Category Archives: Driving in Portugal

Driving and owning a car in Central Portugal.

Insulation in Portugal

Posted on by
Reply

Insulation in Portugal

Insulation in Portugal The climates great here, feels just like California most of the time.

That is apart from when you go into a Portuguese house if its more than twenty years old. You have a range of temperatures to endure from arctic to equatorial. In the winter they are very cold and seem to suck the heat out of you no matter how high you turn up the heating or how many clothes and fleeces you wear. In the summer they can be stiflingly hot so hot in fact that its hard to sleep because the roof is releasing all of the heat that it has collected during the day straight into your bedroom !
The answer is of course that these houses are not insulated and this omission allows the arctic to equatorial conditions to prevail. What the houses need is insulation but where and how and what are more difficult questions and require some detailed explanation.
Types of insulation
The most common insulation used in Portugal is “wallmate, floormate and roof mate” This is an extruded polystyrene product and is very easy to work with.
Surprisingly cork although one of Portugal’s major natural products is both expensive ( about 3 times the price of wallmate) and hard to obtain without pre-order. Try www.isocor.pt Rock wool and fiberglass bats and rolls are available but sheep’s wool and processed paper are rare.
Where to insulate – Its simple. Everywhere roof walls, floors and windows.
Ventilation
Trapping warm air inside your home with insulation is the goal but it has to be done with adequate ventilation this often seems counter intuitive – heating up your house spending money and effort on insulation and then opening a window !
If you don’t ventilate you will trap moisture laded warm air in your house which will then deposit the moisture on the coolest thing in the house it could be the walls ceilings or floor. Most likely to be the windows making your house look like a late night launderette.
How to insulate http://www.casteloconstruction.info/tag/how-to-insulate-a-stone-house-in-portugal/
www.casteloconstruction.com

Insulation in Portugal

concrete beam removing inside a room

Posted on by
Reply

Concrete beam removing inside a room

Concrete beam removing inside a room  We carry out this type of work all the time because our clients want more headroom in the ground floor of their homes or because the concrete beam was poorly constructed and they are unsure how strong it is. We also remove, lift up and reposition wooden beams in this case supporting a first floor.

concrete beam removing inside a roomwooden beam removing inside a room
The fist step is to look at the condition of the walls that the beam is currently resting on and were its going to be resting. If these walls are not sound do not attempt to remove or reposition the beam without making the sound and waiting for the cement and concrete to dry sufficiently so that its structurally sound.
Weight is your biggest enemy. If a beam was to break or fall during the move it could easily bring the support walls down on top of you. NB: many demolition contractors are killed every year by just such an occurrence. No hard had will save you in this type of accident.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/jake-weir-builder-miracle-escape-from-collapse-building-video-115719313.html#3hmiU3G

Support everything, move slowly don’t be tempted to drop things to the floor if you want to  stay safe.
Remove all the weight off the beam before attempting to move or remove it.
Use sufficient numbers of adjustable props to take the weight of the beam. Clear space in the supporting wall so that the beam can be lifted.
Move the beam with the props very slowly and keep it level at all times.
This is not a one man job and should never be attempted by the inexperienced
raise the beam above the final resting position so that a solid foundation can be created to spread the load of the beam and the weight that it will be supporting.
Once the beams foundation is set and cured. slowly lower the beam to its new position and piece it into the walls.

concrete beam removing inside a room floor replaced
Do not start putting weight on the beam until it is firmly set into its new position.
Or you can save yourself the stress, probable hernia and worry by calling Castelo Construction Lda

SKYPE casteloconstruction        Phone 00351 967922513

Apartado 42, Santa Eufemia, 3230- 207 PENELA, Portugal

For information on what we do go to www.casteloconstruction.com

concrete beam removing inside a room

Property construction or property renovation in Portugal

Posted on by
Reply

Property construction or property renovation in Portugal

Looking for a firm or company for property construction or property renovation in Portugal
Employing businesses such as construction companies, architects and engineers can be as straight forward as just that “employing”. You’re the one with the money and so you MANAGE the company like employees and when they have done what you want them to do you pay them and everyone’s happy?
Probably, Possibly, Rarely………

Looking for a firm or company for property construction or property renovation in Portugal When the task you have asked them to do is something as complex as a construction or a refurbishment project there are usually many other facets to consider. What about sub contractors. Who will manage, pay find them.
The last thing you want to be worrying or arguing about is “who said what” and how it didn’t mean that. An employee, person or company who has not bought into your project is a massive liability and will affect the outcome of your planned project. Without “collaboration” within your project they will pile those bricks, cut that timber and lay that concrete but they will probably not say to you before hand. Have you thought of this consequence or it could save you money if.

Looking for a firm or company for property construction or property renovation in Portugal
Employing also leaves you with all the responsibility when in truth you may be out of your depth and having to manage on gut feel basis rather than experience.
That is why it makes so much real sense to collaborate with a suitably qualified company lead by a highly experienced and able manager. Communications become easier, budgets are easier to manage and cost saving not previously identified can be made by utilizing supplier discounts for instance or finding alternative ways to do a particular task.
You know why you should be collaborating let’s see if we can make it easier for you to do it on your Portuguese building project.

Property construction or property renovation in Portugal
One of the hardest things to overcome in making a collaboration happen is finding the person or company to partner with in your collaboration. The truth is that a successful collaboration is dependent on who you partner with. It is not about finding someone who is the most popular or recommended by someone who you met in the pub.. Here are some things to look for.

Trust One Another: This is the biggest and largest part of a good partnership with someone. When thinking of entering a collaboration This is someone you need to be able to know can make a decision and you not second-guess it naturally. Trust is the binding factor in a collaboration.
Respect: You need to feel a mutual respect for each others talents. Be honest with yourself if you respect that person’s work.
Easy Communication: When you all trust and respect each other communication is the next big thing.
Passion: Once the first three are checked off. Check the level of passion for carrying out this type of work. You want to work with people who go above and beyond especially if you know you are that same way.

Contact Castelo Construction Lda to find out if we can collaborate.  www.casteloconstruction.com

Property construction or property renovation in Portugal

English speaking stone house builder in Portugal

Posted on by
Reply

English speaking stone house builder in Portugal

Looking for a English speaking stone house builder in Portugal

You may have found the perfect house in Portugal, perfect except that you may want to make some changes or remodeling or extension or perhaps building an outside dining area that fits in with the overall look and style of your old stone house.
You may not know the names of the masons techniques to be used particularly in Portuguese but you want the new work to blend in well with the existing ancient stone walls. Worry not ! our masons produce work that they are proud of and that you will be amazed by.

For someone trying to have work carried out on your property in Portugal it can be ultra stressful and emotional for three main reasons.
1, Communication, lack of and making yourself understood. How to describe what you want. Especially if you are not here all the time.
2, Cultural difference, expectations that you have will not be matched by your Portuguese counterpart.
3, Understanding local construction methods, practices and materials.
These three heart attack inducing areas can be removed by working with a building company like Castelo Construction Lda. www.casteloconstruction.com
Our teams are very experienced Portuguese builders who understand that we expect different things from them than their usual Portuguese clients. They are used to using the latest building techniques and build to a superb level of finish.
Despite their initial fears of having to repeat them selves several times to be better understood they find that they are dealing with a highly experienced and qualified builder who can translate there wishes to the craftsmen and manage the process to completion,
When you work with us do not spend too much time getting bogged down with learning everything there is to know about construction or the Portuguese language because you will not learn it all and it will be frustrating carrying a phrasebook around with you.
It is far more beneficial to collect together an ideas scrapbook so that you can help us understand the type of space, finishing, features that you like. These can be quickly understood and transferred in your new home.
Obviously it’s a big decision having work done in Portugal and not being there to supervise. Contact us john@casteloconstruction.com to talk about your project we can share with you some of our excellent references and give you competitive quotations for any construction work that you may require.

 

English speaking stone house builder in Portugal

English speaking builders central Portugal

Posted on by
Reply

English speaking builders, architects and engineers in central Portugal


Looking for an English speaking builder in central Portugal ?

We have all heard the quote from George Bernard Shaw “England and America are two countries divided by a common language”. Even though we speak basically the same language people sometimes have trouble understanding one other. The actual words used are not the issue its the context that they are used in and also the expectations that have been built up in our minds by our backgrounds, upbringing and education.
When I get frustrated with the way things are handled here by the government-run organizations and utilities I always think back to the famous quote from The Wizard of Oz film from 1939.
“Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”
This helps me to recalibrate my attitude, expectations, patience threshold and a few other blood pressure raising traits that we bring from northern Europe.
For someone like you trying to have work carried out on your property in Portugal it can be ultra stressful and emotional for three main reasons.
1, Communication, lack of and making yourself understood. How to describe what you want. Especially if you are not here all the time.
2, Cultural difference, expectations that you have will not be matched by your Portuguese counterpart.
3, Understanding local construction methods, practices and materials.
These three heart attack inducing areas can be removed by working with a building company like Castelo Construction Lda.      www.casteloconstruction.com
Our teams are very experienced Portuguese builders who understand that we expect different things from them than their usual Portuguese clients. They are used to using the latest building techniques and build to a superb level of finish.
Our clients, despite their initial fears of having to repeat them selves several times to be better understood they find that they are dealing with a highly experienced and qualified builder who can translate their wishes to the craftsmen and manage the process professionally  to completion.
When you work with us do not spend too much time getting bogged down with learning everything there is to know about construction or the Portuguese language because you will not learn it all and it will be frustrating carrying a phrasebook around with you.
It is far more benifisial to collect together what is often called a “mood board” or “ideas scrapbook” so that you can help us understand the type of space, fininshing, features that you like. These can be quickly understood and transferred into your new home.
Obviously its a big decision having work done in Portugal and not being there to supervise. Contact  john@casteloconstruction.com to talk about your project.  We can share with you some of our excelent references and give you competative quotations for any construction work that you may require.

Castelo Construction work throughout Portugal

 

English speaking builders central Portugal

pellets central heating in portugal

Posted on by
Reply

pellets central heating in portugal

Pellets central heating in portugal is not something that you think of much when buying a property here. Its more likely that you are thinking of good food, low cost wine and beautiful countryside and beaches. However once the Autumn nights are upon us and you are spending more time indoors. Thoughts of  heating your home cost effectively come to the fore. You may not have had or used a pellet fired central heating system before so they can be a little confusing to help you heres a little Q&A.
pellets central heating in portugal
How much heat can I expect to get out of a pellet fire or boiler. Only slightly less that an equivalent capacity wood burner.
Are pellets available locally and cheaply – Yes to both, Portugal makes wood pellets
Do the fires make more  noise than a log fire. Yes they do make a whirring noise as the pellets are fed into the fire. It can be a little annoying if you are reading quietly but its a lot better than having to get up, go out and load up logs in the winter or rain.
Do you have to have a flue or chimney with a pellet fire. Yes treat then just like a log burner. You need an appropriate chimney and ash disposal.
Whats an appropriate chimney. Each stove has a different width of flue pipe that it needs. Don be tempted to reduce this width. Install a flue damper and ensure that your chimney is above the roof tiles at the correct height. There is lots of advice  available on the internet about this or follow the stoves installation manual.
These stoves are very heavy and the flues high so allow 250 Euros or an installation of a pellet burner in Portugal.

pellets central heating in portugal

Convert under the house

Posted on by
Reply

Convert under the house

Convert under the house – When we are selecting a Portuguese house to buy you very often find a house which has at least two large rooms underneath which have normally been used to keep livestock such as chickens rabbits and goats. The other of the rooms is normally a room for storing and making wine, garden produce, olives and seeds. This is called the Adega and is the place thatyou are usually invited to for a drink of home made wine.
These rooms can make ideal living accommodation when converted there are usually a couple of major things to overcome first.
Headroom – very often as the livestock areas were only for goats the low head height wasn’t an issue. To make a habitable room you need at least 2.4 meters between ceiling and floor. So you may have to dig down to achieve this. Quite often we have to chisel the rock away.

Convert under the house

Convert under the house

Damp – The damp didn’t matter when the wine and goats were in residence . As the adegas are often built into the earth and don’t have damp proof courses they can be damp all year round and positively wet in the winter. Damp proofing or tanking must be carried out if you are going to live there.

Convert under the house

Convert under the house

Convert under the house

Convert under the house

Natural light – Many adegas don’t have windows just an external door or a missing stone in the wall. To make the space habitable you need to install windows which means knocking windows through thick stone walls. Fortunately we are very experienced in this type of work.
Insulation/heating – Converted rooms under houses can be very cold so its always a good idea to thoroughly insulate when you carry out the conversion work.

For more information contact

For information on how we can help you and what we do go to http://www.casteloconstruction.com/

Phone 00351 967922513 or SKYPE casteloconstruction    email casteloconstruction@gmail.com

Apartado 42, Santa Eufemia, 3230- 207 PENELA, Portugal

Convert under the house

Whats the easiest way to learn Portuguese

Posted on by
Reply

Whats the easiest way to learn Portuguese

Whats the easiest way to meet Portuguese friends ?
Whats the easiest way to become integrated into local life ?
Whats the easiest way to prevent retirement boredom ?

You guessed it the answers the same to all these questions.

Have you thought of volunteering at your local council. I took the web page from the SERTA Camra website as an example. Your own local council will be no doubt running the same sort of thing.

Just ask………………………………………………………..

Whats the easiest way to learn Portuguese     you could join Serta Volunteers Bank

“By the Protocol signed between the City of Serta and the National Commission for the Promotion of Volunteering on April 17, 2009, the Bank was created Local Volunteer Serta – “The Seed of Reason” – an appeal to the exercise of civic solidarity through participation, cooperation, complementarity, gratuity, responsibility and convergence towards citizens, institutions, public services and local businesses.
The Local Bank Volunteer of Serta’s mission is to promote and publicize volunteering in Serta county, facilitating the match between supply and demand of volunteers and institutions that promote volunteering.
The Local Bank Volunteer of Serta’s main objectives are:
- Strengthen the identity of volunteer work;
- Foster the emergence of local initiatives targeted for volunteer work
- Develop and implement Volunteer Programs, in partnership with organizations promoting
- Forward and monitor the inclusion of volunteers in promoting institutions
- Develop activities for collecting and distributing goods to people with socio-economic difficulties

The Local Bank Volunteer of Serta is based on the premises of Bank Resources Serta, Old School in St. Anthony.

For any additional information or clarification, contact the Department of Social Action of the City Council of Serta, by phone 274 600 300 or e-mail address social@cm-serta.pt.

Whats the easiest way to learn Portuguese

Brought to you by Castelo Construction    www.casteloconstruction.com

Living in central Portugal

Posted on by
Reply

Living in central Portugal

Do I recommend it ABSOLUTELY If your about to take the plunge and move to central Portugal either on a holiday basis or permanently there are some experience that I have had and have seen other people go through which may help you.
If you coming to Portugal as a couple remember that you both have different requirements and reasons for wanting to be here. Its important to discuss and share your reasons, desires and ideal outcome with your partner so that you can make sure you make your stay here a pleasant and enjoyable as possible.
Where to live ?  Pin in a map, a favorite holiday destination, close to golf courses or commutable to a city for work. ?

Most people end up in a location because they fall in love with a particular house. Most houses in central Portugal are individually built and added to over the years making them unique which is very attractive to us northern Europeans.

The other thing for British people is that the houses here pound for pound are generally larger and with more land that we are used to. A house here can match the aspirational goals that you had in the UK for a lot less money. BEWARE BUYING TOO BIG.  Most of us who move out here are active 50+ the temptation to buy a 6 bedroom barn with lots of outbuildings is very strong. RESIST THIS URGE!

We can all make up our own excuses about spending our retirement doing it up or the grand children will love the space. Think about who you are going to sell it to when you find that your rattling around in it as a couple and come winter that its too big and expensive to heat, maintain, clean.
With any property that you eventually buy – heres a few examples -http://www.casteloconstruction.com/property/index.htm
Outside entertaining space is vital Not just for day to day living in our new warmer environment, when visitors pop in or when the family descend for a summer holiday. They don’t want to be stuck indoors they want to feel the warmth and enjoy being outside or even having breakfast alfresco.
This is why outside dinning rooms and barbeque areas are our number one inquiry at Castelo  Construction. I would say that having a nice, functional outside eating area is better than having a swimming pool if you have to choose between the two. There are plenty of natural swimming locations at local river beaches  and of course the beach.


The natives are friendly. Its one of the major attractions of living here in central Portugal. Most people are polite and friendly. You will be very quickly made part of the community. When we lived in the historical part of Penela we were amazed how many people said hello as we were out shopping or waiting to be served in the post office. The expat community is thriving with coffee mornings, walks, and dinners so you can have the best of both woulds. Catch up on the latest news  back in your home country and enjoy the local cultural events and new friends.

4 bed house Penela central portugal

Posted on by
Reply

4 bed house Penela central portugal

 

A four bedroom house in Penela, central Portugal. Beautiful setting and completely modernized.

OVERVIEW:

 

A comfortable property converted six years ago to the most modern standards. Sits in an ideal location in the center of Penela, a beautiful market town straddling the traditional lifestyle with modern amenities.

Accommodation comprises four bedrooms, 2 & 1/2 bathrooms (one en-suite) and a separate WC.

 GROUND FLOOR

LIVING ROOM

A light filled room with Sky TV point, ceramic tiled floor and stairs to first floor.

DRESSING ROOM

A separate room accessed from the lounge and leading to the main bedroom. Features four meters of fitted mirrored wardrobes.

BEDROOM 1

A large double bedroom with ensuite bathroom and external access. Spacious and light, decorated with ceramic floor tiles.

EN-SUITE BATHROOM

With shower, toilet and sink.

UTILITY ROOM

This room has a large work surface and is plumbed for an automatic washing machine. There is also space for a tumble dryer and freezer. A central heating kombi boiler installed.

 BATHROOM 1

A modern and sleek bathroom with bidet, WC, wash basin, large shower and shaver point. Decorated with white and grey ceramic tiles.

4 bed house Penela central portugal  FIRST FLOOR

 Accessed by stairs connecting the corridor and living room.

BEDROOM 2

Large double bedroom with  oak laminate flooring which has French doors opening on to a sunny balcony.

BEDROOM 3

A double bedroom with oak laminate floor.

BEDROOM 4

Single bedroom or office oak laminate . Broadband internet at 8Mb and phone line are connected.

KITCHEN

A modern and newly installed kitchen fully equipped and fitted with a new range of solid wood (beach) kitchen units, granite work surfaces, dish washer, hob, oven, large fridge, microwave and extractor hood. Access ro large sun terrace and covered dining area.

SUN TERRACE

One of the main and most striking features of the house, with stunning views of the Serra de Lousa mountains. The covered dining area. and terrace is perfect for outdoor barbeques, dining and private sunbathing.

WINE CELLAR

The large wine cellar is carved into the same rock on which the castle stands. Keeps very cool and if you not into wine makes a very good storage area of aproximatly 16 Square meters

STORAGE For gas bottles

 

FURTHER COMMENTS

All windows are double glazed

A satellite dish tuned for UK Sky TV reception.

Broadband Internet access is connected.

The house is fully rewired and all water supplies have been replaced.

The house is connected to the council sewerage system.

 Parking is free and available on two sides of the property.

 

CITY AND BEACH DISTANCES:

 

The historic city of Coimbra is 37km (30 minutes) away whilst the beaches of Figueira da Foz are a quick hop down the motorway, being 81km away and roughly 1 hour 5 minutes.

THE AREA:

 

Penela is a beautiful, cared for village community located in the center of the region. It plays host to many traditional fiestas throughout the year and also appeared in the Guinness Book of records as the place where the largest game of cards is held every year!

The council are also keen to encourage development, and have built swimming pools, cinemas, libraries and internet cafes within their jurisdiction.

Penela is an area surrounded by Roman ruins and historic castles, which are some of the most beautiful, historic and well preserved in Iberia. The town itself was established as long ago as 1137. The medieval part of Penela deserves a visit: among the houses you can wander through the Manueline style pillory, the Renaissance Church of Stª Eufémia and the beautiful Misericordia Square and church.

4 bed house Penela central portugal