Paradise Is Not Always Paradise

I thought I would take a break from my building blogs to comment on a couple of not so pleasant things.

First of all, signing up for, paying bills for phone, electricity and internet at ICE is a "career." When you go there you need to allow for at the very least one hour. Sometimes longer. The system is so slow and inefficient. First of all the doors are locked and a guard lets you in and waves a detection wand around you. Next you sit in a long line of chairs. It's like musical chairs. One person gets up and goes to the desk where the one and only person checking through the 15-30 people is seated. The people move down starting with the chair the man was in to be next in line. Next, if you are only paying your bills you may pay there and leave. If you are needing to do any further business he then gives you a number, and you get into another row of chairs and wait for your number to be called. There are never more then three people in that area to help you. When one or two go on break, which of course they have to do, you just wait. Have I mentioned you need patience to live in this country?

FIRST LINE OF CHAIRS

SECOND WAITING AREA AND AS YOU CAN SEE 2 PEOPLE ARE ON BREAK, SO YOU HAVE ONE PERSON FOR ALL THE PEOPLE

The second thing is the government, starting July 1st, placed a 13% tax on services. I was told they were going to tax the food you buy at the grocery store also, but I did not think that would be right since it is a service tax. Well, I was wrong. I did a weeks worth of shopping today. My bill was 46,344.22 colones ($80.82) They added the 13% running my bill up 4,261. more colones ( $7.43) tax on food!!!! It's a lot for me to pay extra just because some past President and his cronies were career thieves. Of course, now the people of the country have to come up with it. I do not know how many of the population will be able to deal with an increase like this in their food bills. They simply do not have it. This is not a wealthy nation.

This tax is also on all services now. So, when my windows on my house are installed, cabinet installed, etc. I will be charged 13% for that service. This is going to cause me to have to cut back on some of the things I wanted to do in my home. Which at the same time takes the money I would have spent out of the pockets of those that would have made the money. I also believe this is going to stop a lot of growth in Costa Rica. 13% is not just a large percentage it is a huge jump from zero to 13% on food.

With all this said, I am still of the Pura Vida belief...

Pura Vida!

So It Begins

Building a house in Costa Rica has thrown me a curve. It is so completely different from building in the US. I sold new home builds for large builders for nine years. I watched them go from dirt to complete, and there is nothing in this that resembles that. Nothing!

First of all, I chose to build my home with the cement blocks. I had never experienced an earthquake until four months after I moved here. It scared me to death. So, needless to say, I want a home that is the strongest possible to stand up to future earthquakes. With the materials and design my builder is using my home can stand up to a 9.0 earthquake with little to no damage. It takes more time to build with blocks than with some of the other systems, but I am more than willing to wait.

The most amazing thing to me right off the bat was the fact that the workers were digging by hand and literally bending rebar with a vise to create the rebar structures to hold cement in place. This makes all the walls sturdy and strong.

The workers had to first dig two feet deep into the ground to put the rebar system and pour concrete into the trench with the rebar. This is the first step in a strong foundation to keep my house standing and in place during earthquakes. All done manually.

HAND BENDING REBAR WITH VISE

HAND TYING THE REBAR

THIS ENTIRE SYSTEM WAS HAND DONE! AFTER BENDING THE REBAR THEY THEN HAND TIED THE BENT REBAR TO THE LONG REBAR POLES.

ALL THE 2 FOOT TRENCHES WERE DUG USING A SHOVEL AND PICK!

Once the rebar was in the trenches the builder, using a small cement mixer and the rocks and sand they have on my property, made the cement to pour over the system. They used a wheel barrel to get the cement out of the mixture, walk it over and dump it into the trench. This was done over and over until all the trenches were filled. The next step was to place tall rebar poles into those cemented trenches where they will start lowering the cement block. This required a tall ladder. One man had to place the block over the nine foot rebar and another to lower it. They continued this several weeks getting all the block in place to create the house.

DUMPING THE CEMENT INTO THE TRENCHES USING A WHEEL BARREL

All the walls are now up and they are beginning to put the crown at the top. They put on another layer of the rebar system they build, pour in cement, and it is held in place with wood. Once the cement has set they remove the wood. This is to further strengthen the walls. From two feet under the ground to the top of the walls.

THIS IS TAKEN FROM THE FRONT SIDE OF THE HOUSE

THIS IS THE BACK SIDE OF THE HOUSE. ALL THE OPEN SPACES WILL BE CEILING TO FLOOR GLASS LOOKING AT THE VIEWS.

CROWN GOING ON THE TOP OF THE WALLS

Roof comes next!

Pura Vida!

Permission To Build In Costa Rica

After acquiring my land it was time to start the process of all the permissions I would need to build a house on it. First thing was finding a wonderful architect to help me design my home, and help me the entire way through the legal process. I found Laura Porras Chavez. She had been the architect on several of my friends homes. I cannot even begin to tell you how helpful she has been to me. I would be completely lost without her. First of all she speaks English and has been able to go with me to all government offices and translate. She has literally held me by the hand throughout this process.

I will say there have been a few times I went by myself. When I walked out successful I felt like high fiving everyone I passed. Little me in a foreign country completing legal transactions on my own!

I am going to nutshell the process. If you are thinking seriously of building you can always contact me with specific questions.

The first thing required before she could submit my blueprints for the building permit with the city government was to take them to the Federal College of Architecture (C.F.I.A.). They go over all the floor plan, electrical, plumbing, structural, stand up to a 9.0 earthquake etc to make sure it is legal to the standards of Costa Rica. This was at a cost of $250.00. Once we had this we had to take the approved blueprints to the city for a permit along with proof of insurance called, INS. It is a comprehensive coverage which cost $800.00. We also had to have a letter from the water provider and electric provider stating they would allow it. Some areas are over burdened, and there is no building allowed because of a lack of water. At the same time I had to have the city assess what the annual taxes would be. The cost of this service is figured at 1% of what their estimate of the building cost will be which they charged $700.00. My annual taxes on my home will be around $230.00 a year! Not a mistype.....After a four week wait I received my permit to build!

In the meantime I interview three different builders and got their prices to build. I chose Luis Carlos. He was the original builder I wanted to use, so I was very pleased when his bid came in. He was the builder on most of my friends homes, and they are beautiful. After I went to the water company and electric company and paid my deposits we were off to the races!

First thing was to get the lot ready. I will only build my home with all the rooms possible to face the views. With the rectangular shape of my lot it means building my home with the side to the street. My lot is not extremely deep because much of it goes downhill and uphill. They had to bring in a backhoe and dig out part of the hill to give me more space. One of the most exciting days of my life. I've never built a new home for myself, so this was huge!

Building 101 next blog.

Pura Vida!