Village Houses · Hillside Villas · Quiet Inland Living
Adapting older village houses and hillside villas in Polop with safer bathrooms, ramps, rails and wider doorways.
Polop is a small inland village, quieter than the coast and with a character of its own. Many of the homes in the village itself are older houses, with thick walls, narrow doorways, steep internal stairs and rooms that were laid out long before anyone thought about wheelchairs or walking frames. Around the village, hillside villas make up much of the rest.
For an older house, adaptation is a matter of working with what is there. Thick walls limit how far a room can be opened up, but they also give a very solid fixing for rails. A narrow door cannot always be widened, but a bathroom can sometimes be relocated to a room that is easier to reach.
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.
Older houses
A village house in Polop often has a front door that opens straight into a small hall, with stairs rising beside it. The bathroom may be tucked at the back or upstairs, reached by a narrow passage. For someone with limited mobility, each of those is a challenge.
Thick stone or brick walls can be an advantage when it comes to rails. A rail fixed into a solid wall will hold a person's full weight. But they make it harder to open up a doorway, and we check carefully before cutting. Where a door cannot be widened, an outward-opening or sliding door can sometimes do the job.
Sometimes the sensible answer is to move the function rather than the walls: a ground-floor room becomes the bedroom, and a small bathroom is created next to it, so the stairs are no longer needed day to day.
Stairs and floors
Internal stairs are made safer with a handrail on both sides, non-slip nosings and good lighting, particularly over the top and bottom steps where falls tend to happen. We also consider the floors. Old tiles worn smooth by years of use can be very slippery, and treating or replacing them is a quick improvement.
Thresholds are another small hazard. A raised sill between rooms or at the back door can catch a foot or a walking aid. Where they can be removed or reduced, we do so.
Lighting is often overlooked in older houses, where small windows and thick walls make rooms dark. Brighter fittings and night lights on the route to the bathroom are inexpensive and make a real difference.
Villas around the village
The villas around Polop sit on sloping ground with steps to the door, the terrace and often a pool. Here we look first at the entrance, and then at the bathroom and kitchen.
A ramp to the front door, a handrail along the garden steps and slip-resistant paving on the terrace help a person get out and enjoy the garden again. If there is a pool, rails or a ramp can make entry easier.
Inside the villa, the bathroom and kitchen follow the same pattern as elsewhere: a level shower with a seat and rails, a raised or wall-hung toilet, and a kitchen with a lowered worktop.
How it works
We come to the house, look at the way in, the stairs and the bathroom, and ask what is hardest. In an older property we check what the walls are made of before proposing anything. A free written quotation follows, with the work in a sensible order.
Lanes in the village can be narrow, so we plan how materials will be brought in. We protect floors, keep dust down and take you through the finished work, adjusting anything that is not right.
Questions
Usually, although the layout depends on the house. We may convert the existing bathroom, or create a new one on the ground floor. We explain the options at the visit.
Sometimes. Walls in older houses can be load-bearing, so we check first. A sliding or outward-opening door is an alternative where widening is not possible.
Yes. We fix them into the solid wall structure, and add non-slip edges and better lighting at the same time.
Yes. We work on both, from ramps and rails on hillside plots to bathrooms and kitchens inside.
Across the area
Polop 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 →Walk-in showers, ramps and safer kitchens for Calpe's apartments and hillside villas.
View Calpe →Accessible bathrooms, rails and ramps for Alfaz del Pi and Albir villas and apartments.
View Alfaz del Pi & Albir →Ramps, level showers and safer floors for Benissa's fincas, old town houses and villas.
View Benissa →Get in touch
Tell us about the house and what has become 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.
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.”
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.”
More from Dragon Reforms
Everything Dragon Reforms does in Polop, each with its own page.
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Tell us a little about the home and what you would like to be able to do more easily, and we will get back to you to arrange a visit.
