You'll notice that this blog post is a little different then many of my previous posts, and I think there's a pretty decent reason behind it. You may have heard or read in the news recently about this thing call Covid-19...a corona virus that has resulted in a global pandemic...ah...gee whiz...why? why does this have to happen now... Everywhere we turn these days, it's corona virus this, corona virus that, social distancing, self isolation, entire countries on lock-down, people dying - holy crap, this is just getting ridiculous.
How does this have anything to do with my blog? Well, it's quite simple, I may run out of construction updates in the next little bit, as things have slowed right down on our construction project. Sadly, the pandemic has slowed our progress somewhat (understandably), but hopefully not for too long. Heck, our gated community has even requested that non-residents and contractors limit their activities on the property. In the meantime, in Canada while the masses scramble to buy toilet paper and lysol wipes, my wife and I are doing the best we can in our tiny little apartment, living day by day and holding onto our dream. It's important during these crazy times, to keep a level head and to try not to be too immersed in the hectic goings on of the outside world. We all need to stay positive, keep at least two meters away from people, cough or sneeze into your elbows...and remember, Billy Ocean said it best, "when the going gets tough"...
We'll get through this! #monkeytreeliving
So far the process of building a house in Costa Rica has been quite the journey, from a architect who seemingly fell off the face of the earth, to having to change builders part way through - these are two things that you wouldn't typically expect to have to go through if you were building a house in North America...but alas, building in Central America has proven to be a little different. We knew things would be a little challenging either way, and we're learning that we just need to kind of go with the flow and learn to have a little more patience - all in all it's coming together and the end result is going to be amazing.
At times it seems like the entire build is going in slow motion, and truthfully, it has been but, of our own doing (we'll get to that in a future blog - so stay tuned.)
Needless to say, the construction continues; the retaining walls that went from being of reasonable size turned out to be far bigger and more involved than what was expected...to the tune of about 3 meters to get to solid ground - yikes! But, better to find out at the beginning stages of the construction than to find out a few earthquakes and rainy seasons later when the house has decided to become a mobile home and relocate a few hundred feet west of where it's supposed to be. And I have to admit, now that the house has really started to take shape, those retaining walls really add to the overall look of the house and give it a much bigger presence on the property (not sure if that makes any sense, but you'd have to see it to for yourself I guess - or stay tuned for progress updates and photos).
After months of watching the retaining walls go up, and all the rebar get formed, plumbing and electrical conduits put into place, it was finally time for the foundation to be poured. "Lets brace ourselves, this is going to be expensive", or so we were told. We weren't sure what to expect in terms of the cost for the foundation, but had been warned that it was going to be a pretty big bill, as concrete is expensive in Costa Rica. "OK, expensive compared to what?" Part of what we've been learning throughout this experience is that often (always), people are comparing the costs of items / work in Costa Rica to be so much more expensive than what you would expect if you were coming from the United States. Well, guess what, we aren't coming from the United States, we're coming from Canada - and I'll be honest, things in Canada are way more expensive than they are in the good ole' United States of America. Our 3,000 square foot foundation (which includes "Air conditioned" space, outdoor patio space, and car port) ended up being about $14,000 USD - it certainly wasn't cheap, but it was significantly less than what I was expecting it to be. So I call that a bit of a win, considering we went over budget on the damn retaining walls. Keep in mind, this is all based on our experiences and the team we now have working on our project. This does not necessarily represent other's experiences of building in Costa Rica. Things can be very expensive - it just all depends what you need for your build.
Updated: Feb 28, 2020
So, we finally got through the rainy season during the initial part of our build, and really, it wasn't all that bad considering...Now you need to understand that the rainiest time of "rainy season" in the Guanacaste province (at least in the area we are located) tends to be October through November. We've taken several trips in the months of September / October and have gotten some (not much rain) but, buyer beware - when it rains, oh my, it rains.....
Here's a little secret: a lot of people are scared of rainy season, and I get it. How many times have I heard people say "oh my gosh, why would you go to Costa Rica during rainy season, you're going to get rained on, you're crazy"...Well, guess what, as sweet as I am, I'm not made of sugar, so I'm not going to dissolve in rain...In my opinion, the very best month to visit the Guanacaste province (North Western Province) is the month of September - all of the foliage starts to explode in various shades of green, yellow, pink, red, you name it..It gets unbelievably beautiful and lush. You're rolling the dice if you come in October (based on what we've heard and read) as the rain can be non-stop for days (and it's not just a few sprinkles like we get in Calgary); come end of November is when the busy season (dry Season) starts to show it's face...the beaches slowly get busier, the hotel prices start to climb, and shortly thereafter, boom you're right in the thick of the busiest time of year as people from the colder climates start taking their winter getaway vacations...The busy (dry) season goes on until February / March, and then it starts to slow back down and back to a more normal way of life. I'll be the first to admit that a big part of the Guanacaste province can look pretty darn dry between the months of February through til end of summer - but guess what, no rain (or very little).
All in all, the Guanacaste province has relatively consistent temperatures year round (34-36 degrees celsius during the day down to a "chilly" 24-26 degrees celius at night...) I kind of think that beats weather in Canada hands down (in my opinion, because I hate snow and I hate cold). So that was my attempt at kind of telling you what you can expect for weather during the 2 different seasons in Costa Rica. I've often complained that I was tired of living in Calgary because we only have two seasons, which are broken down as follows: 6 weeks of summer followed by 46 weeks of winter (or so it seems most times), but here I am, building a home in a country (province) that also essentially has 2 season, but you'll note, neither of those seasons includes snow!
Here are a few photos of construction progress once we made it through the first rainy season on the project. These are pictures of the footings the retaining walls, and the start of the pool.
A testament to the engineering that goes on to build in a country that has a lot of earthquakes....An endless amount of re-bar and this is just the beginning.
Footings and retaining walls. Boy oh boy, the retaining walls we needed on this project were huge...but, better to have them built right, then to have issues come down later on.