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I’ve built two houses in the past year and a half and only lately learned this important lesson (too late, as fate would have it).
With respect to both plumbing supply lines and electrical, telephone, and cable conduits, you should consider deviating from the normal practices in three important ways.
First, plumbing lines should be run inside larger conduits of their own, so that if one ever breaks you have a ready means of replacing it. The larger conduit will protect the actual water line, too. Specify that your half-inch hot and cold water lines be run through three-quarter or one-inch plastic pipe and you’ll avoid possible future headaches.
Second, specify that your plumbing supply lines be routed around the perimeter of the house, rather than under the poured floors. Most bathrooms and kitchens can be designed with the water fixtures on or near outside walls. There is no issue of freezing, and running the supply lines around the perimeter affords ready access if anything should ever break.
Third, specify that all your electrical, telephone and cable conduits be at least a quarter-inch larger than normal. A half-inch larger would be better still. If you ever have to replace a cable, or snake another line, you’ll be much farther ahead if the conduits are oversize.
These changes will cost a few dollars at the beginning but will not add substantially to the total cost of the house. I’ve already had to do some wiring repairs and wish someone had given me this advice.
is the quality of const. that not good (don’t want to seem over-examining and use the word “bad”)that you’ve built 2 homes in A year and A half and had to do repairs to electrical already?I regularly do large scale re-models and build anything thats got prints(and some things that have lousy prints(funny pages)and rarely have seen failure with immediacy.on A side note,your suggestion WILL be heeded,thanks!
No, actually the quality of the work, and the product, are both pretty good. We built a guest house and then a main house.
The contractor who built the guest house was good on structure, very weak on electrical and plumbing. That’s what’s occasioned the repairs.
No, I am still in Portland, Oregon. I know that straw bale construction is going on in western Nicaragua while Guanacaste is a source of straw bales. Check this link on preparing a straw bale house against rain and earthquakes:
Moisture in straw bale buildings:
http://www.skillful-means.com/strawbale/papers/moisture.htm
“Seismic Resistance:
Research also has shown that straw bale houses perform well in earthquakes. It appears that straw bale buildings will be of special value in areas where earthquakes are common, as straw bales have a good width to height ratio and can be easily and effectively reinforced. Bale walls may actually absorb much of the shock of an earthquake, with the plaster adds to the strength of these buildings. The material properties of straw bales, their flexibility and strength, make them ideal for seismic-resistant structural design, as long as the connections between the bale wall system and the roof and foundation are adequate.”
See this link for complete discussion: http://www.strawbaleconstruction.co.nz/straw-bale-benefits.htmlThanks,
Tom
Portland Oregonthats funny,he sounds like me.I can build “it” no matter what it is.I can decide the plumbing and eletrical and poke at them.yet to do any more I hire A pro.too many feathers in my cap and it diminishes my reputation.
Oversized conduits and extra conduits are a good thing.
Where I live now in the states the house was built and then a shop. Conduits were run to the shop for electric and water. However, now we need to add phone and cable lines to an office in the shop. . . But there is now a terraced garden where the conduits were run. The conduits were run by the previous owner and no extras were laid.
EXTRA conduits or conduits for future changes are a cheap and easy thing to do. Digging the ditch is the expensive part and later when there is landscaping and driveways over the runs it is much more of a problem.
In the past I used to run conduits just for future expansion but have found that extras for the things you don’t think of today (like that extra security camera at the end of the drive or power for an electric gate. . .). So take advantage of when that ditch is open.
Hi there dsullivan….Terry Cook here. Your question on treating for termites. I live in Texas and plan a perminant move there this summer. Here in Central and south Texas we have a large problem with termites. One thing that can be done is to pre-treat the ground before slab or what ever foundation is used. Also (not meant as an ad but there are many pest control companies here such as ABC pest control who have pre treatment plus programs to prevent termites with existing termites. Have no idea what it is but am sure it is not uncommon practice.. Try ABC Pest control in San Antonio, or Austin Texas…again I am not affiliated with them but know of their reputation and Maybe they could give you ideas of what they do.
Hi Terry,
Paul and I live in the Houston area since this last September…and I bet there are termite problems here as well. I can ask around at termite control places for info on how to keep termites away. Thanks for your tips on places to contact. Where do you plan to live when you move to CR? There are so many beautiful places, aren’t there? We will build south of San Jose by about 1 hour, in the mountains. We’re thinking either of building with wood, or going with cinderblock/stucco. Wood seems better for earthquakes, and block/stucco seems better for termites. Hmmm. ??? Hard to know which is the best way to go. I’ll do more research on the termite questions though. Thanks for your feedback, Terry.
Diane
hi dsullivan…Don’t know where yet. Spent 3 months there last year and did some looking. Planning a trip for 3-6 months in July but lost my passport and just applied for a new one and takes up to 12 weeks now. For all you U.S. wanta visit C.R. I talked to a postal worker and last week alone there were over 400,000 new applictions for passports. The number has been very high and will remain so for a good long while with good ol Home Land Security wanting to keep tabs on where we all are.
terryFrom all appearances (in the Central Valley, at least), masonry construction is the preferred method rather than wood. A masonry structure can readily be designed to meet Costa Rica’s stringent earthquake code. Masonry’s fireproof, termiteproof, and rotproof. Especially if you use a welded metal roof framing system and metal roofing, a masonry structure is much safer in an earthquake because the weight of the materials above your head, which might fall on you, is not so great.
In addition to the problems of rot, termites and fire, a wooden roof structure (especially a log one) is heavy, and there is the matter of joinery. Unless you use a traditional timberframing system (every joint mortised and tenoned) to connect the structural members, they are likely to fail in an earthquake. By contrast, a properly constructed masonry structure is tied together with reinforcing bar and poured concrete columns and beams eight ways to Sunday. The saying goes that the building might tumble down into the river, but the walls won’t crack.
Were I considering a log structure, I’d want to know, too, the source of the logs. It’s my understanding that Central America is quickly running out of harvestable trees. A log cabin is a very intensive use of materials. It takes a lot more board feet of logs to enclose a given space than other building methods require.
Having lived and built in Guanacaste from 1993 to 1998 I am familiar with the type of terrain on the north and south ridges of Flamingo. Many of building sites up there have marginal terrain and would require either pilings and a steel joist system or footings and foundation walls to support the concrete slab of your home. I would spend the money to hire a qualified engineer who should inspect the site and offer you his recommendations in writing. Here in Costa Rica, if you prefer concrete construction, you should construct what is referred to as a “floating slab”. If I were the owner of a dwelling in this area I would justify the additional expense to construct a suitable foundation to support my new home as inexpensive insurance. NOTE: In order to complete a good 3000 psi monolithic pour you will need to be able to get cement trucks up to the building site so the concrete can be poured or pumped into your foundation. There are some areas up in Flamingo where large cement trucks may not be able to access. If access is a problem then you’ll need to have an engineer design the steel piling and metal construction system for your home. Review the following construction guidelines and try to understand how this “floating slab” provides the stability that is needed in a seismic area like Costa Rica. I poured two floating slabs as described below on beach lots where we compacted 1 meter of clean fill for 2 story condos and have had no problems.
GUIDELINES
Excavate 4′ deep trenches where footers are indicated on blueprints.
Provide 2″ x 6″‘s for forms per print.
Set forms for 8″ high and 20″ wide on top of excavated trenches.
Run 2 x #4 steel rods horizontally, equidistant, side by side 4″ from bottom of trench while pouring concrete footers.
Run stickers, using #4 steel rods every 4′ projecting 6″ vertically from top of footer.
Set 48″ poured wall frames block on top of concrete footers with vertical stickers inside of all blocks.
Attach 6′ long #4 steel rods to stickers projecting from wall every 4′, leaving 2′ protruding from top of wall to bend into poured slab.
Pour concrete in all forms or inside all blocks.
Fill inside of walls with fine sand and compress in layers to achieve a solid base and backfill around exterior of footer walls with same or clean topsoil
Compress sand inside of walls several times adding more sand as it is compressed, until top layer of sand is smooth and firm, 4″ from top of walls to accept 4″ of #57 stone following rough-in of plumbing, electric and HVAC tubing.
Dig all column pads and interior footers per blueprint and set forms as above
Run sanitary and water lines 15″ below floor, avoiding pads and interior footers.
Run water line from the tap into the area of the dwelling where the shut off valve will be installed, avoiding driveways and walkways.
Run metal conduit for floor plugs or HVAC pipes per plan.
Set forms around perimeter of footers and foundation walls and then spread #57 stone evenly where slab is to be poured.
Cover stone with minimum 6 mil polyethylene vapor barrier.
Bend #4 steel rods protruding from the top of the footer walls into the floor and connect the steel rod grid system made by attaching additional steel rods to the existing protruding from the footer walls.
Order 3000psi concrete and pump or pour a 4″ solid monolithic slab.We have now poured concrete into and over a steel grid system that connects the perimeter footings through the foundation walls and into the slab. This floating slab is structurally sound from corner to corner and will not fail from seismic activity or settling.
Tomasino, you really went to a lot of work putting all this information on the forum and I hope everyone appreciate the time you put into it! We sure did. Thank you so much! We are definitely keeping all this in mind for when we build. We sold the lot and house in Petrero…and bought a larger lot up in the mountains south of San Jose. It’s much cooler up there, which is more to our liking. The beaches aren’t that far away if we want to go for the day. The people from whom we purchased the property have a daughter who is an architect. She has a staff of builders who use the pine trees that are cleared off the land to build the houses on the properties up there. That was why we were considering a log home. However, from all the feedback on this particular forum thread, we have pretty much decided not to build with wood, but maybe to incorporate wood “touches” into the home design.
Thanks again for all the information…we really appreciated you sharing your knowledge!
Diane and Paul
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