Running a Portuguese HOA
Or… why the f**k did I sign up for this?!
Hi everybody!
The leaves are turning, and after weeks of rain, we got a nice stretch of warm, bluebird fall days in Portugal. A good reminder of why we chose southern Europe.
Here’s what’s what this week:
Running a Portuguese HOA
Getting floored in November
Quick hits
Let’s go!
Running a Portuguese HOA
What’s it like running a Portuguese HOA? I’m so glad you asked!
Homeowners Associations are so well loved and appreciated in the USA. It has to be just as glamorous in Portugal, right? One thing’s for sure: it’s a great way to get to know your neighbors… even if a little too well.
Why am I subjecting myself to this?
When we did our demolition in 2022, we immediately discovered that the roof needed to be replaced. It had to happen before we started our buildout. So we engaged the association for help.
Filipe, the former administrator and founder of the association came to the rescue. He worked to convince other owners to pony up the money to replace the roof, and he managed the process more diligently and rapidly than we could have expected for Portugal. Mind you, it still took forever, but without his commitment, it likely would have taken years longer.
So when Filipe came to me, exhausted, and asked if I’d be willing to replace him, I felt obliged. He promised to help me navigate the language, work with owners, etc. So since April, I’ve been, as he calls me, “The Donministrator!”
Turns out, it’s not fun at all. It involves a bunch of little annoying tasks, like:
Filling up bottles of water each week and leaving them for the cleaner (since we don’t have a communal spigot for mop water),
Buying cleaning supplies, paying monthly bills, doing accounting, and
Taking complaints from various neighbors about nuisances in the building
Larger tasks include:
Learning intricate Portuguese language “legalese” to write official association documents
(Unsuccessfully) navigating bank bureaucracy to add my name to the condo account
Setting up a special homeowners meeting to address concerns about the 16 people living in the 1st-floor apartment
Dealing with an illegal (unsafe) makeshift kitchen on the 1st-floor atrium
Navigating politics amongst owners from a different culture with big money stakes (rental, store, Airbnb, etc)
And so many ongoing repairs…
All of it is in Portuguese.
It’s stealing a lot of my time and sapping my will to be closer to my local community. A lot of the problems remain ongoing, and I’m looking forward to more in the coming months.
On the upside, my technical Portuguese language skills are getting a good workout.
I plan to resign in January.
Getting Floored in November
We’re still working through punch list items from our remodel, and the two biggest concerns are the cork floors and the bathroom tile floors.
The cork turned out to be a disaster. We made a poor choice of material - it’s just a 5mm thick piece of cork with no backing. The cork tiles were poorly glued to the OSB subfloor. And it’s all moving and squeaking like crazy. We love the look, but it’s failing miserably.
We chose 60 cm square ceramic tiles for the bathrooms, and it turns out that they are poorly manufactured, with a tolerance of up to 1.8 mm. This means the tiles can have a thickness variation or bend so pronounced that they don’t match up at all.
To make matters worse, the builder suggested dry-jointing the tiles, which makes the offsets more pronounced, and, we learned later, it voids the manufacturer’s warranty. As with the cork, it’s a mess.
We had no choice but to move in, deal with it, and work to figure out a solution.
We discussed our options and settled on hardwood floors over the cork, and RMC, a locally manufactured product (like Silestone) over the tile. The hardwoods will be both glued and nailed down to the cork, which will hopefully provide stability and stiffness to the whole floor. The stone will match the height of the wood, so everything is even.
Replacing all the floors is a MAJOR project. They have to cut all the trims and doors to allow for added floor height, make a ton of other carpentry adjustments, and sand/finish the hardwoods once installed. So our builder agreed to do it during November while we are away in the States. This is when he’ll do the rest of the lingering punchlist items too.
So on top of getting our regular affairs in order to leave town for a month, we had to pack all of our art, clothes, pantry, and other stuff back up and get ready for major, messy construction.
It’s a huge leap of trust to leave the country while teams of subcontractors have access to our whole life in our apartment. We have deputized friends to check on things while we are gone. When I arrive home in early December, I’ll come home to a whole new apartment.
And then we get to unpack… again.
Quick Hits
We spent a week in Madrid with my brother Rob and sister-in-law Chris. They met us there after a cruise from Nice, France, to Barçelona. I hadn’t been to Madrid in 32 years. It’s a simply stunning city with a fantastic vegan food scene. We did plenty of walking and shopping, caught a flamenco show, saw some Dalí paintings, and toured the royal palace. The architecture is incredible, and the vibe is super cool. Rob and Chris then returned to Porto with us for a few days so we could show them around our new hometown! I’m excited to go back and dig deeper into Madrid, and it was great to spend quality time with family in our neck of the woods.
With the streak of sunny, warm weather, I have been able to get a few nice, long bike rides in. I broke off a 90 km solo ride up to Póvoa do Varzim and back. Then last weekend my riding buddy Nicholas invited me to spin 55 km with him to Guimarães for a beer fest. We rode the train home. I’m continuing to maximize the rideable weather here, and it’s fantastic.
We celebrated Hilary’s birthday on and off for most of October, with the crescendo happening for three days in a row around the day itself. We did a birthday dinner at our favorite vegan restaurant, Vümo, then did karaoke at the new KTV joint near home and had an after-party in our apartment. The next night, we did an escape room and dinner with friends. Then on Saturday we had samba night at A Padoca, another fave vegan haunt. It was filled with fun, food, and friends.
How has your fall been going?
This week’s music is the new Earthgang album. I love these guys. Enjoy!
Oh man you are a glutton for punishment. We need to learn more about the 16 people in the first floor apartment. Maybe you can start writing a very successful book or Netflix series.