Insulation and completion of five hundred rental homes

Pre-walls and ceilings

ACN Totale Afbouw is providing the facade insulation and finishing work for the renovation of five hundred rental homes owned by housing corporation Portaal in the Bloemenbuurt neighborhood of Utrecht. The homes date from the 1930s and are being renovated in three phases. A substantial project, on which the finishing company has now been working for about four years. But the end is in sight: the last houses will be ready before the construction period.

The renovation is taking place in an inhabited state, says project manager Thomas Jacobsen of ACN Totale Afbouw. "Main contractor Vios asked us to think along from the beginning about how we could carry this out as efficiently as possible. On this project, we are providing post-insulation of the facades by installing pre-walls in the homes at the front and rear facades. In addition, we are replacing any softboard ceilings with plaster. Initially, we were going to mechanically attach the drywall to the walls, but it turned out there was still asbestos in them. Therefore, we switched to pre-walls." ACN Totale Afbouw then finishes the walls completely: from rendering and saucing walls to installing window sills and baseboards. 

Work in a 'train'

To make the entire renovation project run as smoothly as possible, a "train" of the various works has been created. For the finishing company, this means that the residents themselves ensure that the façade is one and a half meters clear, the contractor covers the things in the house and then the finishing work can start. "We do that in three homes at the same time. One day the front facades and the following day the back facades on the first floor and then on the upper floor the front and back facades. In total we are working on each house for two weeks that way."

There are currently about 10 people from ACN walking around the construction site every day. After four years on this project, the work almost flows naturally, Jacobsen says. "Especially with the last homes. You know exactly what you might encounter and so you have already figured out a solution for it. And actually the whole project went pretty well. Vios is a regular client of ours, so that works nicely together."