jacky sisson

We have bought some land in Northern Portugal, not far from Viana de Castello, which has two ruins on it , we want ot find a reliable builder, can anyone help?

omostra06

good idea is to go into the local cafe's and ask around for some recommendations or ask at the local builders merchants they allways know where to find builders. when you get a few builders ask to see some examples of thier building skills before deciding on what one to use, also get a estimate, written preferabley although some builders are reluctant to give written quotes. check that they are licensed (alvara) to do building work.

gedscottish

Hello, im up in the north also, a friend of ours is a builder and he is building our house at the moment. We were worried that since he was our friend we could end up falling out over the house but so far we have been delighted with his work and the ideas for the house. The two designers of the house have been involved all the way through the project which has been great as it has saved us a lot of stress trying to choose everything for the house.(one of whom speaks English)

If you want more info let me know.....

Cleri

Hi Ged
How are you?????? apart from being busy as a new daddy
Weather is picking up now thank goodness,hope youre not still freezin yer whatsits off in the flat

jacky sisson

Hi there.
we've bought a ruined granite house, that we are in the process of getting some plans made up from an architect, who will get us the planning permission. We'll then be looking to find a builder to do the work. It'll be a complete rebuild for us.....but using as much of the existing granite stone as we can to retain the character... probably an internal concrete shell, with the external walls rebuilt . We're obviously concerned about making sure we find a builder who comes recommended, and we can see some examples of what he's done previously. We're up close to Vianna, is that nearby you??
Is your friend a registered guy? How long is it taking do you think to do your place to completion? As you say it's all the choosing of the details like kitchens and bathroom fittings that we'll need to communicate well about. Might your friend be interested or able to cope with ours as well? Any tips or comments welcome.
cheers

gedscottish

Hi, I love the idea of what your doing (restoring an old granite house). Our house is ultra modern and is certainly not to everyones taste ( 3 boxes with a flat roof), but I know our builder/friend(Fernando) has already done a fantastic job restoring another friends old granite farm house which is very impressive no matter what your taste in houses is....everyone loves it! If you would like to see some of the houses he has built in person im sure this could be arranged and he could certainly send you pictures via email. His comany is registered.... he is no cowboy dont worry (the company is called Polis96... strange name I know). By the time our house is finnished it will be getting near a year since they started which sounds terrible but thats the way it is here in Portugal, but I cant say I have ever seen a day pass where I have not seen progress (our land around house also needed major work).
Im sure Fernando would be interested, he is based near where I live Amarante (30 mins east along the A4 from Porto to Villa Real) so you are not that far away (considering he is building a block of flats in Lisbon). Are you here in Portugal now?? Im sure I could set a meeting up with him or I could give you his number (do you speak Portuguese?)
Will send you a message with my email etc... Ged

gedscottish

Hi clerigo, sent you a private message...

Cleri

Ola Ged
Didnt get it ???

gedscottish

ahh.....fodus, que foi??!

Clerigo,I have copied it from my sent box and fowarded the original to your Sapo email


jacky, did you get my message?