Updated: Mar 15, 2021
Well, it's been a few months since my last post and I was hoping to have some fun updates on progress of the build but sadly I don't..Permits got in the way, oh ya, permits...you kind of need those and it seems that they weren't renewed at the beginning of the year...so here we are patiently (or not so patiently) waiting for the permits to be signed by the municipality so that the show can go on. We're now into our 3rd week of waiting for the permits to be good to go, and I think we will finally get some good news, or maybe not. In the meantime, since nothing has been going on on the property we have been on a hunt for plumbing valves for our showers. A few years ago we bought faucets and shower parts for the bathrooms and little did we realize that the shower kits that we bought came with everything needed except the brass valves...and of course the valves are specific to the brand of shower parts. So we asked our builder if they could source the valves in Costa Rica....nope, no can do no store carries them that they know of. They don't carry those parts in the country so we have two choices: (1) just buy new shower kits from a local hardware store and be disappointed in the selection, quality and price or (2) we can order some valves online and have them shipped to a freight forwarding company then onto Costa Rica. The answer was quite simple, lets just order the valves and whatever else we think of that we might need and get it going right away so that the parts might be there in a few weeks to install and finish up the bathrooms. Who would have thought that valves would be the thing that stops progress in the bathrooms, well that and the fact that the building permits expired...So for anyone out there that is considering going down the same path and building a house in Costa Rica (or any Central American country for that matter), make sure that if you buy stuff for your build, read the fine print on the packaging to make sure to know if there is anything else that needs to go along with it - parts are a bitch to find. Luckily this won't cause a big delay and there are plenty of other things they can be working on once the permits are in place!
The elusive Delta shower valve
At long last tile work has begun. It feels like it’s been forever since we’ve been waiting for this moment. And it‘s like a game of Tetris as we patiently watch the tiles laid by our builder’s master tile guy. So far they are only part-way through and it’s already looking great - perfection takes time! And the most exciting part, as soon as tiles are done our windows and doors will get installed.
Little by little it’s feeling more and more like a house and very soon to be a home. It’s funny how such small things make us so happy and give us hope that we will get there soon to enjoy it - just need to get through this darn pandemic!
I realize it's been a few months since my last post, so I figured I should get my head out of my butt and get writing. I'll be honest, it's been a long Summer and it seems Fall just started but we already have a few inches of snow on the ground in Calgary - not that that's unusual, but it's still disappointing. I've noticed that as I get older, my tolerance for the white stuff on the ground is pretty much gone...I can't wait to leave this and be living in a climate where the only snow in sight is from a street vendor selling coconut flavoured snow cones. "Oh thank god this will be our last winter in Calgary", that's what we said one year ago....and here we are, still in Calgary, being held hostage by a global pandemic that has brought international travel almost to a grinding halt. Sure, we could travel to Costa Rica right now as the borders have slowly been opening up, but we would have countless hoops to jump through, additional insurances to purchase, hours spent in an airport, and even less desirable, 7 hours spent in a tin tube flying at 40,000ft alongside who knows how many other a passengers risking it all just to get away for a bit..It's just not worth the risk, headaches, stresses, and added costs right at this moment..so, we continue to let the pandemic run it's course in hopes that the second wave goes away just as quickly as it came and that a treatment or a vaccine becomes available to help put the world at ease. If only we knew when that would happen...In the meantime, we continue seeing progress on our house, and oh ya, it's wet....must be rainy season again in Costa Rica.
It's interesting to see some of the differences between construction practices in Central America versus North America..Up here, we would never see the house interior getting painted before the windows and doors get installed...well, guess what, In Costa Rica it's not that uncommon, they simply don't have the same worries when it comes to climate, they only have to worry about sunshine or rain...and if it rains, they just put tarps over the window opening so that the fresh coat of paint doesn't simply wash away..or worse yet, the drywall gets soaked. Needless to say, it's been interesting to watch as the progress continues, and I must add, it's very exciting to see the more "finished" look of the house, even without windows, doors, or tiles on the floor...we're getting there, slowly but surely, and when it's done it is going to be amazing. And it will all make for a heck of a story once its all done, and we've moved to our acre and half in paradise.
These are all pictures of some of the interior paint, as well as the stucco for the exterior of the house. So nice to see a more finished look!