How to build a house in Costa Rica Stage 3

How to Build a house in Costa Rica

Stage 3

We now have all the columnas in place and have placed rebar ( baria) for every other block leaving space for the windows and doors. Now it is time to pour more concrete, we will pour all in one day if possible so that it covers the placas completely. The concrete should be poured 5 inches ( 12.5 centimeters) over the top of the placas and leveled off. The concrete needs to be level but not perfect because now we are going to start laying block. The first thing we are going to do is run a line from one end to the other on each canal. The lines will ensure that all the blocks in that row are straight and at the same level. Once we have the first row of block complete we will go back and fill all the holes and areas between the blocks with concrete. Now we are going to lay #2 rebar across the block and tie in into the columns. We will now more our strings up to where the second row of block will be level. The #2 rebar we put down only needs to be done every other row of block so the next two rows should go pretty fast. In fact the Costa Ricans are really fast at laying block and you will be surprised how fast our wall go up, in this case a week and a half. This process will continue until we reach the top of where the windows and doors will be. We will now put wood forms around all of our columns and fill them with concrete. Depending on the size of the house this may be done a few at a time or all in one day. Now in is time to put on the crown beam, which are made just like the placas only slightly smaller. We will lay this around the entire top of the walls and tie them all together. After they are tied together it is time to place wood forms around all of the crowns. We will do this in sections per day because it would take a lot of wood to do this all at once. After we have formed and poured all the crown beam we will remove all the wood and continue laying block until the desired height of the wall. Our house will go to 12 feet ( little less then 4 mts.) Also, some choices have to be made here. I like to lay the block for the interior walls all the way up to the roof line but some people prefer to make all the walls interior and exterior the same and put steel beams make up the difference and cover them with drywall. I believe my way is better and stronger ( plus it avoids roof noises in the wind) but it does cost more. We will continue this house soon. Please visit www.BellaVistaCostaRica.com for more information and if you would like to see more pictures of our house being build please visit www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=211132&id=296070320848

Thank you.

How to Build a House in Costa Rica stage 2

How to build a house in Costa Rica

Stage 2

OK, now we have decided that we are going to build out of block. The first step is to lay out the house with string starting with the outside walls then the interior walls. The strings are the center of the wall and we attach them by building wooden corners with nails. Once this is done, one wall at a time we put two nails 7 inches ( it could be more if the house is more than one story because you may need bigger footings) on either side of the string nail and attach two more strings making the center one the middle and the other two the outside of the wall. We then remove the middle string and begin digging out the footing. The footings will be at least one meter deep. Although, depending one where you are building and the type of soil you may need to go much deeper. I should also point out that in Costa Rica all walls are done the same, so your interior walls are exactly like the exterior making the house very solid and virtually sound proof inside. We continue this until every wall is done.

The next step is to lay a layer of pure concrete of about 8 inches ( again it could be more depending on the terrain or number of floors.) I have seen many builders not put the concrete down first and only lay a layer of gravel ( piedra cuarto) but I do not agree with this. I believe you need a solid surface to start. While all this is being done you will have a crew making rebar forms ( placas.) We make these by putting 3 or more lengths of rebar #4 ( 1/2 inch called baria) side by side and putting smaller pieces of rebar that has been made into rectangles over the lengths of rebar and tying them together with 10 inch lengths of wires. This is hard to explain without seeing it but the wire is twisted and then a tool that looks similar to a pair of pliers is used to twist to make a knot and pull everything tight. When these three are all put together you flip it over and attach three more making a long rectangle box of rebar. Again, the size will vary based on the house being one or more floors.

Once all the placas are complete and there will be quite a few of them, for this house we need eighteen at six meters long, we place then into the footing holes and attach them to one another. We will now attach rebar to the placas perpendicularly every 20 centimeters. In addition to making the placas your crew will be making a very similar rebar box to put in for the corners and columns ( columnas.) The columnas will be in differant shapes depending on where they are going but are made the same way. You will have some that are rectangle and are put anywhere the extra support in needed, some will be T shape for where walls come together and L shape for the corners. We will need twenty two total for this house and they are all tied to the placas with the same twisting of wire. That is all for now, stay tuned for the next stage. Pura Vida

How to Build a House in Costa Rica Stage 1

How to build a house in Costa Rica

Stage 1

The first step is to get a set of plans. Costa Rica will require that the plans be stamped by the municipality and for this to happen the plans must be signed by either an Architect or a Structural Engineer. When dealing with either one you decide to go with remember this is a negotiation, they are going to want up to

6 1/2% of the building cost to do your plans but you should be able to get into the 4% area. The way they determine the building cost is pretty simple and can be used to your advantage, basically the they charge based on the construction being $400 per square meter for construction area inside and $200 for patio or outside area under roof.

Now is also the time time you will have to decide how you want your house to be built, meaning what materials. You will have a choice of four different construction methods. The first is steal frame. The steal frame house uses steel supports ( called perling here ) and is covered on the outside with Cement board

( fibrolit) or if your willing to spend about twice as much you can use a Fiberglass board ( Denglass) which is a much better product and will finish nicer. On the inside you can use Drywall ( Jypson) or the Denglass. Usually there is no insulation installed here. The next way which has gotten very popular is building with Styrofoam. Styrofoam building uses 6x6 boards that are placed between steel or concrete structures, wrapped with what looks like a chicken fence ( only it's supposed to heavier gauge) than stucco is shot into it with a Gunite machine. Building like this can be a very energy efficient and cost effective, but I have yet to see it done correctly here and I really do not know much about it. You may also decide to build with wood. You might think in Costa Rica that a wood house would be cheaper but you would be wrong. Wood is more expensive here than the US but the there is lots of different woods to choose from. I have seen some places that are building prefab house out of Teak and they look good but even that will cost about 20% more than say block. Block is the last choice and what I use. The reason is everyone here knows how to lay block and they are very good at it. I will explain the process later as this is how we will be building this house. Pura Vida for now.

The new house on Lot 15 comes with EVERYTHING, all furnitures, glasses, silverware, linens, ect. The price of the house corporations, closing cost, cell phone and 3100 srft under roof and 24/7 security is 275K. All you need to do is show up with your clothes!

BELLA VISTA ESTATES COSTA RICA We are building a custom home on Lot 15. The house will be completely furnished in a corporation with a bank account, cell phone and power established under the same corporate name. The home will be 2900 sq. ft under roof, has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, a his and her walk in closets, granite counter tops, top of the line stainless steel professional series appliances. This house is being build the way homes should be built and designed around the experience of someone that has lived in this environment for a long time. The lot is 5 acres, has hiking trails, a waterfall, two creeks, has views of Lake Arenal, Arenal Volcano, Tenorrio/ Miravalles/ Rincon de la Vieja and Ometepe Volcanos,Lake Nicaragua and the Monteverde Mountain range. I will be updating pictures regularly so you can see the house being built. Pura Vida
Please Visit www.BellaVistaCostaRica.com for more info about the community.
Please Visit Face Book page " Bella Vista Estates Costa Rica" were I will be updating photo regularly and you can watch the house being built.
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Phone 941-924-2011 US or 8885-1583 CR