Why Dutch people do their own home repairs — and where the line is
Part of: Housing
Klussen means DIY home improvement — fixing, building, painting, renovating. In the Netherlands it is not a hobby for enthusiasts; it is a baseline expectation of adult homeownership. When a door squeaks, a Dutch homeowner oils it. When a room needs repainting, they buy the rollers. When a new kitchen goes in, many will tile it themselves.
Labor in the Netherlands is expensive. A plumber charges €80–€150 per hour plus a call-out fee. An electrician runs €70–€120 per hour. A painter €40–€60 per hour. These are standard market rates, not luxury prices. Compared to countries where a skilled worker costs €5–€15 per hour — Syria, Colombia, Morocco, Indonesia — the arithmetic is completely different. In those places, calling someone to paint your ceiling is rational. Here, for many people, it is cheaper to spend a Saturday doing it yourself.
The infrastructure for this culture is everywhere. Gamma, Karwei, and Hornbach are large hardware and home improvement chains with branches across the country — they stock everything from paint and tiles to electrical components and structural timber. YouTube tutorials in Dutch are abundant. The assumption is that you will figure it out.
If you come from a culture where trades are cheap and you have never owned a drill, this is an adjustment. But it is learnable, and the stores are well-stocked.
Most cosmetic and maintenance work is fine to DIY without any special qualification:
Three areas where DIY can create legal, safety, or insurance problems:
Any work on gas installations — pipes, connections, boilers, cookers connected to the mains — must be done by a certified installer (erkend installateur, registered with VEK/KvINL). This is not a guideline; it is a legal requirement. DIY gas work is illegal in the Netherlands regardless of your skill level. If a gas leak or explosion occurs and investigators find uncertified work, your home insurance will refuse the claim and you may face criminal liability.
If you smell gas: open windows, do not use switches or flames, leave the building, call 0800-9009 (Stedin/Enexis, the gas network operators — free, 24/7).
Simple electrical work (replacing a socket, a light fitting, a switch) is legal for homeowners. Working on the main distribution board (meterkast / groepenkast) — adding circuits, replacing the board, anything touching the incoming supply — should be done by a certified electrician working to the NEN 1010 standard.
The insurance risk: if an electrical fire occurs and an insurer's investigator determines the cause was DIY work not done to standard, your opstalverzekering (building insurance) or inboedelverzekering (contents insurance) claim can be refused or reduced. The policy language typically requires that work be carried out "properly and according to applicable standards." Non-standard electrical work fails that test.
The insurance consequences of DIY electrical work are real, particularly for anything beyond the simplest jobs.
Dutch wiring follows two standards depending on the age of the property.
New wiring (post ~2004, NEN 1010 / IEC 60446): - Brown — phase / live (fase) - Blue — neutral (nul) - Yellow/Green — earth (aarde) - Black — often used as a switch wire (schakelaarader) in lighting circuits — not always neutral
Old wiring (pre-2004): Colors varied and are not reliable. The typical pre-harmonization Dutch convention was Red=phase, Black=neutral, Yellow/Green=earth — but this was not consistent across all installations or eras. Some older properties have entirely different configurations.
Practical rule: never trust old wire colors. Always use a voltage tester (spanningzoeker or fasedraad) before touching any wire. If in doubt, turn off the circuit at the groepenkast and verify with a tester that the wire is dead. A non-contact tester costs around €10 at Gamma and is worth owning.
Removing a load-bearing wall, extending the house, changing the facade, building a large extension — these typically require an omgevingsvergunning (building permit) from your gemeente. Building without one when a permit was required can result in enforcement action and a requirement to undo the work at your cost.
Non-structural internal changes (removing a partition wall that is not load-bearing, opening up a ceiling) generally do not need a permit but check with your gemeente if in doubt. Rules vary by municipality and by whether your house is in a protected area (beschermd stadsgezicht).
If you own an apartment, you are also a member of the VvE (Vereniging van Eigenaren — owners association). The VvE governs what changes you can make to your unit, particularly anything that affects shared walls, floors, ceilings, pipes, or the building facade. Major renovations — removing a wall, replacing a bathroom that shares plumbing — typically require VvE approval. Check the splitsingsakte (the deed that defines what is your property versus shared property) and the VvE house rules before starting anything significant.
Houses built before 1994 may contain asbestos — in roof tiles, floor tiles, insulation around pipes, walls. If you find material you suspect is asbestos, stop and do not disturb it. Asbestos must be tested and removed by a SCA-certified asbestos removal company. Removing it yourself is illegal. Your gemeente can advise on testing and licensed removers.
Action — the Dutch discount chain — sells a surprising range of klussen supplies. Knowing what's worth buying there and what isn't saves money without costing you a ruined weekend.
Fine to buy at Action: - Paint rollers, trays, and disposable brushes — for a one-off paint job, throwaway quality is acceptable - Painters tape (afplaktape) — works fine, it's tape - Drop cloths and protective sheeting - Sandpaper and sanding blocks for basic work - LED bulbs — often genuinely good value - Cable ties, hooks, basic fixings for light loads - Cleaning products — white spirit, brushes for cleaning tools - Gloves and basic dust masks for light tasks - Small storage boxes and containers for sorting screws and fixings
Not worth buying at Action: - Power tools — the motors are underpowered, they fail quickly, and there is no meaningful warranty support. A cheap drill from Action will frustrate you. Buy a decent Bosch, Makita, or Ryobi from Gamma or Hornbach — it will last a decade. - Drill bits and saw blades — cheap bits blunt almost immediately. A set of decent Bosch or Heller bits costs only a little more and lasts far longer. - Quality brushes — if the paint finish matters, cheap brushes leave visible strokes. Buy one good brush and clean it properly. - Silicone kit (sealant) — quality varies, and poor sealant fails or discolours quickly. Bison or Soudal from a hardware store is worth the extra. - Load-bearing fixings — mounting anything heavy (shelves, a TV, a cabinet) on Action plugs and screws is a risk. Use proper rated fixings. - Safety gear for serious work — don't cheap out on ear defenders or proper dust masks if you're cutting or grinding.
The general rule: buy consumables at Action, buy tools and anything load-bearing at a proper hardware store. A project ruined by a failing drill bit costs more than the saving.
Most Dutch tradespeople speak limited English, particularly older or smaller-town contractors. Knowing the right Dutch word gets things done faster and avoids misunderstandings about what needs fixing and where.
The staff at Gamma, Karwei, and Hornbach are generally helpful and will often speak English if your Dutch isn't there yet.
Most Dutch people navigate this intuitively: paint your own walls, call a professional for gas, think twice before touching the fuse box. The IKEA-assembly generation has normalised doing a lot yourself, and the hardware stores have the tools and instructions. The cases where things go wrong tend to involve either gas or electrical work where someone overestimated their competence — or underestimated that their insurer would investigate.
Start with the easy things. Buy a decent drill. The learning curve is shorter than it looks.
These guides are written to help you understand the Netherlands — not to replace professional advice. We do our best to be accurate but we make mistakes and information goes out of date. For anything that affects your legal status, taxes, finances, or health, verify with an official source or a qualified advisor.