Alfama Walk-Up
A walk-up in Alfama with a bathroom last touched in 1974 and a stack that had been weeping into the wall for most of that time.
€54,300Contracted and paid
8 weeksOn site
2 weeks lateAgainst the contracted date
2026Lisboa
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Survey to close-out, in the owners' own sequence.
The brief
A walk-up in Alfama with a bathroom last touched in 1974 and a smell in the hallway that the owners had been told was the drains of the flat below.
What the survey found
It was not. The stack serving the bathroom was corroded through at two joints and had been weeping into the wall for years. The tiling was irrelevant; the services were the project.
What we did about it
Stack replaced in full to the riser and pressure tested, then tanked with a witnessed flood test before a single tile went on. The original window was refurbished rather than replaced, because it was sound and it is part of the street.
“Two weeks late because of the câmara, and they told us the day the file was accepted for review. No change to the price.”
Eight weeks, two of them at the câmara.
The log records the day the file was accepted for review, because that is the day the owners needed to know. Everything after it moved by two weeks and nothing moved in price.
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Day 1
Survey
The stack was corroded through at two joints. The tiling was irrelevant; the building services were the project.
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Week 2
Approval
Filed with the câmara. Alfama has a historic overlay and the approval took longer than the precedent for that street.
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Week 5
Services
Stack replaced in full to the riser, pressure tested, then tanked and flood tested before a single tile went on.
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Week 7
Finish
White tile, original window kept and refurbished rather than replaced, because it was sound and it is part of the street.
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Week 8
Close-out
Two weeks later than contracted, entirely on the approval. The price did not move.
Two weeks late, and the price did not move.
The câmara took longer than the street precedent. That is the risk in Alfama and we price it as a schedule item, not as a surprise.