new floor and walls, tiling, sanitary ware and sealant. A toilet often comes with a new concealed cistern, a wall-hung toilet and a small basin. In a room with its own shower this is the main job. More about the bathroom itself is under bathroom renovation.

Kitchen or kitchenette. A new sink and tap in the worktop, a tiled wall behind it, or a kitchenette in a room.

Floors. Laminate, vinyl or wood. I check the subfloor first. If it is not flat I level it, because a floor that is two millimetres out is something you hear at every step later. More about that is under flooring and tiling.

Walls and ceilings. Filling holes and cracks, plastering smooth and painting or wallpapering.

Splitting a home into rooms to let

The project where this shows most clearly is the house converted into rental rooms. The house was split into separate rooms, and every room has its own shower, a kitchenette, a wardrobe and a bed. The showers are built up from the drain, and the photos show the tiling with the levelling clips still in. The kitchenettes are white with a dark worktop and a sink with a black tap. The beds have drawers underneath and the wardrobes are wood-effect. In the attic rooms with sloped walls the wardrobes and kitchenettes are fitted into what was there.

That is also why I work per item: every room is a small complete renovation. If you want something like this in your property, first check with your municipality what applies, because a permit may be involved. That is up to the municipality.

What else I have handed over

Besides the rental rooms I have handed over flats with bedrooms and a living room with a wooden floor, a bathroom with a shower and a toilet. Also rooms with beds and wardrobes assembled, a kitchenette, a shower and a built-in wardrobe. With work like that many parts come together and everything runs through me.

The order decides the schedule

Tiling cannot come before the pipework, the floor cannot come before the plastering, and there is no point finishing while dust is still being made. In a property with several rooms that becomes a puzzle, because every room has its own parts. So I agree the order with you up front instead of improvising room by room.

How I go about it

I come and look and go through with you what has to happen. After that you know which parts wait for each other and in what order they come, and only then does anything go on paper. The schedule is fixed up front and you know every week where we stand.

What I do, what I do not do and what happens if something turns out bigger is in the quote per item. If something comes up during the work, for example mould behind an old tile, I stop, show you what I see and what it costs extra, and only then carry on. That matters most with rentals, because the person who pays is rarely the person on site.

If it is not a full renovation but a home that has to be refurbished after a tenant leaves, that is turnover maintenance. For a complete conversion with a new layout, see renovation.

Send me the address, the number of rooms and a few photos through the contact page, and I will tell you what I would do.