They tell you about the sunsets and the sloths, but they rarely tell you about the termites, the humidity, or what happens when the delivery truck gets stuck in the mud.
I left a corporate career in sales and spent years in the Peace Corps in Tanzania before finding my piece of paradise here in Matina, Limon. I didn’t want a concrete box; I wanted a home that breathed with the jungle. But building a low-impact wood house in the tropics is a different beast entirely. It requires patience, a sense of humor, and a willingness to learn things the hard way so you don’t have to.
Below is a collection of my experiences, cost breakdowns, and lessons learned from building my life—and my roof—in Costa Rica.
Creating my Dream Home
DIY Drawers and Doors – Classing Up the Joint One Room at a Time
This post shows the drawers and doors we made to help beautify, organize and help put this long project to …
Cost to Build and Decorate a House in Limon Costa Rica
Working hours are longer but my dream home on this incredible property in Limon Costa Rica is almost complete. There has …
Creating the Kitchen, Finishing the Bathrooms and Keeping the Bugs Out
We are saving money by using a few Tico tricks, a bit of American ingenuity and improvising.We are currently working …
Varnish in Humid Conditions, the Trap Door and Using Galvanized Steel
This post includes information on the product we chose to varnish with in our humid environment, how we built a …
Stair Building, Taming the Rain and Our Dirty Little Secret
Making the bridge from downstairs to upstairs, installing the gutter system and the back side of our house. Step by …
Waste Not, Want Not – Making the Most of our Wood and Rental Equipment
Our house building project officially began in March of 2012 when we bought enough electrical cable to make it up …
Two Types of Bars, Wood Walls and Natural Supports
Our cottage in the woods – Building a two-story house on our farm in Limon Costa Rica. We have pictures …
Why We Chose a Painted Metal Roof, Using Bamboo Poles & Water Problem
Why we chose painted metal roofing, how we used bamboo to help with building, and combating water stains from the incessant …
Building Project Costa Rica – Part 4 – Tools & Torque
Our Building Project – Images of the progress since the last post (permission to project start), how very important a …
Building Costa Rica – Permission to Project Start
Building Costa Rica – Obtaining Permission to Project Start Part 3 The waiting is over. We are finally starting our …
Building Costa Rica – Building with Wood
Why are we Building with Wood? Part 2 Building Costa Rica. We chose to build our home with both wood and …
House Building Costa Rica | Road & Septic Cost
House Building Costa Rica Part 1. After buying the farm we needed to build our house. See Part 2 or Part …
