Home repairs in Porto

Housing in Porto varies enormously from street to street. In the historic centre and Bonfim there are buildings over a hundred years old, with lead or galvanised pipework and blind boxes built into the wall. In Paranhos, Ramalde and Aldoar buildings come from every period, many from the middle of the twentieth century, and many consumer units no longer match the number of appliances plugged in. Those are different faults, and it helps to know what to expect before climbing the stairs.

Parish by parish: what we find in Porto homes

In Porto the same fault looks different from street to street. The city is divided into parishes, called freguesias, and this is what we see most in each.

Baixa, Sé, Miragaia, São Nicolau and Vitória

Tall, narrow buildings with a shared staircase and several homes on the same soil stack. Many have been renovated, so a flat may have new plumbing on an old shared stack. There are a lot of short term holiday lets, known as alojamento local, with new guests every week. In Miragaia and Ribeira the narrow, steep streets matter when equipment has to be carried in.

Bonfim and Campanhã

Some of Porto's ilhas still stand here: rows of tiny houses built in the back plots of street houses, reached through a narrow passage. The tools go in by hand and the bathrooms are tight, so it helps to know before we set off.

Paranhos, Ramalde and Aldoar

Around the Asprela university campus in Paranhos many rooms are let to students: sinks taking grease from several people, sofas passed from tenant to tenant. In the blocks of Ramalde and Aldoar the soil stack is shared, and when it blocks low down the ground floor notices first.

Foz, Nevogilde, Lordelo do Ouro and Massarelos

Foz and Nevogilde have houses with gardens and blocks facing the sea, where salt and wind wear out blind tracks and motors. At houses the waste runs through inspection chambers in the garden, and tree roots sometimes get into the pipes. Massarelos and Lordelo do Ouro, between Boavista and the river, have a bit of everything: older houses on the streets down to the Douro and blocks of every age.

Drains, blinds and sofas: the jobs that keep coming up

Soil stacks in shared buildings

If water backs up in more than one fixture or appears in the flat below, the blockage is in the soil stack, which is a common part of the building. We find where it sits before we start, so the bill goes to the right owner, and we work through the existing access points with an electric snake or high pressure jetting. The full service is on our drain unblocking in Porto page. In a holiday let, a note about wet wipes in the bathroom saves call outs.

Old blind boxes and blinds facing the sea

In the centre and in Bonfim, a box sealed in during building work is opened and made good afterwards, and wooden roller blinds need slats cut to measure. In Foz the trouble is salt and sand in the tracks and motors that suffer from the damp. It is nearly always finished in the same visit, because we carry straps, springs and slats. More on blind repair in Porto on the service page.

Sofas in rented flats and holiday lets

Sofa and upholstery cleaning is booked work with its own line, 933 535 818. It makes sense between tenants, between holiday let bookings or for an inherited sofa. It is done in your home by hot water extraction, and in a building with no lift that matters: the sofa never goes down the stairs. For a holiday let, book with time to spare so the fabric dries before the next guest. The method is on our sofa cleaning page.

Plumbing, electrics, locks and hot water

In the old centre many gas water heaters, called esquentadores, sit in small kitchens and enclosed balconies, and when one stops lighting the service you need is water heater repair in Porto. In flats that change tenants often, changing the lock cylinder when new people move in is the simple way to know who holds a key. For these faults, day or night, the number is 928 286 711.

Before we set off: what to tell us on the phone

Give the parish or neighbourhood, the street, the number, the floor and whether there is a lift. In Sé, Miragaia and Ribeira there is not always room to stop the van at the door. In an ilha, give the street door number and how to reach your house once through the passage.

If the problem looks like it is in the stack, tell the condomínio, the owners' association that runs the building. On site we explain what is yours and what is a common part.

Parishes and districts

• Baixa
• Ribeira
• Sé
• Miragaia
• São Nicolau
• Vitória
• Santo Ildefonso
• Cedofeita
• Boavista
• Bonfim
• Antas
• Campanhã
• Paranhos
• Ramalde
• Lordelo do Ouro
• Massarelos
• Aldoar
• Foz do Douro
• Nevogilde

Services available in this area

Questions about home repairs in Porto

Other areas

• Matosinhos
• Vila Nova de Gaia
• Maia
• Gondomar
• Valongo
• Espinho
• Vila do Conde
• Póvoa de Varzim