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At LT Construction, laying a strong foundation is crucial for the long-term stability and durability of any home construction project on the Costa del Sol. From installing reinforced concrete beams and pillars to selecting the right foundation type based on soil conditions, we ensure a solid base for every project. This process is vital to protect structures from settling issues and guarantee their resilience. We proudly offer our services in Marbella, Fuengirola, Benahavís, Mijas, and beyond.
Over the next few weeks I shall be highlighting some of the most common issues experienced by buyers of residential homes in the Costa del Sol, Spain. This week we start with a property survey.
Unfortunately, I still find that the majority of house buyers do not have a building survey carried out prior to purchase. The reason for this I can only speculate is that the majority of buyers purchase without the need for a mortgage and so there is not a requirement to do so by a third party.
The properties are often purchased during the summer months when many of the main issues are not immediately apparent.
Often clients are under the mistaken idea the a license is not required when reforming their new purchase and modernising the interior of the property. Unfortunately this is not the case, a license should always be sought even for quite minor works. The consequences of not obtaining a suitable license can be expensive and time consuming to resolve.
The only exceptions are for water tanks and septic tanks.
You will often inherit a flat roof and roof terraces when purchasing a property, as they are a common design feature here in Spain.
Upper terraces are often structurally sound, it is unusual for them to be built as an afterthought. Although I have come across instances where this is the case, where they are separating from the main building. However, flat roof and terraces can still be a cause for concern and costly to put the faults right.
The main problem associated with flat roofs and terraces is water ingress. The main structure of Spanish properties is reinforced concrete. The builder will often skip the very important phase of preparation, which involves sealing the concrete from water penetration, simply laying the tiles onto the concrete.
Property Issues: Tiles
You will probably inherit a property with quite boring and uninspiring tile designs, both on the floor and walls, especially if the house is over 10 years old.
The general principle was to tile all the walls in the bathrooms and kitchen, even behind the kitchen units. This has the effect of making the rooms feel cold and uninviting. The floors of older properties are either tiled with rustic terracotta or quite garish ceramic.
Spanish builders are not known for their sense of aesthetics, and so each room will have a different tile design without any feeling of conformity throughout the property.
The age of the property you are intending on buying will be an indicator of the state of the electrical installation in the property, as many older properties will not be compliant with current domestic property regulations.
When purchasing an older property, the potential buyer will often want to modernise the interior of the property and update such things as the kitchen which will include modern appliances, such as a fridge freezer, dishwasher and washing machine, as well as having air conditioning units installed in the bedrooms and living rooms, these items will put an enormous strain on an electrical system that was not intended for such a high level of consumption. Increasing the load on the existing electrical circuits if they are old may result in the circuit breakers tripping as the wiring overheats or in extreme cases fires.
Subsidence is most evident after the winter rains when the land adjacent to the property moves due to poor land management and insufficient drainage.
Minor cracks which don't affect the structural integrity of your home can often just be filled in and painted over and the evidence removed. More serious cracks which would have an impact on the structure may result in walls needing to be re-pointed and repaired with metal fixings.
Some of the effects of subsidence is just a case of the property settling over a number of years into the land and the issues do not deteriorate further. These minor defects can be dressed and rectified without further issues appearing.
The problems associated with poorly constructed driveways tend to originate from builders not preparing the surface of the subsoil with aggregates to allow for free drainage of water, not understanding the flow of water over the surface area or water undermining the structure by not installing sufficient drainage. Unless the driveway is laid on free draining soil, stone chipping should never be considered and only if the land is flat and the subsoil has been prepared using aggregates.
If a concrete base is laid as a foundation, again the subsoil should always be prepared first. Reinforced concrete that maintains and gives structural strength by using rebars is the general rule.
The above issues can undermine the structural integrity of the driveway and lead to cracking, subsidence and buckling of the surface area.
Like electrics, plumbing is one of the hidden aspects of the services in your new property that is “out of sight and out of mind”.
The quality of the plumping in your property is a lottery that will may not cause you issues or will be a long running battle.
A Property Survey of your potential new home can help in establishing such things as water pressure and the general condition of pipes and even if there is a possible leak by monitoring the water meter but not where the leak is, unless it is very obvious.
The idea of having a swimming pool is a common dream of people purchasing a home in Spain. Whilst the dream is beautiful the reality can quickly turn into a living nightmare.
One of the most common issues affecting the correct running of a swimming pool is the tile grouting dissolving. The reason for this is usually due to the PH levels not being correct over a sustained period of time. In Southern Spain the PH levels are usually extremely high, this makes the water acidic and this will eat away at the grouting.
The loosening of grouting not only disfigures the look of the pool but will also encourage algae to form in the recesses turning your blue pool to a vivid pond green, there is no more depressing sight than this.
Damp walls and water ingress is a very common problem with Spanish properties. The majority of properties are purchased during the rain free summer months, and so the potential new owner is often unaware of the problem.
Very few houses in Andalusia are built using a damp course during the construction process, the reason for this is that the Town Halls did not in the past enforce strict planning regulations and the Architects seldom visited the building sites to insist on the correct procedures. Sadly, seldom will you find any property over 10 years old having a damp course.
The lack of a damp course will result in rising damp through the concrete base and up the walls. This is often masked and disguised by walls being covered with ceramic tiles or stone cladding on the exterior and interior ceramic tiles, and the building painted on an annual basis in the spring months when the walls have dried out. The unsuspecting buyer therefore is oblivious to the defects until the following autumn when the rains resume. Several other factors will determine how prone to damp the house is
The main feature is that it incorporates a built-in filter to reduce the heavy metals and fine elements that are washed out of the standard tanks and so making them eco-friendlier by preventing the pollution of the water table by the heavy metals which would normally be emptied from a standard Septic Tank.
A lot of people have to upgrade their septic tanks to accommodate current Spanish and EC legislation in order to be compliant with the DEFO requirements. This is an upgrade from the existing specification and requirements and we believe this type of filtrations will be mandatory in the future.
The benefits are:
- Prevents scaling without using chemicals
- Cost effective and eco-friendly
- Reduces heavy metals such copper, lead, mercury and zinc.
- No maintenance, free of salt or other chemicals. No heavy salt bags to carry around.
- Increase efficiency of boilers, solar panels, dishwashers, washing machines.
- Easy to install, no electricity and no backwash pipes required.
- Solves the typical problems of standard softeners.
⚲ Urbanizacion Aloha Gardens, Avenida de Prado S/N, Nueva Andalucía, 29660, Marbella
⚲ Casa Paloma, Los Hundideros 9, La Viñuela, 29712, Málaga
☏ 0034 659324586
✉ info@ltconstruction.es
