Caretaker service in Croatia
Somebody who turns up with tools, goes through the house to a checklist, fixes the small things on the spot and tells you honestly about the rest. Between the Kvarner Bay and the Makarska Riviera, with photographs after every visit.
What actually gets looked at
The same list every time, in the same order. Not because it is elegant, but because a fixed order is what stops you skipping the cupboard you skipped last time as well.
Inside
- Damp: outside walls, corners, behind furniture, under windows
- Water: taps, joints, cylinder, traps, signs under sinks
- Electrics: consumer unit, sockets in use, obvious faults
- Air conditioning and heating: a test run, filters, drainage
- Windows, shutters, doors: seals, catches, mechanisms
- Pests: droppings, entry points, insect screens
- Air the rooms, open interior doors, check textiles
Outside
- Roof, ridge, tiles, flashing — from the ground and, where safe, up close
- Gutters and downpipes, clearing what has collected
- Façade, render, cornices, balcony edges
- Terraces, steps, retaining walls, drainage channels
- Pool: level, clarity, water balance, pump and cover
- Garden: growth against the building, dead wood, irrigation
- Gate, fence, outdoor lighting, external units
The list is adjusted to your property during the survey. A flat in Split does not need the retaining-wall check; a stone house above Brela needs it more than anything else on the page.
What we fix while we are there
A visit that only produces a list of things to arrange is half a visit. Most of what a house needs is smaller than a trade call-out.
Done on the visit
- Seals, washers, dripping taps
- Bulbs, batteries, smoke alarms
- Jammed shutters and catches
- Gutters and drains cleared
- Filters cleaned and replaced
- Furniture moved, textiles aired
Passed to a partner firm
- Plumbing and heating work
- Electrical installation
- Roofing and façade repairs
- Pool plant and structural work
- Joinery, glazing, decorating
- Pest control
Quote first, your approval before the work — except for immediate measures.
Documented either way
Every visit ends with photographs and a short written note: what was checked, what was done, what needs a decision from you. Including the visits where nothing happened — those are the ones that prove the house is fine.
A coastal property has four different jobs
Autumn — close down
Gutters cleared, water drained where it needs to be, pool closed, furniture stored, the first check after real rain.
Winter — keep the air moving
Regular airing, damp watched, an extra visit after every serious storm. This is when unattended houses acquire the problems that show up in spring.
Spring — bring it back to life
Pool reopened, systems tested, irrigation restarted, the winter’s damage found and repaired while tradespeople still have capacity.
Summer — keep it running
Shorter intervals, pool and garden in shape, and somebody reachable when the air conditioning gives up on the hottest weekend of the year.
The extra visit nobody has to ask for
When the bura has run hard through the night, or heavy rain has come down off the Biokovo or the Velebit, we go out to the properties in the affected stretch. You do not have to call, and it does not appear on the invoice.
What we look for is specific: tiles lifted, flashing peeled back, shutters and awnings torn, satellite dishes turned, anything blown against glass, and water where drainage could not cope. Then you get photographs the same evening — usually saying that everything is fine, which is the point.
Honest about the islands
On the mainland we can usually be there the same day. On a ferry island in a storm, nobody can — that is when the ferries stop. We say so in advance rather than in the moment, and we plan island properties accordingly.
Three things this coast does to a building
Salt
Salt in the air attacks anything metal: railings, hinges, brackets, the outdoor unit of an air conditioner, pool fittings. Close to the water, that is a maintenance item every year, not every decade.
Wind
The bura does not build up — it arrives. Anything not fastened is a projectile, and anything already loose will be gone. Preparation is cheap; the window it goes through is not.
Rain in bursts
Months of dry, then a great deal of water in a few hours. Drainage that copes with normal rain elsewhere is simply overwhelmed here, which is why gutters and channels get checked before the wet season, not after.
Caretaker service — what owners ask
How often should somebody come?
Do you do repairs yourselves or call somebody?
Do you need to go inside every time?
What if you find something and I cannot be reached?
Can you also look after the garden and the pool?
You may be looking for one of these
Property management Croatia
What the term actually means in Croatia, where the statutory building manager stops, and the paperwork side: utilities, bills, deadlines, records.
Villa management Croatia
Larger houses with grounds, pool and a lot of technology — where a walk-through is not enough and presentation matters.
Holiday home management Croatia
Your own stays and your rental season: arrivals, changeovers, guests, eVisitor.
Property inspections Croatia
The method itself: intake, checklist, photo reports and three escalation levels.
Somebody to keep an eye on the place
Tell us where the property is and how it is built. We will suggest an interval and say what we would check there in particular.