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BCN YARD guides: Turnkey renovation. 129 articles to help plan your project in Barcelona. Page 3.
A top floor is heated by the roof and the glass. First stop the sun outside, then insulate the roof, then choose suitable glass and ventilate at night. Air conditioning cools but does not remove the cause, and the bill climbs.
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Permanently glazing a terrace is usually treated as enclosing a space and adding area, not as minor repair. You need the planning rules, comunidad consent and a licence. We explain where the line is and what to do instead.
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A louvred pergola gives shade and shelter, but at height it must be checked for wind, fixed without losing the waterproofing and cleared with the comunidad and town hall before ordering.
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A penthouse terrace is often the neighbour's roof. We cover who answers for a leak, how the layers are built, why a flood test matters and how to make a flush threshold without ending up with a stain on someone else's ceiling.
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Before signing the arras, check the ITE, comunidad levies, beams, risers, building protection and whether your layout is feasible. A few hours of a technician's time keep the purchase price from turning into a surprise.
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Rising damp climbs from the ground through the wall; condensation forms from room air on cold surfaces. They are treated differently, and cement and plastic paint more often harm than help. We cover diagnosis and lime-based solutions.
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The riser and the supply belong to the building, not to you. The comunidad pays by share, and you answer for the stretch inside your flat. We cover the boundary, cast iron, lead, the electrical supply and moving a bathroom.
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The principal was the best floor in the building: high ceilings, big balconies, reception rooms. Today it keeps the virtues and adds three problems: noise, dust and privacy.
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Rooms on a light well get little light, and wall colour alone will not fix it. A combination works: a larger opening, glass partitions, the right finishes and precise artificial light.
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The gallery onto the block courtyard, a narrow glazed strip at the back of the flat, gives light but loses heat. How to join it to the living room or kitchen and keep it comfortable all year.
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An Eixample flat runs from street to courtyard: reception rooms in front, service rooms behind, a dark core and a long corridor. The scheme and what can change.
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Old doors and windows can often be saved if the timber has kept its shape. What restorers do, how to add double glazing without losing the look and when a copy is better.
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After strip-out the floor structure is visible, and that is when reinforcement is decided. Beams of each era, signs of damage, aluminosis and who decides.
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An exposed brick vault is beautiful, but the beams behind it need checking and the plaster and false ceiling used to stop noise. What to look for, how to clean the brick and how to light it.
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A moulded ceiling survives as long as nobody cuts it. How to route wiring and air conditioning around it, plaster versus polyurethane and lighting that respects the cornice.
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Old hydraulic tiles can be polished in place, lifted and relaid, kept as a carpet panel or completed with copies. Each route has its own risk and cost.
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Finca regia is not a legal term but a market name for upmarket buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Structure, typical features and surprises after strip-out.
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Induction, a heat pump and an EV charger together hit the limit of the supply. How to size the load before renovating, three-phase and load balancing.
View detailsOne router cannot cover a big home: you need cables to ceiling access points and a network cabinet. What to put in while the walls are open.
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Three links make the protection work: sensors beside appliances and pipes, a motorised valve on the inlet and a local controller. Where each goes and what works without internet.
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For a home you visit only now and then, build in a wired alarm linked to a monitoring centre, a smart lock with temporary codes and a door with a burglary-resistance class. Cameras are placed so they do not film the landing or neighbours.
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Built-in audio is planned before ceilings close: 2 x 1.5 mm2 cables, an amplifier rack in a ventilated cupboard and a network cable to each zone. Plaster-over speakers sound weaker, and for neighbours a decoupled ceiling and speakers in sealed boxes matter more.
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Motorised curtains need a ceiling recess 12 to 20 cm wide, power to each recess and a quiet motor. Cable or battery is decided before the ceilings close, and control is tied to climate and an away scene.
View detailsHard water leaves scale on glass and taps and shortens the life of boilers and coffee machines. A softener at the entry point protects all the plumbing, osmosis is for drinking by taste, and space and connections are planned before the walls close.
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