It all started with bad news: water damage. The ground-floor tiles, weakened by the damp, began to crack and then to lift. Replacing a few of them was out of the question — once the damage was done, the whole floor had to be redone. What could have stayed a problem became an opportunity: the chance to create something unique.
Here is what went on behind the scenes of this job, done largely as a family, step by step.
Step 1: taking up all the tiling with a jackhammer
When you have no jackhammer to hand, you call an uncle. That is exactly what happened. The borrowed machine let us take up all the existing tiling, piece by piece. It is physical, noisy work that produces an impressive quantity of rubble and dust.
The mosaic at the bar, meanwhile, was carefully preserved. Once the rubble was cleared, the substrate was cleaned, scraped and levelled to give the flattest possible surface before the new covering went down.
Step 2: giant letters printed at home
The idea of a decorated floor came naturally: since we were starting from scratch, we might as well create something that looks like nothing else. We decided to set the words VIN 150 right in the middle of the walkway — a direct nod to the postcode of Ota, the commune Porto belongs to: 20150.
To make the templates for the letters there was no need to order anything from outside: the giant letters were drawn on the computer, printed out on sheets taped together, and cut from boards 8 mm thick. The templates were then laid and wedged directly on the bare floor, where the screed would come and surround them.
Step 3: pouring the coloured screed
We settled on coloured levelling screed: more fluid than traditional concrete, it spreads and self-levels around the letters, filling every corner. A pigment is added to the mix to obtain the characteristic grey-green tone you can see in the photographs.
The result at this stage is already striking: the white letters stand out clearly against the coloured background, and the words can be read from the entrance. But the work is not finished — it has to dry, and then comes the finishing.
📍 VIN 150 — the code for Porto. Ota is the commune that takes in the village of Porto. Its postcode is 20150. The words set into the floor are a direct tribute to this place, a permanent geographical anchor at the heart of the hotel.
Next: resin and finishing the letters
The floor is not quite finished. The next round of work covers two operations:
- Finishing the inside of the letters — the treatment and final appearance of the infill.
- Laying the protective resin — a coat of epoxy resin will be applied over the whole floor to make it waterproof, resistant to stains and heavy use, and to give it its final sheen.
Come back to the blog to see the result once the resin is down.
Meanwhile: breaking through the wall for the beer tap
While the screed was drying, another job was moving forward on the other side of the ground floor. To install the bar's beer tap we had to break through the wall to run a channel and the cables the system needs. Precise work, so as not to weaken the structure while providing a clean, discreet route for the equipment.
This kind of work — invisible once finished — is nonetheless essential to a hotel bar working properly. It has to be done before the finishes go on, so that it leaves no visible trace.
A renovation done with what was at hand… and a good deal of ingenuity
What stands out about this job is the unashamed resourcefulness: a jackhammer borrowed from an uncle, letters printed and cut at home, coloured screed poured on site. The result has nothing to envy of what a specialist firm would have delivered — and above all it is unique, because it was conceived and carried out by the people who know the hotel better than anyone.
The full renovation of Hôtel Le Vaïta is coming along at a good pace. Rooms, corridors, service areas, the bar — everything is being thoroughly redone so that the opening lives up to the ambition of the project.
