Areas
Home watch for a stone house left closed in the Serra dos Candeeiros.
In the Serra dos Candeeiros a closed house does not take the salt of Nazaré. It takes the cold. Thick stone walls, rooms without sun and weeks with the windows shut leave a closed-up smell and, sometimes, condensation where a wall stays cold.
The houses are spread out. A visit is by appointment. It is not a same-day weekday call-out, and the address is confirmed at the diagnostic. We do not publish a list of villages. If the house is in the Serra dos Candeeiros, which we already name as a regular area, the diagnostic is where we say whether we can take it.
The limestone amphitheatre of Fórnea, in the Serra dos Candeeiros.
Stone, cold, and a roof after the rain
What a visit looks for here is different from salt: a new stain on a cold wall, soft wood, a tap that does not shut, water on a sill after rain. From the ground or a terrace the edge of the roof is visible. We do not climb on the roof and we do not survey it.
The photograph is Fórnea, in the Serra dos Candeeiros. It shows the limestone landscape. It is not a client’s house and it is not presented as one.
Airing a house that dries slowly
Opening, airing and closing the house properly is the centre of a visit to a stone house. The rest is the same published look: doors, locks, windows, shutters, damp, visible leaks, taps, cisterns and mail photographed unopened. If something looks worse than last time, it goes in the report, with dated photos.
What a visit covers
A visual check, not a structural survey and not a guarantee that hidden defects will be found. A diagnostic visit runs about 45–75 minutes, with 8–15 photos.
- Doors, locks, windows and shutters
- Signs of forced entry
- Visible leaks, damp, mould and pests
- Taps, cisterns and a visual check of the water heater
- Airing, and mail photographed unopened unless you say otherwise
- Terrace, gate and, when you ask on Weekly or Premium, the meters
Plans for a house that sits apart and stays shut
Essential, at two visits a month, means the house is not left shut for a whole winter without being opened. Weekly shortens the gap. Premium includes the check after a storm, here within 48 hours at most, not the next morning. That next morning is published for Alcobaça. A repair, if one is needed, is quoted by the tradesperson and only goes ahead with written approval.
- Diagnostic€65 · one visit
- Essential€125 · 2 visits a month · per month
- Weekly€235 · About 4 visits a month · per month
- Premium€365 · About 4 visits a month, with priority · per month
The diagnostic visit (€65) is credited on the first month if a plan starts within 14 days.
Outside Alcobaça, the check after a storm is within 48 hours at most. Included · Weekly €30 · Essential €55. It is not a 24-hour emergency service.
Questions about the Serra dos Candeeiros
Is the damp the same as on the coast?
No. In the hills what shows is a cold wall, still air and rain on the roof. In Nazaré and São Pedro de Moel there is salt as well. The visit describes the house it entered, not one pattern for both.
How long does it take to get there from Alcobaça?
We do not publish a travel time. The Serra dos Candeeiros is one of the areas we schedule on a regular basis, by appointment. The address is looked at during the diagnostic.
Do you accept every village in the hills?
There is no published list of villages. At the diagnostic visit we say whether that address, in the Serra dos Candeeiros, is one we already schedule.