Professional Painting in Alfama

About our service in Alfama

Lime is the whole story in Alfama. Walls built of rubble stone and finished in lime plaster work by letting moisture pass through and evaporate at the surface. Seal that surface with a tight modern coating and the water still arrives but can no longer leave, so it collects behind the film and pushes it off in blisters and flakes, often taking a layer of plaster with it. On those walls we use breathable, lime-compatible finishes, brush out rather than build up a thick skin, and accept that the result is a softer, more matt look than a new-build flat. It is the finish the building was designed for. That matters because so many walls in the bairro are damp. Painting over damp does not fix it, and nowhere is that clearer than here, with narrow streets that never see the sun, ground floors cut into the hillside and old plumbing running through party walls. Before we decorate we want to know why the wall is wet: our moisture-detection service establishes where the water is coming from, bricklayer handles replastering and waterproofing, and water-leak-repair sorts out a leak on a pipe. Diagnosis, then masonry, then paint. Skip a step and the new finish will be back to how it looks now by next winter. Inside, the work is patient rather than quick. Old timber shutters, window casements and panelled doors are stripped back where the enamel has crazed, degreased, keyed and primed to suit the timber before any topcoat goes on, and we allow the drying time the manufacturer specifies between coats. Ceilings often need loose distemper brushed off before anything else. Outside, the facade and the stairs are common parts of the building, so nothing there is touched without the condomínio's agreement, and Alfama sits within a protected historic area where exterior colour, render and materials are controlled: the câmara municipal is the place to confirm what your address allows, and we do not make those applications on your behalf. Many properties here are holiday lets, so we plan the work between bookings and send photos as we go.

What we paint and restore in Alfama:

Services Included

• Breathable interior finishes on lime-plastered walls and old ceilings
• Exterior painting on facades and street elevations, subject to condomínio approval and municipal rules
• Spray and brush finishing of shutters, casements and panelled doors
• Varnish and enamel work on timber stairs, handrails and mouldings
• Making good crazed plaster, hairline cracks and old fixing holes

Areas We Serve

We paint throughout Alfama and around it, from the Sé and the Castelo across Mouraria to Santa Apolónia and the Escadinhas de São Miguel, working Monday to Saturday from 9am to 8pm and closed on Sunday.

Work Gallery