Stone · Lime · Beams · Roofs · Terraces
Renovating traditional Spanish fincas and rural stone houses across the north Costa Blanca, from lime render and old timber beams to rewiring, new bathrooms and pool surrounds, with the character kept.
A finca is not a villa with a bigger garden. Most of the ones we are asked to look at were built by the families who farmed the land around them, in local stone, with thick walls, small windows, hand-cut timber and a roof shaped by whatever was available at the time. They have lasted a very long time precisely because they were built for this climate, and the first rule of renovating one is not to undo that by accident.
The second rule is that they have usually been altered several times. A bathroom added in the seventies, a bedroom closed in with cement block, a terrace laid over the old threshing floor, wiring that has grown one socket at a time. Part of the job is reading what has been done before, deciding what is sound and what is hiding a problem, and then planning the work in an order that makes sense.
Dragon Reforms has been working across the north Costa Blanca since 1999, from our base in Callosa d’en Sarria. Fincas call on almost every trade we have: stone and plastering, carpentry, plumbing, electrics, damp proofing, tiling, windows and doors, and the outdoor works that go with them. Doing all of that under one roof, with one person responsible for the programme, is the main reason owners ask us rather than coordinating five separate firms.
Many of our finca clients live in the UK, Scandinavia, the Netherlands or Germany and visit a few times a year. We are used to working that way: a clear written quotation, photo and phone updates while the work is under way, and a handover that does not depend on you being on site. English and Spanish are both spoken. The quotation is free, and the work is guaranteed, with the scope set out in the quotation.
What is included
A finca renovation rarely stays within one trade. These are the strands we normally bring together, and you can ask for as many or as few as the property needs.
Why it matters here
Sun, winter rain and a lot of years in the same walls.
The north Costa Blanca has hot, bright summers, mild winters and rain that tends to arrive hard and all at once. A finca standing on a slope in the hills behind the coast takes all of that directly. The roof gets the sun for most of the day, the walls get the driving rain, and the ground around the house carries the run-off down the hillside whether anyone planned for it or not.
Many fincas here are second homes or holiday homes, which brings its own pattern. A house that is shut up for months can develop damp, rodents and neglected timber, and small leaks go unnoticed until the next visit. Others are lived in all year round by owners who bought something with a lot of potential and a lot of problems, and want to live comfortably in it without turning it into a modern box.
The result is that renovating a finca is mostly a question of judgement. What can be kept, what must be replaced, and what should be done in a traditional way because a modern shortcut will cause trouble later. We would rather spend an hour on site at the start working that out than discover it halfway through the budget.
Stone and lime
Old walls need to breathe.
Traditional finca walls are built of local stone laid in lime or earth mortar, often half a metre thick or more. They behave very differently from a modern cavity wall. They absorb moisture and release it again, and they depend on being able to do that. When they are sealed with a hard cement render or an impermeable paint, the moisture does not disappear, it just gets trapped, and it usually comes out as flaking finishes, salts on the surface and dark patches on the inside.
For that reason we use lime-based mortars and renders on old stone wherever the original build calls for it. Lime is softer, more forgiving and compatible with the stone. It allows the wall to move slightly with the seasons without cracking, and it can be finished in a way that suits the building, from a rough, rustic coat to a smoother painted surface.
Repointing is a good example of why detail matters. Raking out failed mortar and replacing it with something harder than the stone does more harm than good, because the stone, not the joint, then takes the weathering. We match the mortar to the wall, and we are straightforward when we think a stretch of wall needs to be rebuilt rather than patched.
Damp
Almost every finca has some damp somewhere, and the cause is rarely what the owner expects. Walls that sit against a bank of earth behind the house take moisture sideways. Old stone with no damp course will draw some water up from the ground. Roofs, gutters and terraces leak into the walls below them. A previous owner’s cement render may have sealed in moisture that would otherwise have evaporated.
Treating the symptom, by painting over stains or fitting a membrane to the inside face, tends to be a temporary answer. We look first at where the water is coming from, and that often means checking the roof, the ground levels outside, the drainage and the condition of the render, as well as the wall itself.
Only then do we recommend treatment. That might be as simple as improving drainage around the base of a wall, lowering the ground level, or replacing a cement render with lime. In other cases it involves proper waterproofing work. Our damp proofing service sits alongside the finca work, so the same people who diagnose the problem also carry out the repair.
Roofs and beams
The beams in a finca are usually part of its appeal, and often part of its structure. Many are old pine or other local timber, some round, some squared by hand, carrying either a tiled roof or a floor above. They are generally far more robust than they look, but moisture, insects and years of small leaks can take their toll, particularly where a beam end sits in a wet wall.
Our approach is to inspect every visible beam and the ends we can reach, and to tell you honestly what condition they are in. Sound timber is cleaned, treated and left to show. Damaged sections can often be repaired or spliced rather than replaced, and where a beam has to be renewed we try to match it so the room does not look patched.
The roof above is the other half of the question. We repair or replace tiles, correct poor falls, sort out valleys and gutters, and where necessary re-roof, with the aim of keeping water off the timber for the next few decades. Roofing, carpentry and plastering are all done by our own teams, so ceilings and beams are finished as one job.
Electrics and plumbing
Wiring in older rural houses has often been added to for decades. It is not unusual to find a mix of old and newer cable, sockets fed from improvised junctions, and a distribution board that was never intended to carry the loads of a modern home. Plumbing is similar, with a combination of old metal pipework, plastic repairs and routes nobody has a drawing for.
In thick stone walls the planning matters more than the fitting. Cutting channels in rubble stone is slow and can weaken the wall if done carelessly, so we decide routes for cables and pipes at the start, using floors, ceilings, existing voids and surface-run solutions where they are appropriate. That keeps disruption to the stone to a minimum and avoids ripping out finished work later.
The electrics and plumbing are both done by our own tradespeople, which means they are planned together with the walls, the beams and the finishes. We can also advise on water heating, and on how a rural property’s particular water and drainage arrangements affect what you install. Details of what is possible vary from house to house, and we will go through them with you on site.
Bathrooms and kitchens
Most fincas were built before anyone expected a bathroom for every bedroom. Adding one is among the most common requests we get, along with updating a kitchen that has not been touched in decades. The challenge is fitting modern rooms into an old plan, with thick walls, uneven floors and few straight lines.
We start by working out where the waste can go and where the walls can be altered. That tends to decide the layout more than any design preference. After that, we choose materials that sit well with the house: natural stone or handmade-style tiles, timber that echoes the beams, simple fittings that do not fight with the walls.
Because the same firm does the building work, plumbing, electrics, tiling and carpentry, the room is built in one continuous process rather than handed between trades. If you want a more detailed look at either room, our kitchens and bathrooms pages cover them in full.
Outside
A finca is lived in as much outside as in, and the terraces, porches and pool areas are often where the first renovation money goes. They are also where mistakes show most quickly. A terrace that does not drain properly leaks into the room beneath it, or channels water towards the house wall. A paved area laid with no allowance for movement cracks within a couple of winters.
We build terraces and outdoor areas with proper falls, drainage and waterproofing where there is a room below, and with finishes that stand up to the sun and a wet winter. Stone, tile and other surfaces are chosen to suit the house and to remain safe underfoot when wet, which matters particularly around a pool.
Old rural terraces, retaining walls and steps are often part of the character and part of the structure of the plot. Where they can be repaired, we repair them. Where they need to be rebuilt, we try to reuse the original stone so the new work does not look out of place.
Access and logistics
Getting to a finca is part of the job. Many sit at the end of a narrow track, sometimes unsurfaced, sometimes steep, and occasionally too tight for a delivery lorry. That affects how materials arrive, how skips are placed and what can be done with machinery on site. We look at access at the quotation stage rather than finding out on the first day of work.
Services can also differ from a house in town. Electricity, water and drainage arrangements on rural plots are not always what an owner assumes, and they are sometimes private rather than connected to the town network. We check how things currently work before designing anything that depends on them, and we will tell you if something looks like it needs separate advice.
Because many owners are abroad while the work is done, we manage the programme and keep you informed by phone and photographs, so decisions can be made without a flight. At the end of the job you receive a house that is tidy, working and ready to use.
Before you buy or start
If you are buying or already own a finca, these are the things worth checking before you finalise plans and a budget.
None of these is a reason to walk away from a finca, but each is worth understanding before it becomes a line in the budget.
Areas
Dedicated finca pages for five of the towns we cover, with notes on the rural and hillside houses found around each.
We work throughout the north Costa Blanca, and the pages below describe how finca work differs from one area to the next.
Hillside fincas and terraced stone houses above the coast, with steep plots and narrow tracks.
View Altea →Older rural houses and farm buildings among La Nucía’s hillside villas and urbanisations.
View La Nucía →Stone houses on the slopes below Puig Campana, with water and drainage at the heart of the work.
View Finestrat →Country houses behind the coast, where salt air and long absences shape the choice of materials.
View Calpe →Old village houses and country fincas, often renovated in stages, around a small inland village.
View Polop →Finca Renovations in Benissa and the surrounding area.
View Benissa →Finca Renovations in Alfaz del Pi & Albir and the surrounding area.
View Alfaz del Pi & Albir →Questions
It depends on the house, but most jobs combine several of the following: repairs to stone walls and render, roof work, treatment of damp, rewiring, replumbing, a new bathroom or kitchen, and outdoor works such as terraces. We survey first and set the scope out in a written quotation.
Usually, yes. Sound stone and timber are often the best part of the house, and we clean, repair and treat them rather than covering them. Where something cannot be saved we tell you, and match replacements as closely as we can.
Lime mortars and renders let a stone wall release moisture, while hard cement tends to trap it and push damp into the stone and the interior. Lime is also softer and moves with the wall. It is the usual choice for traditional stone construction for those reasons.
Damp in a thick stone house is common and is often fixable, but the cause matters. It can come from the ground, the roof, a terrace, poor drainage or an old cement render. We look for the source first and then recommend the least invasive treatment that will actually work.
We plan the routes before any cutting begins, using floors, ceilings and surface-run options where they suit the house, so the stone is disturbed as little as possible. The electrics and plumbing are done by our own tradespeople, so the work is coordinated.
Yes. Rural access is part of normal finca work. We assess the track, the turning space and delivery limits at the quotation stage, and plan materials, skips and any machinery around them.
Yes. Many of our clients live in the UK, Scandinavia, the Netherlands or Germany. We agree the scope in writing, keep you updated by phone and photographs, and agree decisions with you as the work progresses. English and Spanish are both spoken.
We cover eight towns across the north Costa Blanca: Benidorm, Altea, La Nucía, Finestrat, Calpe, Alfaz del Pi & Albir, Polop and Benissa. Dedicated finca pages exist for five of them, and the others are covered in the same way and can be quoted for directly.
Use the form on this page or contact us directly, and tell us briefly what the house needs. We will arrange a visit, look at the property, and give you a written quotation. The quotation is free, and the work is guaranteed, with the scope set out in the quotation.
Get in touch
Tell us about the house and what you want to do with it. We will visit, talk it through and give you a clear written quotation, free of charge.
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.”
Apartment Renovation
Original Spanish review
“Hace poco reformó el apartamento. Ha quedado espectacular. Además sin imprevistos, cumpliendo los plazos y muy formal.”
English translation
“They recently renovated the apartment. It looks spectacular. What's more, there were no unexpected problems, the agreed timescales were met, and they were very professional.”
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One firm for the whole job, from the first survey to the finished room.
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