Bricklayer & Masonry in Alhos Vedros

Alhos Vedros is a quiet place with old bones. The streets around Alhos Vedros centro and down towards the Zona ribeirinha hold single-storey houses with thick walls sitting almost directly on the ground, and out by Quinta dos Franceses there are properties with yards, outbuildings and courtyard walls that have been patched for generations. The complaints are consistent: render blowing in a band low down on the wall, tiles lifting at floor level, a courtyard wall leaning where its footing gave up. We come and look, work out where the water is coming from, and only then say what the repair should be.

25K+

Interventions

4.8

Average rating

98%

Satisfaction

10+

Years experience

About our service in Alhos Vedros

In houses built like these, the wall and the ground are in conversation. Without an effective barrier between them, moisture is drawn up through the masonry and leaves at the height where it can evaporate, carrying salts with it, and that is precisely the band where you see render blowing and paint flaking. Renewing the render there alone produces a good-looking wall for a season and then the same failure. What actually helps is establishing the source, whether that is ground contact, an external level that has been raised over the years, a broken drain or a leaking pipe, then repairing with materials that let the wall dry rather than sealing it in. We are careful with promises about damp. There are things a bricklayer can do well: remove failed render, use a breathable mix, improve the drainage and levels around a wall, form a proper threshold. There are things nobody should promise, such as making an old wall behave like a new one with a coat of waterproof plaster. Sealing the inside face of a damp wall generally moves the problem rather than solving it, and we would rather tell you that than sell you the coating. What we can also do is keep the ground outside clear of the wall, so that rain is not left standing against it. Outside, courtyard and yard walls are steady work. An old wall that leans has usually lost its footing or is being pushed by soil, and rebuilding the visible part without dealing with that guarantees a repeat. Where the wall is part of a building, or where a load-bearing wall, a beam, a column or a slab is involved, the work needs a project prepared by a qualified technician and authorisation from the câmara municipal, and rules vary by município, so it is checked with the câmara. In shared buildings, facades and common parts also need the condomínio's agreement.

Masonry work we take on in Alhos Vedros:

Services Included

Removal and renewal of render blown by ground moisture
Breathable finishes on walls that have to handle damp
Rebuilding of leaning courtyard and yard walls on new footings
Improvement of external levels, drainage and thresholds
Floor and wall tiling, and making good after other trades

Areas We Serve

We work in Alhos Vedros centro, the Zona ribeirinha and out around Quinta dos Franceses, including the older houses with yards.

Alhos Vedros centroZona ribeirinhaQuinta dos Franceses

Work Gallery

Rating

4.8

(4+ reviews)

Response within 2h
Verified professionals
Satisfaction guaranteed

Guarantee

Our quote says what we will do, in which materials, and what we cannot promise. Where our own work does not hold up as described, we come back to put it right.

Hours

Mon-Sat: 9am-8pm

Sunday: Closed

Our quote says what we will do, in which materials, and what we cannot promise. Where our own work does not hold up as described, we come back to put it right.

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions asked in Alhos Vedros:

Can you seal my wall on the inside to keep the damp out?

We can, but in an old wall it usually just relocates the problem, pushing the moisture higher up or further along until it finds somewhere to leave. We would rather deal with why water is reaching the wall, use a finish that lets it dry, and improve the levels and drainage outside. That is less dramatic and it lasts, and we will say so even when a coating would be an easier sale.

My yard wall is leaning. Does the whole thing have to come down?

Not always, but the leaning section usually does. A wall tilts because its footing has failed or because soil is pushing against it, and rebuilding only the top courses leaves the cause in place. We dig to see what the wall is standing on, rebuild that section on a proper footing and, where soil is the culprit, deal with drainage behind it.

Do you also work on the outbuildings behind the house?

Yes, walls, floors, thresholds and renders in outbuildings are regular work for us. What changes things is a change of use. Turning a store into a habitable room, or altering anything that carries load, needs a project from a qualified technician and a licence from the câmara municipal, and rules vary by município so it must be checked for the property before we start.