TAVIRA . CABANAS . SANTA LUZIA . EAST ALGARVE
English-Speaking Handyman in Tavira. One Visit, the Whole List Done
Shelves, shutters, silicone, a door that will not close, the flat pack still in its box. Send us the list and we bring it back to zero in one booked visit, charged by the hour or at a fixed price per service, agreed before we start.
- By the hour or by the service, agreed before we start
- Photo report after every visit, wherever you are
- Certified partners for electrics, gas and plumbing
- English and Portuguese spoken
- Fixed price agreed before we start
- Invoice with NIF on every job
- Owners abroad welcome
What we fix around the eastern Algarve
Eight things people in Tavira actually call us for. If yours is not listed, ask anyway, it is usually a yes.
Odd Jobs and Small Repairs
The list on the fridge door: shelves, curtain rails, dripping taps, sticking doors, dead sockets swapped by a certified partner.
Furniture Assembly and Wall Mounting
Flat pack from IKEA Loule or Faro built and levelled, TVs and mirrors mounted safely on hollow brick and old lime walls.
Painting and Decorating
Interior repaints, salt bloom on exterior walls, terrace ceilings, touch ups between guest stays.
Shutters, Blinds and Flyscreens
Broken shutter straps and slats, jammed roller boxes, new mosquito screens for the Ria Formosa summer.
Doors, Locks and Windows
Salt seized locks and hinges, sliding patio doors off track, draughty frames, gate closers and lock changes after purchase.
Tiling, Grout, Silicone and Damp
Loose tiles, black grout, failed shower silicone, mould on north facing walls in a house closed all winter.
Carpentry and Outdoor Woodwork
Decking boards, pergolas, gates, wardrobes and shelving, plus sanding and oiling before the sun destroys it again.
Holiday Let and Property Maintenance
Scheduled checks for owners abroad, snag lists between bookings, gutters before the November storms, photo report every time.
Why houses here break in ways they never did back home
The eastern Algarve is hard on a building in three specific ways, and almost every job we do traces back to one of them.
Salt. Between the Ria Formosa and the salt pans, the air carries salt all year. It eats hinges, window catches, gate locks and the metal inside shutter boxes. A lock that seizes in Cabanas is rarely a broken lock, it is corrosion that a service and the right grease would have prevented.
Sun. More than three hundred days of it. Plastic shutter slats go brittle and snap, awning fabric splits along the fold, decking silvers and cracks, exterior paint chalks on the south wall while the north wall still looks new.
Winter damp. A house closed from October to April, unheated, with lime walls and no ventilation, grows mould on the north side and behind wardrobes. Owners land in spring and find a smell, not a leak. That is a ventilation and paint problem, not a plumbing one, and it is fixable in a day.
Add the local reality that most quintas and townhouses in Tavira, Santo Estevao and Luz de Tavira were built or renovated in phases, by different hands, with whatever fittings were available that year. There is no standard part. Knowing that before arriving is the difference between one visit and three.
Indicative prices, November 2026
Agreed in writing before we start. The only thing that changes the number afterwards is you adding to the list.
First hour
50 euros
Minimum booking is one hour, with travel included inside Tavira and Cabanas.
- One hour on site
- Ideal for one urgent fix
- Materials at cost
Each hour after
40 euros
Billed after the first hour. Most to do lists take around four hours.
- Usually 4 to 7 items
- One tradesman, full kit
- Photo report included
By the service
Fixed quote
One agreed price for the whole job, for a spring open up or a post winter catch up.
- Whole property covered
- Price agreed before we start
- Written snag list at the end
Materials at cost with receipt. Travel beyond the Tavira council area quoted once, before booking. Prices exclude VAT where applicable.
The list method, and why it costs you less
Most people here call a different trade for every small problem, wait a week for each, and pay a call out charge four times. Our whole model is the opposite: hold the small stuff, send it as one list, and we clear it in one booked visit.
- You send the list. WhatsApp, voice note, email, photos, a room by room list from your property manager. Anything.
- We price the visit. By the hour or by the service, plus an honest note on anything we think needs a certified trade instead.
- We book a date and take the key. Key collection from your manager, neighbour or agency is normal here and costs nothing extra.
- You get photos the same evening. Every item, dated, plus a short note on anything we found that you should know about before it grows.
If an item turns out to be much bigger than it looked, we stop and message you with a price. Nobody discovers a surprise on the invoice.
Recent jobs around Tavira
Where we work
Based in Tavira, out every day across the sotavento. Travel is included in the towns below.
- Tavira
- Cabanas de Tavira
- Santa Luzia
- Conceicao de Tavira
- Luz de Tavira
- Santo Estevao
- Pedras d'El Rei
- Fuseta
- Olhao
- Moncarapacho
- Manta Rota
- Altura
- Monte Gordo
- Vila Real de Santo Antonio
- Castro Marim
- Sao Bras de Alportel
Questions people ask before booking
As of November 2026 you can pay by the hour or by the service. By the hour, the first hour is 50 euros and each hour after it is 40 euros. For one fixed price, send the list and we quote the whole job before booking. Materials are charged at cost with the receipt attached. Travel inside Tavira, Cabanas, Santa Luzia and Conceicao is included; further out it is quoted once, before we book.
We do the small work that does not need certification: swapping a light fitting, a tap washer, a toilet seat, a socket faceplate. Anything that needs a DGEG certified electrician, a gas technician or a full plumbing job goes to the certified partner in the Tavira Services network, and you get one invoice and one point of contact instead of three phone calls in a language you do not speak.
Yes, and it is a large part of what we do in the eastern Algarve. You send the list by WhatsApp or email, we agree the price before starting, we hold or collect the key, and you get dated photos of every item finished on the same day. If something turns out worse than it looked in your photo, you get a message and a price before we carry on, never after.
Either way works. If you buy them we fit them. If we buy them, we buy locally in Tavira or Olhao, attach the receipt and add nothing on top for jobs under 200 euros of material. For larger buys we agree the handling on the quote so there are no surprises.
Most bookings in Tavira, Cabanas and Santa Luzia land within three working days, and same week almost always. July and August are the exception, since holiday lets take priority slots, so book non urgent work for the shoulder season if you can. A leak, a door that will not lock or a rental with guests arriving jumps the queue.
Send us your list
Photos help more than words. Most lists come back priced the same day.
Faster on WhatsApp
Send a voice note and a couple of photos. That is usually enough for us to price the job without a site visit.
Mon to Fri, 8h30 to 18h00. Saturday mornings for holiday lets with guests arriving.