We broke ground on to build our new home in Costa Rica on the 17th January 2012.

We are officially into our sixth month of construction and things are moving along on our ocean view home near Pirate’s Bay (Bahia del Pirata) in Guanacaste.

Our new home will consist of three bedrooms plus office and 3 bathrooms, living/kitchen area, pool with outdoor covered living area and two-car garage. The house will be three stories (with the garage being the only thing on the ‘first/ground’ level).

The house is about 2,800 square feet including the terraces and garage and sits on a 1,300 m2 lot.

The main highlights of this month are:

• The electrical is now complete on the top level. We estimate that all of the electrical work will be done within the coming week.
• The insulation has now been installed in the ceilings and most of the interior walls.



• We just paid for our windows last week, which should be installed in about 3-4 weeks. We opted for PVC windows with a faux wood finish. The large openings you see in the photos will be windows and on the main living areas we will have floor to ceiling glass sliders to take advantage of the ocean, mountain and forest views.
• The stairs leading up to the front portion of the pool terrace area are almost done. The pool is now completely done, just waiting for the pool contractor to come and finish it off with a quartz surface. We opted to use quartz because it’s more durable and lasts longer than other pool finishes.
[custom_script adID=155]
• Around the pool, patio and balconies, we will use a contemporary teak railing with steel cables. We chose this type of railing to not lose the quality of the ocean view but still keep the area safe for our children and guests.
• Other exciting news is that exterior has been completely wrapped and prepped with wire mesh for the stucco. With steel frame construction, the exterior is wrapped in an all-weather barrier, then on top of that is wire mesh, then the concrete and then finished off with the stucco. It’s very efficient and quick!



• We have chosen wood floors for the upper (bedroom) level and ceramic tile for the main living areas on the first level. The design of the house was meant to have the inside space blend with the outdoor space, so that will be a really nice feature.
• The outside space is almost the same size as the inside space, but is covered to protect from the rain (in rainy season) and the sun.
[custom_script adID=151]
• The kitchen cabinets are under construction as we speak and the kitchen appliances were purchased from the duty-free zone in Golfito. We decided to purchase a combination of GE Monogram and Profile stainless steel. We saved a bunch by buying duty free and shipping it to Guanacaste.

The house had undergone some changes along the way, so the exact square footage is yet to be figured out, but I plan to have a complete breakdown of cost per square foot/meter in my next chapter.

We are ahead of schedule and hope to be in our new home in two more months and we are crossing our fingers and hopeful that our light rainy season continues to avoid construction delays.

[custom_script adID=186]

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.