In recent months, real estate investment in Spain's main cities has increased significantly. This investment has been concentrated in prime areas, where most of the buildings are more than 100 years old.
In this post we would like to share our experience in the restoration of historic buildings. These works are particularly interesting as they usually involve both structural actions and restoration of protected elements.
Structural actions in this type of buildings can have different causes:
- Deterioration of structural materials (corrosion of steel, rotting of wood...)
- Foundation and structural overloading resulting from new uses or construction of new floors
- Variation in environmental conditions (new adjacent loads, variations in water table, washing of aggregates...).
- Distribution changes affecting structural elements
These actions range from underpinning of foundations (micropiles, ramming, grouting...) to reinforcement of vertical structures and slabs. For their execution, a high level of experience and technical knowledge is necessary because, usually, there is no certain information available on the situation of the building.
The restoration of protected elements is motivated by the degradation of materials caused by the passage of time. These actions require experience and craftsmanship and range from the restoration of plaster mouldings, locks, woodwork and plaster, to the repair of roofs and façades using different techniques (mechanical, chemical and biological).
It is therefore desirable that this type of renovation work on historic buildings is carried out by specialised construction companies with personnel who, in addition to their technical knowledge and experience, also have a high degree of architectural sensitivity.
