Renovating a family house without the guesswork

What kind of houses does this page cover?

In Spain a detached family house is often called a chalet, whatever its style. On the Costa del Sol that includes houses on older urbanisations, homes on the edge of towns, and properties bought as holiday homes that have since become main residences. Many share a set of familiar issues: original wiring and pipework, small closed kitchens, bathrooms that have been patched rather than renewed, terraces that were enclosed at some point, and outside walls that have been painted many times over cracks.

If your property is a terraced or semi-detached house within a community, see our page on townhouse renovation. For older houses in the villages and the countryside, the page on village house renovation is more relevant.

Where do you usually start in an older house?

With the parts you cannot see. A house that looks tired can be in good order underneath, and a freshly painted one can hide failing pipes. At the visit we look at:

• The electrical installation: fuse board, earthing, the number and position of sockets. Upgrades are carried out by authorised partner installers.
• Water and drainage: pipe materials, pressure, signs of leaks, how the house drains.
• Damp: stains on walls and ceilings, salts on plaster, smells in closed rooms.
• The roof and terraces: history of leaks, condition of tiles, membranes and gutters.
• Windows and doors: how they close, seal and lock.

From that we suggest a scope that solves the underlying problems first, and we are honest if part of it needs a technician.

Can the layout be changed?

Often, yes. A common request is to join a closed kitchen to the living room, turn a small bedroom into an en-suite, or bring an enclosed terrace properly into the house. Non-structural partitions can be removed and new ones built in brick or plasterboard. Where a wall is load-bearing, an architect or building surveyor has to design the opening and any new beam; we then carry out the work to that design.

Enclosing a terrace or changing the outside appearance usually involves the town hall as well. Our guide on permits for façade, roof and window works explains the main distinctions.

How do you keep disruption down if the family is living there?

Living in a house during a full renovation is hard; living in it during a phased renovation is possible with planning. We agree which parts of the house stay usable, keep at least one bathroom working, seal off work areas against dust, and plan the noisiest stages together with you. Water and power cuts are announced in advance.

If you tell us at the start that you will be living there, we build that into the sequence and the quote. It may change the order of the work and how long certain stages take, and it is better to know before you sign.

How do you deal with damp in an older house?

Damp is the most common complaint in older houses on the coast, and it has several different causes. Condensation forms on cold walls in poorly ventilated rooms, especially in winter. Leaks come from roofs, terraces, gutters and failed window seals. Rain can soak into cracked or porous render. And in some houses, moisture rises from the ground through walls without a damp-proof barrier.

The first three are building faults we can usually put right: better ventilation, roof and terrace repairs, new seals and sound render. Rising damp from the ground is different and needs a technical diagnosis before anyone covers it up. Painting over any kind of damp only hides it for a season. Our guide on roofs and leaks covers the water-from-above side in detail.

Is it worth doing the outside at the same time?

If the outside needs work in the next few years, it usually pays to plan it now. Scaffolding, protection and access are set up once rather than twice, the window reveals are finished only once, and fresh interiors are not put at risk by a roof or a wall that still lets water in. That does not mean doing everything at once: we can sequence the job so the essential envelope repairs come first and optional items, such as external insulation, are priced as separate lines you can accept or leave for later.

What does the quote include?

Every quote is itemised. Strip-out, each service, masonry, plastering, floors, tiling, painting, fittings and the final clean appear on separate lines, with quantities and descriptions. Materials are either included — we can handle purchasing — or marked as supplied by you. Exclusions are listed: furniture, appliances, technical projects, licence fees, and anything we have flagged for a specialist.

We do not publish prices. The scope, the condition of the services, the materials, access for deliveries and debris, and whether the house is occupied all change the result. Cost factors are explained in depth on presupuestoreforma.eu, and our article on what can go wrong renovating a house covers the risks worth pricing in.

What is outside our scope?

We renovate existing houses. We do not build new houses or extensions requiring a project, swimming pools or air-conditioning systems, and we do not prepare technical projects or energy performance certificates. Paving and driveways are handled by our sister site adoquinadomalaga.eu, and if you only need an interior strip-out with no renovation afterwards, see demolicioninteriormalaga.eu.