Building enquiry
A name, a number and one sentence about the project are enough for a call back. The more precisely you describe what is to be built, the more solid our first assessment will be.
- We call back on the number you enter
- A quotation with every item listed separately
- Your details are never passed on to anyone else
Received
Your enquiry has reached us. We will come back to you on the number you entered.
Principle
Nothing in the interior fit out can correct a shell that went wrong.
The shell is the one layer of a house that nobody opens up again. Axes, levels, bearings and waterproofing are fixed the moment the concrete is poured. That is why we check the dimensions before it flows, and not afterwards.
Dimension
Axes, levels and openings are surveyed and held against the drawing before any pour. A dimension that has set in concrete can only be changed afterwards with a breaker.
Load
Reinforcement, cover and bearings follow your structural engineer. We build what the drawing calls for, and we report back when the site shows something different from the plan.
Moisture
The plinth, the waterproofing and the junctions decide whether the basement stays dry. Those layers end up under soil and cannot be reached again without digging.
Scope of work
Nine items, one completed shell
Everything between the first digger and the roof bearing comes from one contractor. That removes interfaces, shortens waiting time and makes it clear who answers for every centimetre.
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01
Excavation and groundworks
Excavation, spoil removal, trenches for services, backfilling and compaction. We set the site up so that the crane, the deliveries and the skips are not in each other way later on.
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02
Foundations and floor slab
Strip footings, pad foundations and the load bearing floor slab. Blinding, insulation and reinforcement are placed as the ground investigation and the structural design require.
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03
Basement and waterproofing
Basement walls in concrete or masonry, waterproofing against ground moisture and pressing water, perimeter insulation and construction joints exactly where they have to stay tight.
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04
Formwork
Formwork is the mould that gives concrete its dimension. We erect it for walls, columns, beams and slabs, align it plumb and true, and brace it against the pressure of fresh concrete.
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05
Reinforcement
Mesh, bar and prefabricated cages are laid to the reinforcement drawing, lapped, and set on spacers to the required concrete cover.
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06
Concrete work
Foundations, floor slabs, walls, columns, stairs and slabs. The concrete is placed, compacted, levelled and cured so that it reaches the specified strength.
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07
Masonry
Load bearing and non load bearing walls in sand lime block, clay brick or aerated concrete. Bed joints, perpends, ring beams, lintels and recesses go where the floor plan puts them.
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08
Stairs and floor slabs
In situ concrete stairs, precast flights, lattice girder slabs and in situ slabs. Up to the ring beam and the bearing on which the carpenter sets the roof structure.
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09
Extensions and alterations
Openings, new beams, temporary support and extensions to existing houses. Before any cut into an existing structure we agree with the structural engineer what the building actually carries.
How it runs
From your first message to handover of the shell
Four steps, in this order. At every point you know what happens next and what we need from you for it.
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01
Enquiry and documents
You describe the project. Floor plans, a section, a site plan and, if you already have it, the structural design all help. If something is missing we tell you exactly which drawing we still need.
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02
Site visit and survey
We look at the plot in Hückelhoven: access, standing room for the crane and the skips, neighbouring buildings and ground conditions. That decides the method and the sequence.
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03
Itemised quotation
You receive a quotation in which the works are listed one by one. You can see what each item costs, what is included and what is expressly not part of it.
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04
Construction and handover
We build in the agreed sequence and report progress. At the end we hand the shell over to you, or directly to the trade that comes onto the site next.
Picture index
Six components every shell is made of
The components we will talk about on site, shown as pictures. The photographs show the type of component, not a particular project by this company. Click an image to open it at full size.
Key
Six terms that appear in every shell quotation
So that you can read a quotation without looking anything up, and ask the right questions on site.
- Formwork
- The temporary mould into which fresh concrete is placed. It fixes the dimension, the arris and the surface, and is struck once the concrete has hardened.
- Reinforcement
- The steel inside the concrete. Concrete takes compression, steel takes tension. Position, diameter and lap length are set by the structural engineer.
- Concrete cover
- The distance between the reinforcement and the concrete surface. Too little of it and the steel corrodes years later, working from the outside inwards.
- Floor slab
- The load bearing slab above the foundations. It spreads the weight of the house onto the ground and in many houses carries the waterproofing as well.
- Ring beam
- A reinforced band running around the masonry. It ties the walls of a storey together so that load cannot push them apart.
- Lintel
- The load bearing member above an opening. It carries the masonry load past the window or the door and into the wall on either side.
Where we work
Hückelhoven and the Heinsberg district
Hückelhoven has grown without losing its villages. In Ratheim, Hilfarth, Doveren, Baal and Brachelen the plots differ sharply in access, in what stands next door and in what the ground will carry. What works on an open plot at the edge of town rarely works in a tight village street.
So we decide on the crane, the deliveries and the sequence only after we have stood on the plot. We work across the whole Heinsberg district and in the towns bordering it, from Erkelenz and Wassenberg to Geilenkirchen and Wegberg.
Places we build in
- Hückelhoven
- Ratheim
- Hilfarth
- Doveren
- Baal
- Brachelen
- Erkelenz
- Wassenberg
- Heinsberg
- Geilenkirchen
- Wegberg
Questions
What clients want to know before the first meeting
Six answers that take part of the first conversation off your list.
What counts as the shell with you?
Excavation, foundations, basement with waterproofing, formwork, reinforcement, concrete, masonry, stairs and slabs up to the bearing for the roof structure. The roof, the windows, the screed and the fit out are not included, and the quotation names them expressly as excluded.
Do I need the structural design before I enquire?
No. For an enquiry a floor plan, a section and a rough idea of timing are enough. For a firm quotation we do need the structural design and the reinforcement drawings, because the quantity of steel and the thickness of the elements follow from them.
Will you build single items only?
Yes. If you are organising the shell yourself and want to let only the formwork, the reinforcement or the concrete work, that is possible. Say in your enquiry which items you mean.
How long does a shell take?
That depends on size, on whether there is a basement, on the weather and on delivery times for precast elements. We give an honest duration once we have seen the plot and read the drawings, not beforehand on the telephone.
Do you work on existing buildings?
Yes. Extensions, openings and temporary support are everyday work. Before any cut into an existing structure we agree with the structural engineer what the building actually carries.
Who is my contact on site?
The company is run by Viktor Knop, a master mason and concrete builder. Who looks after your site is something we tell you at the site visit, with a name and a number.
Next step
Describe the project. We will tell you what it needs.
One call, or three filled in fields. If your project is not a fit for us, we will say that just as plainly.