Building with wood

Steel reinforced columns in concrete block construction are necessary to support the weight of the block walls as well as the roof structure and/or second floor. If you want to build with only wood bolted to two courses of concrete block and use diagonal bracing at the corners for shear, you can do so. You do not need to use the concrete posts for code if you’re building with wood. However, before you pay an architect to draw your construction plans in order to obtain your building permits, it would be prudent to source and price suitable wood for the structure. If you’re planning to construct a second floor, you’ll need plenty of 2 x 10’s or 12’s for your band and floor joists. You may find these a rare and expensive commodity down here. The assembly of the wood structure will take less time to complete, if you have experienced carpenters to frame the structure. The majority of the construction down here is concrete block with steel reinforced concrete columns; therefore, we have many experienced masons but not many wood framers. Keep us posted, as to how your construction project works out.

We found the cheapest way to get the wood you require is to cut it in one of the local sawmills. For example, you won’t be able to find 2*4 in a store. They use 2*3 here. Same thing goes for 2*10 (in fact anything more than 2*6). Just to give you an idea of prices if you haven’t shopped around yet. Typical biga (roof support 2*6 comes in 4 varras) costs more than 10 mil, aka $20. If you cut it in a sawmill you should be able to get the same for just under 5 mil ($10). I used cypress wood as an example above. BTW, the prices of wood are constantly increasing, so if someone gives you a quote today, don’t expect to find the same prices in 2 weeks. I believe that prices are cheaper during the rain season, at least we’ve seen prices increasing by 15% in the last 2 months, though it’s possible that this is true only for our area (Grecia).

On a less technical, more esthetic note,
Is there opinion out there as to weather or not it is worthwhile to consider building primarily using wood for esthetic reasons?
We wish to build, or import from Bali ( see othe post )wooden structures on our property in Manuel Antonio.
Everyone in the area has built concrete, and done some beautiful work, but we are much more interested in creating a natural feel for both the interior and exterior of our project.
We understand that engineering issues may have us use a combination of concrete, steel and wood. I primary hope is to have as much exposed wood as possible.
I realize that the elements are much harsher on wood,but is it possible that it would be cheaper to build this way, and to figure the savings into the inevidable upkeep down the road?
I keep imagining large open spaces with hand hewn beams….is this a fairy tale? Or a possible alternative to all of the modern approaches I’ve seen lately?
There is a sustainable building community that I plan to visit http://www.ranchomastadal.com
that looks like they are doing some cool stuff. A bit more “hippy” then we are after, but the have workshops and ongoing green building projects that use indigenous building practices.
If anybody out there has any major do’s or don’ts or interest in this, I’d love to hear from you.
Mark

Thanks, I’ll try to do that. I was wondering, though, if anybody out there sees building with wood as a problem…longevity? Price? Durability? Craftspeople?
There’s a guy who I found somehow on the web, http://www.rarewoodproject who seems to have a pretty cool thing going who has been doing work in Costa Rica for a number of years. Has anybody worked with him? Or know of any other architects or builders who are doing great work with wood?

crbuilder, what happens if someone does use the yellow DensGlas for the exterior and stucco was applied?