Bespoke Resin Goes to Portugal - Our First Job in the Algarve

This was a bit of a first for us.

We've travelled all over the UK doing resin work, but when we got a call about a villa in Albufeira, Portugal, asking if we'd be interested in going over to have a look, it definitely got our attention.

The owners had a lovely property out there, but pretty much all of the outside was plain concrete. Concrete around the swimming pool, concrete pathways and a concrete veranda.

There wasn't anything particularly wrong with it. It just didn't do the villa any favours.

They'd seen some of our work and wanted to know if we could do something similar for them in Portugal.

We had a chat about it and decided, why not?

So we booked the flights and went to have a look.

First Job - Measure Everything Properly

Going to Portugal to do a resin job obviously takes a bit more organising than jumping in the van and heading down the motorway.

We went out first to see the property for ourselves, measure everything properly and work out exactly what we'd need.

It also gave us a chance to sit down with the owners, look at the different areas and get a proper idea of what they wanted from the finished job.

Once we'd done that, we came back to the UK and started getting everything sorted.

The materials were ordered, transport was arranged and within a few weeks we had everything on the ground in Albufeira ready for the lads to get started.

That's when it became a normal Bespoke Resin job again.

Preparation first, get everything right underneath and then get the resin down.

The Pool Surround Completely Changed the Place

The biggest difference has to be around the swimming pool.

Beforehand, it was basically a nice pool surrounded by a lot of plain concrete.

Nothing terrible, but nothing you'd look twice at either.

Once the resin went down, it changed the whole feel of the area.

It looks much cleaner and more finished now and it suits the villa far better. It's smooth underfoot, there's no loose stone around the pool and the whole area just feels like somewhere you'd actually want to spend your time.

And let's face it, if you've got a villa in the Algarve, you're probably going to spend a fair bit of time around the pool.

The photos probably explain it better than I can. When you put the before and after next to each other, it's a massive difference.

It Wasn't Just the Swimming Pool

We also carried the resin through the pathways and across the veranda.

I'm glad we did, because that's what really brought the job together.

Instead of looking like three or four separate concrete areas, everything now works as one. You can walk from the veranda, along the pathways and around the swimming pool and you've got the same finish running through the property.

It's one of those jobs where changing the surface has made the whole outside of the villa look different.

That's what we wanted to achieve and, more importantly, it's what the customer wanted.

What Was It Like Doing a Resin Job in Portugal?

People have asked us this since we got back.

To be fair, it went really well.

There's obviously more to think about when you're taking a team and materials abroad. If you've forgotten something on a job in Yorkshire, you can usually sort it fairly quickly. When you're standing in Albufeira, it's a slightly different story.

So we probably spent more time planning this one than we normally would.

But once everything was there and the job got underway, the lads just got on with it.

Same process. Same attention to preparation. Same standards we'd expect on a job back home.

Just considerably better weather.

We could definitely get used to that bit.

Would We Do Another One Abroad?

Without a doubt.

This was our first job in Europe and we learnt a lot from doing it. Most importantly, it proved that there's no reason we can't take on more of the right projects outside the UK.

We're not suddenly pretending we've got an office in Portugal, because we haven't.

We're a UK business and that's where we're based.

But if someone has a decent project in Portugal, Spain or elsewhere in Europe and they want us specifically to do it, we're happy to have the conversation.

For larger resin projects, particularly villa pool surrounds, terraces, pathways, verandas, hotels and holiday properties, travelling over isn't the obstacle people might think it is.

We've done it once now.

We know what it takes.

Got a Property in Portugal?

If you've found us because you're looking for resin bound surfacing in Portugal or the Algarve, feel free to get in touch.

You don't need to have everything worked out beforehand.

Send us a few photos or videos of the property, tell us where it is and roughly what you're looking to have done. From there, we can have a conversation and see whether the job is suitable.

If we need to come out and survey it properly, we'll arrange it.

This villa in Albufeira started with a phone call and a few conversations about what might be possible.

A few weeks later we had the lads in Portugal transforming the place.

The customer was happy, we're proud of how it turned out and we've now got our first European Bespoke Resin job under our belt.

Not bad at all.

And something tells me it won't be the last.

Bespoke Resin

Based in the UK. Happy to travel for the right job.

Book your quote here