Our Little Metal Bunkers

A few years ago, Eduardo and I started to talk about what kind of building we were going to build on our property.  We didn't want a huge house because it was just the two of us.  We wanted something large enough to comfortingly fit our lives. That included the normal house hold rooms plus an office for Eduardo and a studio for me. We were not planning on living the large life, just a simple retirement for Eduardo and someplace I can prosper at my work and run a cute rental business.  Our budget for the whole move and set up is $80,000.  I know this sounds ridiculously low, but keep in mind this is Costa Rica and there is a reason people vacation and move here.

Here's your box....

The traditional house in Costa Rica is usually made one of two ways, block or prefab concrete construction.  These type of houses work well with available materials, weather, and earthquake requirements. They are traditionally smaller units with basic design.  While you can get more complex construction the price does go up because the size of house we wanted, it would cost more than we wanted to spend on housing alone. I'm not a huge fan of them to begin with.  They are boring boxes. Even the more modern designs look like more impressive boxes. I've  never been a big fan of the modern houses.  They look so cold to me.  Home should be warm and welcoming.

We also discussed the idea of doing container homes. The large sized 40 foot containers run about $5,000 each.  We could use one each for the two rentals and multiple ones for our house.  They are not unknown around here as they have become trendy to use in recent years. They are designed to be stacked on one another and can easily be configured to the desired design you want. We gave this option serious consideration and looked into the building code and requirements needed as well as design ideas for the interior. We ended up deciding against them. A single 40 foot unit is only 320 square foot and cutting into the sides for doors and windows actually reduces the structural load each one can handle. Along with those factors, buying two for rentals and three for us would start at $25,000 plus the cost to ship the shipping (hehehe) container to Costa Rica. Lastly - still a giant box. 

It was by luck and Pinterest alone that I came across the type of building we are going to use. We plan to build a Quonset house. Yes, just like the metal bunkers from to 50's. No, not that ugly. No, I am not going to live in a hobbit house, ok maybe a little like a hobbit house. Quonset homes have come a long way since their creation, just like the wheel has. They are self supporting structures, so that means they can be as open of a design inside as you want.  They come in any size you need, and are easy to build.  They are steel structures that are deigned for almost any environment both hot and cold.  The ones we are building come with a heat reduction coating as well as specific coating made for coastal areas. The cost of them are also less than the shipping container homes and that includes shipping to Costa Rica for a total of $21,000.  Very cost effective.

The model we have decided on is called the S model.  That means the sides are taller and the curve doesn't start until about 9 feet up on the sides, so more than enough space without feeling like you are living in half a barrel. We are not putting windows along the sides, but instead leaving the front and back with excess windows that will let a lot of natural light in and cause a massive amount of window cleaning for me but natural light!!

The rentals will be 20*30. That is a total of 600 sf and more than enough room to keep them cute, small, and affordable for vacation rentals.  With the ceiling being 13 feet at the highest point, it means they will not feel so small when inside since we are leaving them with an open floor plan except for the bathrooms of course because no one wants that to be open.  Our own unit is going to be 30*30 for 900 sf.  Ours will actually be taller that the rental units due to the more width across the front and back.  That leaves us with the option to put a loft over the back area that we can wall off part for storage and create a studio for me. 

This is our unit for the bottom floor.  No clue how to draw a rounded top floor on the program I downloaded for free.  It leaves space enough for out house needs with linen storage and kitchen pantry in the area marked closet.  Nothing on this plan is set in stone yet.  We need to make sure we have things lined up for the access to the electric and main plumbing in and out lines for the architect drawing we submit to the Costa Rician government.  We will be finishing out the interiors our self.  Since we do not need any additional structure added to the interior and Eduardo knows what he is doing with construction we are pretty much set. 

General floor plan for the rental

So next step is finding the contractor and I'm in Costa Rica this week to talk with some people.  Think I have found a few good guys to give us quotes.  So much stuff to take care of but I feel when we get the contractors quotes back we will know exactly where we stand with pricing.  We are hitting for the price to be around $20,000 for the entire project.  We will talk more about that later.  

Before I leave, I want to leave you with some amazing news I have received this week...... I can have chickens on the land!!!!