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We have heard that really nice homes in the Manual Antonio area are being built with a building material called Covetek instead of using concrete block. I have been unable to find this on the internet. Am probably spelling it wrong. Does anyone know of this building material? It is supposed to be lighter weight, better insulating, etc. than the traditional concrete block. Any help will be most appreciated.
The stuff you’re looking for is spelled “Covintec”. When I Googled it, I got all Spanish-language sites. Must be doing something wrong . . .
I think the newest building in the CIMA Hospital complex is being built with Covintec. Seems to have some attractions.
Look here.
From looking at this system it looks great. It all will fall on the skill ( ART ) of your plasterers. As a 20+ year plumber. I would consider PEX for water piping. as any inwall pipe will be incased in plaster and at risk of corrosion.
http://www.pexsupply.com/Edited on Jan 29, 2009 14:46
What I’d like to see is a material/labor cost apples to apples comparison with concrete and rebar filled standard block. Looks like it’s quick to go up though!
We have a friend using this system at the moment. Problem could be, there are few ‘specialists’ and equipment necessary in ‘finishing’ this product.
Her building is going S-L-O-W!We built both our ranchito (finished 2 years ago) and our house which was just finished using covintec and are extremely pleased with the results. The contractor we used has built a number of houses using the product and the building process went very smoothly.
The Covintec system sounds great and makes sense on paper but here in CR all the input I have received has been negative. Most contractors that have used the Covintec system have discovered that it is more practical and structurally sound to use traditional concrete block and solid concrete columns.
Many Covintec installations develop premature cracks in the concrete plaster that are unsightly and can allow infiltration of water into the wall cavity which creates mold issues. It seems that most of the challenges with this product are related to the installation techniques which are totally different than typical methods. Where labor is a large expense the system seems to make more sense. If the scope of the project is large enough you can train your laborers in the Covintec installation procedures and realize savings as well as a finer finished product.
With small projects, the learning curve of the labor is greater than desired and in Costa Rica the labor is cheaper and less of an issue. Typical methods of construction like the concrete block and column method make more sense where the labor is less expensive.
This construction system from Mexico has been used for years and is a totally different method than typical concrete block and column construction. Because of the Covintec extruded polystyrene (EPS) panel’s energy efficiency there is now new interest as related to “Green Home Building”. The EPS foam materials are lightweight, versatile, sanitary, energy efficient, and cost effective. However, the proprietary installation and finishing methods are challenging when the majority of the local tradesmen are accustomed to concrete block construction.It makes a great beer cooler but you have to plan ahead if you want to attach handles.
Pictire drilling through a skim coat of stucco and hitting 4 inches of styrofoam when you want to hang a plant…or towel bar or……….then you´ll invariably hit rebar or hardware cloth which makes it even more interesting.
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