Outdoor paving in Palma

Working in Palma means working in a city: access through narrow streets, loading and unloading hours, lifts that will not take 25 kilo sacks just any way, and neighbours to notify. None of that changes the system, but it does change the organisation, and we plan for it from the first visit.

Terraces and penthouses

The terrace of a penthouse in the Eixample, Santa Catalina or Son Armadams has two typical problems: old tiles with open joints that let water through to the neighbour's ceiling, and no fall towards the drain. Terrace waterproofing with a continuous liquid membrane is applied over the existing tiles, runs up the parapets and seals the drains, with no demolition. When the owner also wants a new look, outdoor microcement or a new floor goes on top of the membrane, never in its place.

Residential communities

The garage ramps of blocks built in the 1970s and 1980s, the inner courtyards and the pool areas of the residential communities (comunidades de propietarios) in Son Sardina, Sa Indioteria, El Rafal or Son Cotoner are jobs that go through the administrador de fincas, the professional who manages the building for its owners, and through an owners' meeting. We prepare quotes with each item separate (preparation, repair, sealing, anti-slip) so that they can be compared and approved in phases. Pavement sealing of a ramp, with anti-slip aggregate, is usually the first item approved, because it is the one that prevents falls and the one people notice most.

Villas in Son Vida, Gènova and Establiments

On the western hillsides the plots have level changes, sloping driveways and south-facing pools. Stamped concrete handles ramps and paths with no joints for weeds to grow through, and pool surrounds with a textured mould and anti-slip resin. The stamped terraces laid fifteen or twenty years ago in this area usually reach us whitish and dull; restoration and resealing brings the colour back without breaking anything out.

The seafront: Es Molinar, Sant Agustí and Cala Major

A few metres from the promenade the salt is constant, and on the terraces and pools of Cala Major, Sant Agustí and Es Molinar the sealer on any surface lasts less than it does inland. Here we recommend exterior resins and polyurethanes with a UV filter, rinsing with fresh water and a check every two seasons. Microcement in the bathrooms and terraces of these holiday flats is planned out of season, when the property is empty.

Older houses in the centre and Palma's old villages

In the old quarter, in Gènova and in Establiments there are still courtyards of marés, the soft local sandstone, and of Santanyí stone that soak up water and blacken in the shade. Natural stone sealing with a water repellent that leaves no sheen protects without changing the look, and cleaning beforehand brings back the original colour.

Microcement in Palma

In Palma, microcement is mostly an indoor job. Flats in the Eixample, Santa Catalina, Son Armadams or the old quarter have bathrooms and kitchens tiled thirty or forty years ago, in buildings without a lift, where breaking out tiles means carrying rubble down the stairs and disturbing the whole building for weeks. Microcement over the existing tiles avoids that demolition: we tap every tile, level the joints, and the system adds 2 to 3 mm, so doors almost never need trimming. A complete bathroom is finished in five to eight calendar days, with the waterproofing under the shower that we explain in microcement bathrooms.

In residential communities we agree sanding times, the only noisy part of the job, with the property administrator, and we protect the stairs and the lift. And on penthouse terraces, outdoor microcement goes on top of the terrace waterproofing, never instead of it.