Outdoor paving in Inca and the Raiguer

The Raiguer is the area where what lies under the paving matters most. The clay soils of Binissalem, Consell and Santa Maria, and the black soil of the Sa Pobla and Muro market gardens, swell with the October rains and shrink in the July heat. A rigid surface laid on top without a sub-base or joints breaks in the first cycle. That is why in this area we spend more time on the visit and the preparation than on the finish.

Finca tracks and access

From the road to the house on a finca in Alaró, Selva, Campanet or Lloseta there can be half a kilometre of dirt track that turns to mud every autumn and to dust every summer. Stamped concrete with a stone texture, or float finished concrete brushed for grip, solves the track once and for all, with a thickness of 12 to 15 cm where the tractor passes, expansion joints every 4 metres and a ditch or a camber to carry the water off. The track is not done all in one day: it is poured in sections, and we tell you so in advance so that access to the house is open every evening. Existing private asphalt tracks are maintained with asphalt sealing and crack treatment before the rains.

Threshing floors, terraces and finca pools

The threshing floors (eras) and terraces of a finca are large and in the sun all day. Stamped concrete on these surfaces needs well spaced joints and a sealing resin with a UV filter, because inland Mallorca reaches higher summer temperatures than the coast. Stamped terraces from twenty years ago that have turned white where the garden is watered are recovered with restoration and resealing.

Village houses with courtyards

Houses in Inca, Binissalem, Santa Maria or Muro have inner courtyards reached through the front door, with floors of stone, old mortar or worn hydraulic tiles. Microcement over the existing tiles renews a covered courtyard, a kitchen or a bathroom without carrying rubble down the hallway, and on the stairs of these houses it covers tread and riser with a protected nosing. On the marés sandstone or Binissalem stone of courtyards and facades, stone sealing with a water repellent slows water absorption and blackening without changing the look. When the access will not take a lorry, we pump the concrete from the street or work with mixes prepared on site.

Terraces that leak

In village houses that have been extended upwards, the terrace on the top floor sits over a bedroom. Terrace waterproofing with a liquid membrane over the existing tiles stops the leak without lifting the floor, and in the Raiguer, where the autumn rain falls in just a few days, it is best done before September.

Microcement in Inca and the Raiguer

In the village houses of Inca, Binissalem or Santa Maria, what people value most in microcement is continuity: the same colour from the courtyard to the kitchen and from the stairs to the floor above, with no breaks. Before starting we check two things typical of the area. The first is damp rising through walls of marès or stone: it is dealt with first, because covered with a closed coating it ends up blistering, as we explain in microcement walls, kitchens and stairs. The second is old hydraulic tiles: if they are sound they can be covered, but it is often worth keeping them in one room and taking the microcement through the rest of the house.