Insulation & Portuguese homes

Posted By Castelo Construction Lda in Building in Portugal, buying property in portugal, damp house, House for sale, Living in Portugal, property problems, refurbishment, Rental July 9, 2015

If I had a pound for every person that I have talked to or overheard other people talking about this subject “Insulation & Portuguese homes ” I would be a very rich man.

Summertime heat – it could be that we simply are not accustomed to having to control the summer temperatures in our home country.
It’s important to understand why and how your flat, apartment, house or Quinta gets too hot.
On a summers day when the sun starts shining in the morning it very slowly heats up the walls of your home and as the day progresses the sun rays heat up the roof tiles and then the other side of the house. The walls and roofs store the energy in the form of heat and as the outside temperature gets lower at night this high temperate stored in the fabric of the building is radiated (like an electric fire) back into the internal living spaces.

To get rid of this unwanted hot air all you have to do is open your windows at the back and the front of the house and let the wind blow through. If you do this for an hour before you go to bed your room will be much cooler and healthier to sleep in.
If you are going to keep your windows opened you may want to invest in mosquito blinds for your external windows and possibly some window bars. Then you can relax completely in your newly cool home.
www.casteloconstruction.com
Castelo Construction work across Portugal so give us a call or email us. info@casteloconstruction.com

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About Castelo Construction Lda

Castelo Construction Lda are builders in Central Portugal. We have 12 years’ experience of working with and delighting clients in Portugal. Tel 00351 927168247 or kelvin@casteloconstruction.com If you need an English speaking builder for renovation or new build work we will provide free estimates, fixed prices and carry out your work to a very high standard. Many of our clients are not in the country full time so rely on our regular photographic updates and written reports. They are always surprised when they make inspection visits. New Construction and Refurbishment of Portuguese Property It’s exciting for both our team and of course our clients to mark out on the earth the site of a new home. We will have been with them during the design process and have spoken to the architect many times so we will be comfortable with what we are about to do. For many clients, this stage is a little daunting as it’s hard to see without experience just where the house is going to be in relation to other things on the property. Once the foundations are dug out the house normally looks smaller than they thought, As the pillars and foundation wall start to go you get a much better idea of scale. You can see with your mind’s eye the location of the kitchen, bedrooms and so on. Once the walls are up and the first floor is in place the rooms start to looks smaller again (something to do with the light absorbing properties of the bricks) once the walls are plastered the rooms look a lot larger and it starts to feel more like the home our clients imagined building. As the build progresses we are involved with many specialist subcontractors and it is our job the get them on site at the right time so that the trades do not overlap and time is not wasted. Once the roof is on and tiled it is traditional in this area to have a dinner on site. Everyone who is involved in the build is invited to share a suckling pig dinner with local bread, oranges and of course wine. This is a great way for the clients to enjoy some local hospitality and meet the craftsmen who are building their new home. We also invite the near neighbors so that they get a chance to see what’s going on (when the house is at a very basic stage) and it gives our clients a relaxed opportunity to make their acquaintance. As we always accompany our clients to choose, kitchens, tiles, bathroom fittings or whatever they want. We can help with translation and of course negotiation! As the house is coming to completion we always have them professionally cleaned so that when we hand over the keys it feels more like a home than a building site. 2 months after the house is finished we are back to check for any small faults that may need attention and of course we are available to help and advise should that be needed. Central Portugal builders