Artfuldodger128

I am currently searching for a flat to purchase in the Algarve area which I am planning to become my home.

The flat may need renovation, which means I'll need help from the local builders.

Questions:
1) what are your thoughts on builders in Portugal, especially in the Algarve area?
2) are they generally ok? That is, do they do work as specified and to the agreed timeline and cost?
3) are there any builders you would recommend in the Algarve area?

Dafty

1) Mixed
2) No
3) No

Better if you can find a place that,s all up together.
Good, honest, and reliable builders in Algarve are hard to find and the good ones are naturally very, very busy .

SgtTroy

1. Negative
2. No
3. No observations

liveaboard

Our guys were great. Had no trouble with them at all.
Although they did tend to stay home on rainy days.
At the end, we paid them a bonus. they were a bit shocked, I don't think that had ever happened to them before.

To be cost effective, you really need someone very close to the work, within 20km. So recommendations are no use until you know your location.

It will probably be more cost effective to get a place already renovated. Otherwise you probably need another place to live until the work is complete.

Alan PT

No experience in Algarve, bur I'd suspect it suffers from the same issue as Lisbon (everybody good is incredibly busy). If you can find a good project manager/architect, they will source and chase the trades (since separate trades are more common the the UK "general builder" idea)

There are plenty of very skilled tradespeople, also (like anywhere) some bad ones. On the whole, I'd say quality and cost are good, timescale is bad. Expect it to take at least twice as long as initially suggested, particularly if council inspections/approvals are needed

Portuguese colleagues have the same problems, one was staying with family for 6 months longer than planned, another for over a year longer!

Sunseeker1st

Same with us and agree with comments but it was more than 20 years ago.

wellinever

All depends on the work involved.Esp if any is structural.
Ask around for recommendations from people that have used someone,
As said, and like anywhere else, there are good and useless.
Try to see work already done.
So basic safeguards, depending on type and amount of work required.
Be prepared for delays.
Get firm fixed price, with invoices in your name NIF etc.
Watch out for the little notepad, used to add extras during build,as you change your mind !!!!
Often builders dont actually have their own teams, again depends on work involved, but sub it out, thats when you get delays etc.....check before starting.
Having said that and having had 3 houses built from scratch, I have always been amazed at the chaos during construction, but always very pleased with end results, and even more amazed at ending up with perfectly vertical walls in and out, using nothing more than a length of plastic tubing filled with water.
But it is challenging, esp if no Portuguese spoken.

macliam

Yes, stay local, get recommendations and be very, very careful.

Once you sign a contract, you're stuck, even if they turn out to be shysters.

Artfuldodger128

Thank you all for your prompt messages.

As it is a flat, what we're looking to do at most is replace kitchen and bathroom, and perhaps the flooring if needed. No remodelling and nothing structural.

​​​​​​It sounds like a minefield, and good contractors are like gold dust!

GrahamF

Bear in mind with older apartments the plumbing is usually steel pipes embedded in walls and replacement can cost a small fortune as re-tiling kitchens, bathrooms etc necessary. Our neighbour has been quoted several thousand to replace the lot due to rust blockages restricting flow. Ours is OK - so far.

liveaboard

Our house had threaded plastic (PVC) pipe, and iron unions.
That's odd pipe, sized and threaded like old Victorian steel pipe, but thick walled plastic instead.
The pipe was fine but all the unions rusted closed.
If they'd used brass or plastic, it might still be in the walls.

I changed all the wiring too, it was undersize and just 1 plug and 1 ceiling light in each room.

Artfuldodger128

Thank you for this.

As a quick question - how old is an older apartment? To put it another way, would you know when they changed the building regs mandating the use of PVC pipes instead of steel pipes?

GrahamF

In our case built during 1970s.but I've no idea if/when any building regulations were in force or changed.

wellinever

But at least if you are changing the floor, you could take the opportunity to change to PEX pipeworks, and include some underfloor heating (Leroy Merlin electric 100w/m2) gives nice background heat, and cheap to run at €1.60 for 10 mtre room per hour, but of course when flooring concrete is up to temp, the residual heat stays a long time for FREE

Artfuldodger128

I dropped by Leroy Merlin today and noticed that they offer an installation service.
Has anyone used their installation service at all who can provide feedback on them?
They said they're employees of the company so I presume given this they should be fairly safe to use.