01
Existing fabric
What is actually there? Wall build up, substrate, old coatings and coverings. We open up where it is needed and look, instead of guessing.
Period property renovation | Kreis Heinsberg
Old fabric. New possibilities.
An older building has proportions, materials and details that no new build reproduces. We work on the interiors so that this character stays and daily life inside them works again.
Interior work walls, ceilings, floors
Kreis Heinsberg and the surrounding area
Since 2012 own building projects
01Existing fabric and finished work
Two states, one photograph
Most renovation photographs show either the before or the after. This one shows both at once: on the left an opened wall with old plaster and masonry, on the right the finished surface with the floor already laid. Drag the handle across the picture.
Drag the handle or use the arrow keys
There is no pair of photographs of this project taken from the same position before and after the works. Rather than assemble two images into one, we show the single frame in which both states stand side by side.
Reveal in its existing state, before closing
A
Opened wall
Old plaster, masonry and the repairs of earlier decades are exposed. Only once this is visible can the build up of the new surface be decided.
B
Finished surface
On the right the wall is already closed and painted and the floor is laid. Same room, a few working steps later.
C
Transition
The door opening stays where it is. The floor runs through without a threshold strip, so the original sequence of rooms stays readable.
02Sequence
From existing fabric to new use
Interior renovation of an older building happens in layers. Each one builds on the last, and skipping one always shows later.
02
Assessment
What stays, what comes off? Plaster that is sound stays as a substrate. A surface that is chalky or sounds hollow is taken back.
03
Planning
Order, build up and finish are settled before the first tool comes out: which surface is worked when, what it is levelled with, how the result should look.
04
Modernisation
Levelling, filling, plastering, drywall, wallpapering, painting, laying floors. The steps that actually change the room.
05
New use
The room goes back into use: brighter, calmer, better arranged. The character of the house stays recognisable throughout.
Where structure, building services or permits are involved, the decision belongs elsewhere. We say so early rather than once the wall is open.
03Approach
What should stay and what may change
Keeping rather than replacing is not nostalgia, it is arithmetic. What was well built outlasts whatever would take its place. The rest is free to change.
Keep
The things that make an older building what it is and cannot be retrofitted.
Room proportions
Tall rooms, deep reveals, the way the rooms follow one another. Filling that in takes away the best thing the house has.
Details
Mouldings, stair strings, door leaves, old ironmongery. A great deal of it can be cleaned and reworked instead of replaced.
Sound substrate
Plaster that is firm makes a good base. We test it rather than knocking it off as a precaution.
Matching materials
New layers should suit what is already there. A build up that is too tight over old masonry rarely improves anything.
Change
The things that are used differently today than they were sixty years ago.
Surfaces
Old coatings, woodchip paper in many layers, chalky walls. This is where the largest visible difference is made.
How a room reads
Light, colour and contrast can be steered. A dark hallway becomes bright without a single wall coming down.
Use
A bedroom becomes a study, a back room becomes a utility room. Drywall and a hard wearing surface are often all it takes.
Service runs
Where other trades leave chases and openings, we close them properly again. Afterwards that work should not be visible.
The difference between modernising and preserving character is not in the material. It is in the order the decisions are taken.
04From the work
Six frames from real projects
Every photograph comes from our own projects. They show surfaces we built up or reworked, and the condition we found them in.
Open an image to see the whole frame
05Services
What we take on in an older building
Interior work, and specifically the part of it we carry out ourselves. Anything not on this list is not something we offer as our own service either.
01
Surfaces and painting
Interior walls and ceilings, from the substrate to the final coat.
- Testing and preparing the substrate
- Filling and sanding
- Primer and paint
- Ceilings and wall surfaces
02
Plastering
Repairing, levelling and replastering within existing fabric.
- Closing damage and cracks
- Levelling surfaces
- Junctions at reveals
- A build up that suits the existing wall
03
Drywall
Partitions, lining walls and suspended ceilings.
- Changing the room layout
- Lining walls
- Suspended ceilings
- Boarding and filling
04
Wall finishes
Colour, texture and surfaces created by hand.
- Agreeing colour in the room
- Textured surfaces
- Feature walls
- A sample before the work starts
05
Wallpapering
Old layers off, new lengths hung cleanly.
- Stripping the old covering
- Preparing the substrate
- Woodchip and non woven paper
- Matching patterned papers
06
Floor coverings
Substrate, build up and covering in an occupied building.
- Testing the substrate
- Levelling
- Design floors and laminate
- Junctions and transitions
07
Exterior painting
Painting work on the outside of the house.
- Assessing existing coatings
- Preparing and priming
- Painting
- Adjoining areas and details
Where we stop
An older building raises questions that do not belong to a decorating trade. We name them rather than talk around them.
- Structure and load bearing elements
- Energy calculations and insulation certificates
- Heating, electrics and plumbing
- Roof, windows and facade build up
- Listed building procedures and permits
- Reports on hazardous materials or building physics
These belong to architects, specialist planners, structural engineers and the relevant trades. We do not take them on and we do not offer an opinion on them either.
06Area covered
Working across Kreis Heinsberg
The business is based in Hückelhoven. From there we work across Kreis Heinsberg and the surrounding area.
- Based in
- Hückelhoven
- District
- Kreis Heinsberg
Towns and municipalities in the district
- Heinsberg
- Hückelhoven
- Erkelenz
- Geilenkirchen
- Wassenberg
- Wegberg
- Übach-Palenberg
- Gangelt
- Selfkant
- Waldfeucht
The list names the ten municipalities of the district. Whether a property outside it still fits is a short phone call.
- Owner
- Tobias Knopczyk
- Own projects since
- 2012
- Based in
- Hückelhoven
07The business
Who will be working for you
Farbenhaft24 Raumgestaltung is the business of Tobias Knopczyk, based in Hückelhoven.
He has been carrying out his own building projects since 2012. The techniques came from his father, who also worked in construction.
The work is about interiors: walls, ceilings, floors and the surfaces on them. In an older building there is the added step of knowing the substrate before treating it.
Enquiries go to him directly. Whoever calls speaks to the person who will later be standing on the site.
Wir behandeln Ihr Zuhause, als wäre es unser eigenes
08Answers
Questions that come up before a renovation
Short answers to what people ask most often on the phone.
Does everything have to be stripped back in an older building?
No. Old plaster that is firm and not chalky makes a good substrate. What comes off is what sounds hollow, is coming loose or no longer holds. That can be tested at the wall before anything is decided.
Can we stay in the flat while the work is going on?
Often yes, if the work runs room by room. Where sanding and cutting create dust it is more pleasant to clear the affected area for a while. We arrange the sequence around that.
Do you also handle structural work or energy advice?
No. Load bearing elements, insulation certificates, building services and permits sit with architects, specialist planners and the relevant trades. We say early when a point belongs there.
What does a renovation cost?
That depends on area, condition and scope. A figure on a website would be a guess. You get a quotation once we have seen the rooms.
How long does the work take?
Again the existing fabric decides. A single wall is one thing, a flat in which every surface is rebuilt is another. After the visit we name a period we can keep to.
Do you work in listed buildings?
We carry out the trade work. The procedure with the heritage authority and the conditions that come from it run through the owners and the specialists responsible for that, not through us.
09Enquiry
Request a renovation
Tell us briefly about the property and what you have in mind. The more precise the details, the more concrete the first reply.
- Phone
- 0157 86747861
- info@farbenhaft24.de
- Address
- Cäcilienweg 15, 41836 Hückelhoven
- Area covered
- Kreis Heinsberg and the surrounding area
We are not always on the phone during the day because we are on site. A written message is read and answered.
Your enquiry
Name, phone number and the project description are required.