Prefab Balinese cottages.

No, but we have looked at lots of options and I'd love to know more about this one.  We got very interested in the poured concrete construction we saw going on in San Vito.  It was quick, affordable, and met all the building codes for earthquakes.  We're still checking it out too.

We stayed in a Balinese cottage in Ojochal and thought it was just great, what is leaning me in that direction is cost. We are hoping to put up one or two cottages on our plot along with our main home and use them as a revenue generators.

have you priced the cost of importing them into CR?  that's where I'd be worried about hitting a problem.  they look wonderful and perfect for CR weather

I've done some preliminary work and it looks worthwhile. I have some leave later this year so we'll probably go to Bali and see for ourselves what it entails.  Ive been dealing with Baliwoodworld.com and really love the designs.

Hi all,  I also stayed at a Bali cottage in Ojachal.  Wonderful design.  There is one problem that I would suggest to take into consideration though.   There was bamboo mats under the roof decking (above the rafters)  and it seems that ants are making a nest in the bamboo mats.  I would certainly recommend simply having wood decking that was also termite resistant and do away with the bamboo mats.  (The bamboo mats looked good but who wants a chronic ant problem)

Sounds like a good idea!

what did you find out about poured concrete homes in san vito? any contacts? cost per?

Hi samydennek, you've revived a thread from 2012! ;-D
I am interested in this as well - am interested in any cheaper/ alternative building materials.
I have a couple threads going on that subject.
Right now I have a friend in  Costa Rica who just met with someone who is using SIP panels, and we are looking into building a hexagonal or octagonal cabin which could be modular so you could add one module at a time onto the existing first module.

The comment above about bamboo is good to know - one has to worry about termites and other insects like ants when building in Costa Rica. Cement is the way most Ticos build - cheaper and termite-resistant. I may build with concrete but am looking closely at SIP panels.

For some good info on building alternative greener homes in costa rica google "techos siglo constructing your green home" - Trevor Chilton's web site re using SIP Panels etc. in Costa Rica.

I am very interested in seeing this place. Where exactly did you stay where they had these cottages set up?

Thanks in advance.

Hello. I have seen hundreds of bamboo homes and never seen insect problems (guadua, we call it in Colombia. For us, Bamboo is the thinner plant )  That's a first for me; but doe snot mean it doesn't happen. The central coffee region in Colombia is world famous for its guadua buildings, most are built as recreational farms or barns. There is a saying which I find funny but gives a true idea of its lasting features: "Guadua lasts longer than a bed pan. And a bed pan lasts 20 year of use, 30 years as a flower pot and 50 years in a dump site" (I remember those potty or bed pans being used by grandparents, seen them as flower pots on old farms and also rusting away in a vacant lot ). One of the features that attracts me the most is that guadua is so strong that  roof wings can be stretched out more than 3 feet  a normal wood supported wing will go, but without support.

samramon wrote:

For some good info on building alternative greener homes in costa rica google "techos siglo constructing your green home" - Trevor Chilton's web site re using SIP Panels etc. in Costa Rica.

I just wanted to add that no longer endorse nor recommend this builder. His web site does have some useful info though but take it with a grain of salt. In my humble opinion.

Thank you for the head up, due diligence is required . Yes the website do have some useful information.

We built with SIP panels from Panacor in San Jose and are happy with our home. It was cheap to build due to the short time (2 months for a 1br home). However I personally would never use the man mentioned above to build even a dog house.

SIP's are strong, light weight, have no insect problems, insulate the house well and make the house so you can seal it tight so insects seldom get in. This is because the walls and everything fits tightly together, whereas wood and bock sometimes have spaces for bugs to get in.

With SIPS, there are no termite problems at all, and they're very well insulated by nature. Putting extra insulation under the roof is very important though, to keep the house cool.