From the historic centre of Silves to the coast at Armação de Pêra. Hydraulic installations for quintas and detached houses inland, developments on the coast and renewal of the plumbing in old buildings.
iStarTec is a hydraulic installations company founded in 2000 that works in Silves, about 20 km from its office in Albufeira. It installs plumbing (hot and cold water, wastewater and rainwater drainage), Uponor hydraulic underfloor heating, Bosch solar thermal hot water and bathrooms, in new builds and renovations: quintas and detached houses in the inland hills, developments on the coast and the renewal of pipework in old buildings. It does not do gas, drain unblocking or emergency repairs.
Silves is a municipality of two territories. To the north lies the hilly interior — detached houses and country homes, where winters are considerably colder than on the coast and sun exposure is excellent all year round. To the south are Armação de Pêra and Pêra, with developments and seafront apartments, where the internal pipework has to cope with salt air and very concentrated seasonal occupancy. They are two distinct types of job, served by the same team.
We work on new builds and renovations. A good part of the housing in Silves is forty years old or more, with galvanised internal pipework whose bore has narrowed with scale — weak pressure and recurring leaks. We replace that pipework with multilayer or PEX with minimal wall chasing, keeping the house habitable for most of the works.
Internal hot and cold water networks in multilayer, PEX or copper, with accessible manifolds, and internal wastewater and rainwater drainage in PVC-U. For detached houses inland and for developments on the coast.
Bosch solar thermal for hot water, with the primary circuit in copper. Silves has excellent sun exposure and little shading inland — ideal conditions for a system that covers most of a family's hot water over the year.
Uponor PEX underfloor heating. In the country houses inland, where winter nights get considerably colder than on the coast, it is the solution that gives the most comfort for every euro spent on heating.
Supply and fitting of sanitaryware and mixer taps, from standard to premium ranges, for private houses and for accommodation units in Armação de Pêra.
15 to 80 apartments
3 to 6 bedrooms · pool
Replacing old pipework
Solar + heat pump · NZEB
Heating + cooling
Premium sanitaryware
We also work directly for homeowners in Silves, Armação de Pêra, Alcantarilha, Pêra and São Bartolomeu de Messines — including in homes that are lived in during the works. This is installation and system replacement, not repair work. A technical visit and quote are free, and we reply within 24 working hours.
Uponor hydraulic underfloor heating in new and existing homes, paired with a heat pump.
Bosch solar thermal systems, including replacing old collectors and gas water heaters.
Replacing old galvanised or lead pipework with multilayer or PEX.
Embedded fittings, plant room, saltwater treatment, lighting and pool heat pump (AstralPool).
Yes. The whole municipality of Silves is served from our office in Albufeira, about 20 to 35 minutes away depending on the locality. There is no difference in response time between Armação de Pêra, Silves itself and São Bartolomeu de Messines.
Yes. In old masonry buildings we replace the internal pipework with as little wall chasing as possible and, wherever we can, run the pipes through suspended ceilings or service ducts so that structural walls are not compromised. The pipe routing is agreed with the designer before work starts.
The materials are the same; what changes is the coordination. On a detached house inland we work directly with the owner or with the builder. In an apartment in Armação de Pêra, access and working hours have to be arranged with the condominium management, which usually makes the schedule longer.
Yes, they are two of our main services. The inland part of the municipality gets excellent sun exposure, which favours solar thermal for hot water, and its winters are colder than on the coast, so low-temperature underfloor heating gives the most comfort for every euro spent on heating.
No. iStarTec installs and replaces complete systems; it does not do one-off repairs, emergency call-outs, maintenance contracts or drain unblocking. For a single leak or breakdown, a local repair plumber is the right call.
Silves sits halfway between Portimão and Albufeira, which makes the municipality easy to serve from our base. We cover the interior and the coast with the same team and collect materials from the Bosch and Uponor distributors in Portimão and Albufeira.
Whole municipality covered
~20 km east · Operational base and large developments
~20 km west · Developments and premium villas
~15 km south-west · Carvoeiro and Ferragudo
~15 km south · Apartments and tourist accommodation
~20 km north · Detached houses and new builds
~12 km south · Detached houses and residential plots
On request, we put you in touch with clients of ours in Silves, Armação de Pêra and Alcantarilha. You can check technical standards and deadlines directly with owners and builders who have been through the job.
Builders, developers and homeowners in Silves, Armação de Pêra or São Bartolomeu de Messines — we reply to quote requests within 24 working hours, in English or Portuguese.