Seafront Apartments · Hillside Villas
Accessible bathrooms, ramps and safer kitchens for Calpe's seafront apartments and hillside villas, two very different homes with two very different sets of problems.
Calpe, with the Peñón de Ifach rising out of the sea beside it, offers two quite different kinds of home. Down near the water there are apartment blocks, many with lifts, compact bathrooms and balconies that look straight onto the sea air. Up in the hills behind the town there are villas on terraced plots, with steps, drives and pools. The adaptation each needs is quite different, and we plan them differently.
A lot of the people who own homes here are retired, many from the UK and northern Europe, and many have lived in Calpe for years. They know the house and they want to stay in it. What changes is the body. A shower that was fine ten years ago is a worry now, and a flight of garden steps that was never noticed has become the thing that makes you hesitate to go out.
Dragon Reforms has worked across the north Costa Blanca since 1999. The quotation is free and our work is guaranteed, with the scope set out in the quotation.
By the sea
Calpe's apartments near the sea are often well kept, with a lift and a level entrance, which gives them a head start. The bathroom is the usual weak point. It is typically small, with a bath or a deep tray, and tiles that are slick when wet. Changing these into a level walk-in shower with a seat and rails often makes the flat entirely manageable.
A balcony or terrace that looks out at the sea is one of the reasons people choose these flats, and it is a place worth keeping usable. A high threshold from the living room can be lowered or ramped over, and smooth tiling replaced with a surface that is safe when damp from sea air or rain.
Salt and humidity near the coast also affect what we choose. Rails and fittings are specified to cope with a damp bathroom, so they do not corrode and become unsafe.
Up the hill
Away from the sea, the villas on Calpe's slopes are a different matter. Plots are cut into the hill, which means steps between the parking, the house and the pool. A well-built ramp can help, but only where the slope allows it. Otherwise it is a matter of making the steps themselves safer, with even treads, landings, lighting and rails on both sides.
Many of these villas have a pool, and getting into it is one of the real pleasures of living here. We can fit handrails and slip-resistant finishes to existing steps or, where there is room, form a gentle ramp into the water.
Inside, the answer is often to bring the essentials onto one floor, with a bedroom and an accessible bathroom close together and wide, level doorways between them.
Cooking and living
Both flats and villas in Calpe are used by visitors as well as owners, and a kitchen that can be shared is a kitchen that will be used. We lower a section of worktop, leave space beneath for a wheelchair and fit deep drawers in place of low cupboards.
Hobs and sinks are placed where they can be reached comfortably, with clear surface alongside so pans never have to be carried far. Floors are finished with a grippy surface that is still easy to clean.
In a compact flat, we focus on the one or two changes that make the most difference, rather than rebuilding everything.
How it works
We visit, measure and talk. In an apartment we look at the lift, the front door and the bathroom; in a villa we walk the plot from the road to the pool. A free written quotation follows, setting out what we recommend and in what order.
Work in a Calpe block is planned around the neighbours, with agreed hours and care of the common areas. In a villa we keep your routes clear while we work. At the end we go through every feature with you and adjust anything that needs it.
Questions
Yes, in most cases. We remove the bath, build a level floor with a fall to the drain, waterproof it and tile it. We add a seat and rails to suit you.
It can. We choose fittings suited to damp, coastal bathrooms so they stay safe and sound over time, and we fix them into a solid backing in the wall.
Yes. Depending on the slope, we build ramps, reshape steps, add landings and handrails, and improve lighting and surfaces.
Yes. We can lower or ramp the threshold, lay a slip-resistant surface and make sure rainwater drains away rather than pooling by the door.
Across the area
Calpe is one of eight towns with its own disability living page. The main Disability Living Costa Blanca page covers the whole service in full.
Walk-in showers, rails and wider doors for Benidorm apartments and old town homes.
View Benidorm →Ramps, handrails and accessible bathrooms for Altea's hillside old town and coastal villas.
View Altea →Wet rooms, ramps, rails and pool access for La Nucía's inland-hillside villas.
View La Nucía →Ramps, handrails and safer bathrooms for Finestrat's steep hillside villas.
View Finestrat →Accessible bathrooms, rails and ramps for Alfaz del Pi and Albir villas and apartments.
View Alfaz del Pi & Albir →Safer bathrooms, stairs and entrances for Polop's village houses and hillside villas.
View Polop →Ramps, level showers and safer floors for Benissa's fincas, old town houses and villas.
View Benissa →Get in touch
Whether you live by the sea or up in the hills, tell us what is hard and we will visit. The quotation is free.
Our work is guaranteed, with the scope set out in the quotation. We are open Monday to Saturday, 9am to 8pm.
Customer reviews
Genuine Google reviews from Dragon Reforms customers.
Professional Collaboration & Complete House Renovation – Calpe
“We have been collaborating for many years on projects both large and small, with excellent results. Our latest collaboration was the complete renovation of a house in Calpe. Thanks to their professionalism and reliability, they were able to handle all phases of the project. We hope to continue working together for many years to come.”
Bathroom Renovation
Original Spanish review
“Muchísimas gracias por su trabajo. Una reforma de baño espectacular y muy limpio trabajando.”
English translation
“Thank you very much for your work. A spectacular bathroom renovation, and very clean and tidy while working.”
More from Dragon Reforms
Everything Dragon Reforms does in Calpe, each with its own page.
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