Renovation in the Eixample, Barcelona

Renovating in the Eixample means working on a building from between 1870 and 1930 whose floors are Catalan vaults — thin brick arches spanning between steel joists. If you bought the flat remotely, this is the first thing to verify: the joist ends sitting inside the wall corrode where damp has reached them over decades, so we open an inspection hole before fixing a price, and structural reinforcement adds 8–15 % if corrosion turns up. The second variable is heritage listing, set building by building: the façade, entrance hall, communal staircase and original hydraulic floor tiles are typically protected, and where those tiles survive, restoring them costs less than replacing them. In practice you also deal with the comunidad de propietarios — the owners association that must approve access and any work touching common elements — and you need a valid cédula de habitabilidad, the habitability certificate, before the flat can be let or sold after the works. Budgets start at €780/m².

Most Eixample buildings were built between 1870 and 1930 using Catalan vault floors: thin brick arches spanning between steel joists. It is a sound system, but the steel corrodes wherever damp has reached it over decades.

What we always check before quoting

• Condition of joist ends where they sit in the wall
• Damp in bathrooms and kitchens on upper floors
• Cast-iron soil stacks leaking towards the flat below
• Actual floor levels: they are rarely uniform in these buildings

What happens if corrosion is found

Structural reinforcement can add 8–15 % to the budget. That is why we open an inspection hole before fixing a price. A figure that holds is worth more than one that looks attractive and grows later.