Building Your Own Home in Costa Rica – Build on Solid Earth

The stability of the land you build your house on is extremely important. Land unsuitable for houses can present significant, expensive problems.

So before you buy, have a soil study done, which will tell you what kind of structure it can support. Houses built on inadequate soil can suffer sinking or lifting in sections of the house, which can cause irreversible damage.

Terrains differ and the results of a study define whether you can build right away or whether you have to go through a process that hardens the earth. The study can also tell you whether the land is completely inadequate for building and if the cost of fixing the problem would be too expensive.

Experts recommend not depending on checking out your neighbor’s house as the land can vary immensely even in a small area.

One problem that arises is with “clay” like earth. The clay does not absorb water; in fact it repels it. In dry season it loses all humidity and cracks. In rainy season it becomes water logged and forces the water to the surface, causing sections of a structure to rise, among other things.

Another problematic soil is the “compressible” type. As its name implies, it’s soft and tends to sink under a heavy weight. Other plots are on a high water table or have problems because they are close to the sea or rivers.

The soil study is especially important in vulnerable zones. Recently a house built near the ocean had a study done for “compressible” earth but not for “permeability” of the earth.

Rainy season drenched the land, which lifted the house, forcing the owners to go back for another study and make extremely expensive modifications in the structure.

(Warning: If the soil has a resistance less than 10 tons per square meter, you do NOT want to build there.)

Solving the problem?

If the soil is inadequate, various solutions exist.

• Depending on soil studies, you can clear off the unacceptable soil and replace it with a more resistant material.
• Another is to create a floating base, which is a slab of reinforced concrete supported by pillars that are sunk into the ground.
• Another is to build a foundation on pylons that reach down to suitable earth.

Nevertheless, these procedures can be very pricey and it might be a good idea to look for another piece of land before investing in fixing one.

What to do if the soil is inadequate?

If your home was built on bad soil, you are probably already aware of it.

• Signs are doors that don’t close properly and cracks in the walls.
• Windows could break, water pipes could crack, and smells from cracked plumbing pipes are telltale signs, all due to sinking or lifting of the land.
• According to the damage the house has suffered, sometimes it’s better to forget the house rather than invest in fixing the problem. Ask an expert.

Our thanks to our friends at La Nación – Costa Rica’s largest Spanish circulation newspaper for their permission to include their article.

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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.