Rob van den Boetzelaer of building survey firm Qkeur answers our questions on building matters and explains the most common structural defects.
The post-war reconstruction
The 1950s were the years of reconstruction. In the years after the war there was a severe housing shortage and a great lack of building materials. The use of non-traditional building elements in housing construction increased from 1953 onwards; wooden floors were largely replaced by prefabricated elements of reinforced concrete or masonry, or by floors poured on site. The concrete floors and roofs were often poured right through to the outside of the facade, which can create ‘cold bridges’. Cold bridges cause heat leaks.
One neighbourhood where you'll find lots of homes from this period is, for example, the Schepenbuurt. Some of the houses were built before the Second World War and the rest after the Second World War. As a result, you can see a difference in quality and in the building materials used.
These homes were largely built with spruce (vurenhout) window and door frames in the facade. Spruce is a softer type of wood in which wood rot develops more quickly. In most homes from this period, the facade frames have already been replaced.
Other points to watch in homes from the 1940–1960 construction period
- Condition of the tiled roof and the flat roofs
- Condition of the chimneys
- Vermin
- Poor sound insulation
- Concrete rot
- Asbestos
- Wooden beam structures often built too light
- Cold bridges (in combination with double glazing), which cause mould and condensation problems
If the home is still (partly) in its original condition, you should look out for the possible presence of:
- Canvas-insulated wiring / electrics in general
- Lead water pipes
- Stoneware, lead or asbestos sewer pipes/drains.
Building surveyor
Rob completed his building engineering training at the MTS (technical secondary school). He has been surveying houses for more than 25 years, has worked for housing associations and the municipality, worked at an engineering firm in the field of asbestos removal and asbestos surveys, and has supervised many building projects. Rob has already surveyed many houses in Utrecht. Q-keur is a building consultancy specialising in building surveys, multi-year maintenance plans and building advice. Q-keur works mainly in and around Utrecht.
