Wide opening in a load-bearing wall of a Mallorcan house with steel props under a concrete lintel

Structural Work in Mallorca

Structural work is anything that changes what holds a building up: taking out a wall, forming an opening, replacing a beam, or strengthening what is already there. Describe the property and the change you want, and we pass the request to renovation and building companies on Mallorca that take on that kind of work.

Load-bearing wall in a Mallorcan house with a steel needle and props while an opening is formed

Why structural work is priced after a survey and not before

A wall either carries load or it does not, and which one is not reliably visible. Older property on Mallorca in particular was built and then altered by hand over a long time, so the drawings, where any exist, describe what somebody intended rather than what is standing there now.

That is why the price comes after somebody has looked. A technical assessment establishes what the element is doing and what has to take over from it, and the building work is then priced against that assessment. A number offered before that step is a number that will move.

It also changes who is involved. Structural work usually brings a technical team in alongside the building company, and what the work needs depends on what it touches. Ask each company what it expects to be needed, who arranges it and whether it sits inside the quoted price, rather than assuming any of the three.

Work that is usually structural

  • Removing an internal wall, or opening it up
  • Widening a doorway or forming a new opening in an external wall
  • Replacing or reinforcing beams and lintels
  • Adding a storey, or a roof terrace above a habitable room
  • Cutting a stairwell or a light well through a floor
  • Underpinning, and repairs where a building has moved
  • Cracking that is getting worse rather than staying still
  • Corroded reinforcement in concrete, which is common near the coast
  • Timber beams in older property, repaired or replaced
  • Propping and temporary support while any of the above happens

How structural work usually runs

Nothing here can be reordered, and the first step is the one people try to skip.

  1. 01

    Look before pricing

    Someone establishes what the element is actually doing. Until that is known there is no scope, and without a scope there is no quote that can be compared with another one.

  2. 02

    Technical assessment

    What takes over the load is calculated rather than judged. This is the part worth having in writing, and worth keeping afterwards.

  3. 03

    What the work needs

    Requirements depend on what is being touched and on where the property is. The company quoting the work says what it needs before it can price it, and says who arranges it.

  4. 04

    Propping and preparation

    The load is supported temporarily before anything is removed. It is the least visible part of the job and the part that goes wrong loudly.

  5. 05

    The work itself

    Removal, the new beam or column, and the connections at each end, which is where the detail matters most and where the cost differences between quotes usually sit.

  6. 06

    Making good

    Plaster, floors and finishes, plus any part of the building that shifted slightly while the load was transferred.

Usually part of something larger

Villa renovation

Layout changes on a villa almost always reach the structure somewhere.

Extensions

Tying a new building onto an old one is structural on both sides of the join.

Apartment renovation

In a flat, a wall may belong to the building rather than to you.

How your request reaches a company

Mallorca Renovation is a comparison service. A request for structural work goes to the renovation and building companies on our list; they quote the work and carry it out, and any agreement is between you and the company you pick.

  1. 01

    Describe the job

    Tell us the property, roughly what you want and where it is. Photographs and a rough plan help, though neither is required.

  2. 02

    We match it

    The request goes to companies that work in your area and take on this kind of job at this size.

  3. 03

    They quote you

    Each company contacts you directly with its own price, timing and approach. We do not set any of it.

  4. 04

    You compare and choose

    Put the quotes side by side and take the one you want, or none of them. Using the site costs you nothing.

How do I know whether a wall is structural?

Not by looking at it. Thickness, position and what runs above it are indications rather than answers, and on older property the alterations already made are exactly what makes those indications unreliable. It is established by somebody who assesses it, before the price rather than after.

Why will nobody quote it over the phone?

Because the work is defined by what the structure is doing, and that has not been established yet. A company that prices it unseen is pricing an assumption, and the difference lands on you when the assumption turns out to be wrong.

Does this kind of work need an architect or an engineer?

That depends on what is being touched, and it is not something to settle from a web page. Ask each company what it expects to be needed, who arranges it and whether it is inside the price, then compare the answers you get.

We have cracking. Is that structural?

Sometimes, and often not. What matters more than the crack is whether it is moving. Monitoring it over a period costs very little and answers a question that no photograph can.

Get structural work quotes you can compare

Describe the property and the change once, and let several companies price the same scope.

Mallorca Renovation