Building a house

My classmate is architect. Do you speak Spanish?
his mobile phone is +595 981 236 207 Fernando Burgos.  He has email but I am not sure about his address.  I think he work on that price range 200 USD

Jose

Just some general tips...

If time is a factor then you should be prepared to stay on top of your architect and construction crew. I've been told that construction crews are used to being paid per day so there is very little incentive to hop to it. Also, as a foreigner you and your architect/ construction crew will have very different expectations as to what is acceptable in terms of safety and quality. One of my friends had a house built (in Uruguay, not here) and all the shelves and cabinets were really high because the architect thought she was really tall. Silly, but still...

If you already live in Paraguay in a typical Paraguayan house you may be familiar with some of these things that I have noticed about construction here:

Electrical wiring: it is rare to come across an electrical outlet that does not spark when you plug something into it. Get someone good to oversee the electrical wiring and get outlets that match the majority of your appliance plugs. It can be really annoying to have to use multiple adapters.

Shower: this is personal but you should consider whether you want a "calefón" also known by some as a "widowmaker" or a water tank.

Walls: I´m not sure if they sell drywall here but if you have lots of things to hang consider wall options that don´t crumble as soon as you put a nail to them.

Humidity: It is hot and humid in Paraguay. I´m not sure what this means in terms of construction but it is certainly something to consider.

Now for the positive stuff.

Paraguayan houses are built for the heat. Some features to consider including:

High ceilings and ceiling fans - both will keep rooms cool without making you a slave to AC.

"corredor yeré": wraparound porch.

Mango and other shady trees: consider visiting your property with a plant specialist who can tell you which trees to plant where for maximum shade (and bonus fruits!). This is a long-term consideration, although trees grow very quickly here.

As a touristy side note, since you are involved in building a house you can use the opportunity to learn how bricks are made in Paraguay. The bricks for your house will most likely come from Tobatí, a town close to Caacupé. There are many brick factories throughout the town, ranging in size and production.  It is really interesting to visit and watch people place the clay into molds, arrange the bricks into complicated patterns to dry and then firing them in large ovens. If you don´t feel comfortable going alone have your architect take you to go price shopping.

Do most Paraguayans higher an architect and a construction company?

Or do they just build themselves a house?

I would expect that Asuncion would have building codes enforcement, and permits, and architects.  But when one gets away from the city is it possible to build without government interference?

As a side note:  I am from Pendleton, Oregon.  Summers include a week of 35 degree weather, but humidity is low.  Winters might include a week of -10 degree c weather.  So everything I 'know' about building for the climate would not be applicable in Paraguay.  I would defer to the recommendations of locals.  Absent recommendations, I would copy!

I believe once you get past a certain economic level most people hire architects. If you are not from here you should definitely hire an architect. Some people hire an architect and then a separate construction crew but it might be easier to just have the architect himself be in charge of the crew - if something happens on site it will be his responsibility, not yours. I do not believe building codes are applied outside of urban areas. However, no government oversight means it is up to you and your architect to make sure everything is built and wired safely.

Regarding government interference... personal politics may apply. If you are building a house in a new town you might want to consider spreading the love and purchasing at least some materials from the town's hardware or construction stores. It will garner some good will amongst people discussing "that American building himself a house." Like it or not you will be a novelty! 

A good architect should guide you through the entire process of building a house- and you should be prepared to be involved every step of the way. Ask a lot of questions and make sure you choose someone you can have an open dialog with. Someone who has had experience working with foreigners might be a better fit. Make sure you make very clear what you do and don't want and that the architect is transmitting this information to the "maestro de obras" (head of construction crew). I have heard of people meticulously laying out plans only to realize the crew is not even reading them.

As a foreigner you have some things working to your disadvantage. As you mentioned you are not familiar with building techniques that work with the heat. Also some things are just built differently here (for example, no drywall).  Chances are you will want to include features in your house design that your average Paraguayan might not consider (for example, if all of your plugs are the two-slit kind then you'll want to make sure your new house is not full of two-round hole outlets) A good architect will be able to offer advice on all of this. The caveat is that as a foreigner you have a huge $$$$ posted to your forehead. So make sure your architect is realistic about your budget and time frame. Always ask for cheaper options and consider visiting building material houses yourself to look at prices.

If you have Paraguayan friends now is the time to take advantage of them by finding out where they got their building materials, who they recommend as architects, plumbers, etc. You'll learn a lot from others' success and horror stories.

Thanks for the reply, Guide To Paraguay.

It would probably be good to live in a community for about a year before thinking about committing any money to a construction project.

I would agree with Mike.M. I will be doing just that when we move there.

One Important point:: Make sure a large diameter Pipe is used for the Toilet wastepipe! Otherwise the usual small dia. pipe will be used, and used toilet-paper must then be put in bin!.
Not nice in a hot country and quite usual in Paragay (and indeed rural areas of Greece)

All the best with your venture.

Anybody know anything about living in the Town of Caaguazu?

BD

I don't know anything about Caaguazu. 

How did Caaguazu come to your attention?

My favorite paper is ABC Digital.  Here is their search result for Caaguazu. 
ABC Digital search result

As for me?  I have an irrational desire to go to Concepcion.

I think most people hire civil engineers who have their architects and construction crews.

Mike,
If you do go to Concepcion check out all the neat old houses that were built by Italian immigrants in the 1920's and 1930's. Some are falling to pieces but there is an organization called Escuella Taller (I think) has been restoring buildings while at the same time training youth from the area in carpentry, electrical wiring, construction, etc.

Neat old falling down Italian houses are exactly the kind of thing I would like to see. 

I have little interest in seeing the presidential palace.  I especially wouldn't want to go inside.

But I would really like to see the old Italian houses in Concepcion.  The fact that I now know about them makes me more interested.

Asuncion has it´s fair share of neat buildings as well. Here is a post with a slideshow I put up about them: http://www.guidetoparaguay.com/2009/08/ … os-de.html

I´ll let you know once I put up photos of Concepción´s cool buildings.
Cheers,
Natalia