Quality Construction in Costa Rica

Building in Costa Rica is not for the faint of heart. If you cannot be or have someone you trust on site every day, the job will not turn out the way you want. You are likely to encounter:

• Things disappearing from the job site.
• Being billed for more quantity than is delivered.
• What you specified is not what was installed.
• Missed deadlines are the norm and there are more excuses in Costa Rica than web pages for Costa Rica real estate!.
• Cutting corners to save costs on important parts of your house that may not be visible. Things like:
• Using undersized electrical wire.
• Quality of interior tubing.
• Under sizing the septic tank and/or drain field.
• Not installing the amenities that you selected.

There are also a lot of other things that can unintentionally go wrong. If you want construction to the standards that you are accustomed to, you have to realize that they are new for Tico builders.  Most builders have no idea how or where to install a dish washer.  They have never seen an oven hood that is vented to the outside. It is no issue to them if the electrical, cable TV and phone outlets are at different heights.  The concept of using over sized tubing, water holding tanks with pressurizing pumps and large drain fields are all foreign to them.  In short, if you want something other than a Tico house, you have to either be here to supervise the construction or hire someone to do it for you.

If you think that buying an existing house is a good idea, please read the description of a typical Tico house.

If you want to remodel, you may find it is cheaper to buy a lot and build what you really want. If you are still thinking about remodeling an existing house, please read the Remodeling section.