The blocks along the Albir seafront and the apartments in Alfaz del Pi itself went up largely between the 1970s and the 1990s, and they have a lot in common: terrazzo floors, a small kitchen shut away behind a door, a narrow utility galley off it, one bathroom with a bath, and an arch where a wall used to nearly be. Behind that there is almost always a good, solid, well-built shell and a view somebody paid for.
Opening the kitchen into the living room is the change that does most for one of these, followed by the bathroom and the floor. None of that is complicated work in itself. What makes an apartment reform its own trade is everything around it — the community, the neighbours, the lift, the stack and the hours you are allowed to make noise in.
We have done a good deal of this kind of work on the north Costa Blanca, and the part clients notice is that they are not the ones having the conversation with the administrator.
Before & After
The Same Property, Twice
Images are for illustration purposes only.
What it involves
Working in a Block Is a Different Job
None of this appears on a quotation that treats an apartment like a small house. All of it decides whether the work runs smoothly or stops on day three.
The community and the administrator
Anything touching the structure, the façade, the terrace enclosure or the common services goes through the comunidad, and that usually means notice, and sometimes a vote. It is far better to raise it before the work is booked than to be told to stop halfway through.
Neighbours and noise
Most communities set the hours in which noisy work can be done, and a reform means breaking up a floor. We work to those hours and let the neighbours either side know what is happening and roughly for how long. It costs nothing and it makes the whole job easier.
Getting it up and the rubble down
A fourth-floor flat with one small lift is a logistical job before it is a building one. Lift protection, a route that does not run debris across the entrance hall, where a skip is allowed to stand and how long for — all of it is planned rather than improvised.
Water, stacks and where a bathroom can go
The soil stack is where it is, and it is shared. That sets real limits on where a bathroom or a kitchen can be moved to, and it is worth knowing those limits before you fall in love with a layout. Isolating the water without cutting off the whole block is the other half of it.
Which walls can come out
In most of these blocks the internal partitions are not structural — but not all of them, and the one holding the building up is not always the one that looks it. That gets checked properly, and where a project needs it a technical architect is brought in as part of the work.
Electrics and air-conditioning
A supply sized for 1985 does not run an induction hob, an oven and two split units. Rewiring and an updated certificate come first, and the routing for air-conditioning is worked out with the pipework rather than chased into a finished wall afterwards.
How it works
The Order It Usually Goes In
- Look, measure, and check the rulesWe come out, measure up, and establish what the community will and will not allow before anything is designed around it.
- Detailed quotationWritten out in full, so you can see the make-good, the rubble removal and the protection as well as the units and the tiles.
- Strip out, first fixFloors and partitions out, then plumbing, electrics and air-conditioning routed while the walls are open.
- Second fix and make goodFloors, kitchen, bathroom, joinery, paint — and the common parts left as we found them, which is the bit the neighbours remember.
Local
Alfaz del Pi and Albir Specifically
El Albir is the coastal part of Alfaz del Pi, about three kilometres from the town centre, and it ends at the Serra Gelada natural park and the old lighthouse. The apartments closest to the front are the ones with the view worth opening a room up for, and they are also the ones where parking a van and standing a skip needs thinking about in advance.
The town has a large Nordic population — enough for Norwegian schools, churches and shops — and a great many owners here are in the property for part of the year only. That has two practical consequences. The quiet months are the sensible time to have the work done, and a lot of the projects we run are reported on remotely, by photograph and video call, to somebody who is not in the country.
Benidorm and Altea are minutes away in either direction, which means suppliers, tile merchants and kitchen showrooms are close enough to visit in an afternoon. Clients are taken to the suppliers to choose their own bathrooms, units and tiles rather than picking from a brochure.
Testimonials
What Apartment Clients Say
Reproduced word for word from the testimonials page — two of the three are from apartment owners.
“We knew from the beginning we could trust you and you didn’t let us down. Taking us to your suppliers to choose Bathrooms, Kitchen units and tiles etc was invaluable, we got exactly what we wanted.”
David & Susan Evans
“Fantastic, Fantastic, Fantastic, I never thought I would say this about a builder. You have helped us transform our apartment from an old fashioned 1970s to a bright new 2015 modern apartment that we are now proud to have friends come and stay.”
Mr. & Mrs. Paul and Elaine Glance
“Dragon Reforms has had the keys to my apartment for the past 12 months and I have found him to be very very reliable. He has kept in regular contact through WhatsApp with video calls, photographs and regular telephone conversations.”
John & David
Get a quote
Get a Quotation for Your Apartment
Tell us which block, which floor and what you want changed. We will come and look, and the quotation costs you nothing.
- Phone
- 0034 639917798
0034 669261858 - +34 639 91 77 98
- dragonreforms@gmail.com
- Address
- Calle San Isidre No 8, Pl 1 Dr
03510 Callosa de Ensarrià, Alicante - Hours
- Monday to Saturday, 9am–8pm
Related services
What an Apartment Reform Pulls In
One team and one point of contact, which in a block matters more than it does in a house.
Before you call
Apartment Questions We Get Asked
Do I need permission from the community?
For anything affecting the structure, the façade, the terrace enclosure or the common services, yes. For a kitchen, a bathroom or a floor inside your own flat, usually not — but the community still has to be told there will be noise and a skip. We go through all of it with you before the work is booked.
Can the kitchen wall come out?
In most blocks of this age the internal partitions are not load-bearing, so yes. It gets checked properly first rather than assumed, and where a project needs one a technical architect is brought in as part of the work.
Can you move the bathroom?
Within limits. The soil stack is shared and fixed, so how far a bathroom or kitchen can travel depends on where that stack runs. Worth establishing early, because it decides the layout.
Will the neighbours have water and a working lift?
That is the plan every time. Water is isolated at the flat wherever possible rather than at the block, the lift is protected, and the common parts are cleaned at the end of each day rather than at the end of the job.
Can it be done while we are away?
Yes, and for a holiday apartment it is usually the best time. Keys have been held and projects run for owners abroad throughout, with WhatsApp video calls, photographs and regular phone conversations.
Do you speak to the administrator for us?
We can, and normally do. Project management is in English and Spanish, so the paperwork and the phone calls do not land on you.