Overseas construction blog part 8: It’s now a proper shelter for the tropics!
This is the eighth of a series of posts in which David Steckler shares his experiences of building a vacation home at Hacienda Iguana resort on Nicaragua’s Pacific coast. Here are the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh. The goal of this candid construction blog is to reduce the anxiety levels of people who have real estate in Nicaragua and plan to build, but are afraid of making mistakes along the way.
It’s now a proper shelter for the tropics!
The white metal roof panels from Costa Rica have arrived and they’re going up, the floors are poured and ready to receive tile and we’re on this website playing with exterior wall finishes. The paint company of choice here in Central America is Sherwin Williams so Tony, our builder suggested we start experimenting with colors online, which we found very helpful. Simply download some house pictures and start overlaying colors – Hot Cocoa, Lark Green and Respite respectively shown here – we won’t use all three I promise!
While waiting for the roof to arrive, Horizon Group was busy with pool construction and pouring the patio, which will receive the same local cut stone we’re using on our “false” chimney below left.
The pool and patio being prepared for tile and cut stone (see below right) … the motorbike is parked just in front of the master suite. A very short commute, indeed, to the infinity pool from bedside or the Casita in the background for that matter.
Category : Blog &Overseas construction in Nicaragua
Susan Smartle
Aug 27, 2011
Its nice to see the progress with this. From a bare patch of earth to a house with a roof. And all in Nicaragua, somewhere I’d like to visit one day.
David Steckler
Sep 01, 2011
Hi Susan,
We discovered Nicaragua about 6 years ago and fell in love with the country and it’s people. Americans still bring up the Nicaraguan Revolution as if it was yesterday when I tell them about what I’m doing there……anyway I think it’s one of the safest places in Central America to live or visit and the raw beauty of this country will put a spell on you when you do visit.
Joel Extend
Sep 08, 2011
That’s great to know that Nicaragua is relatively safe. My husband is worried that it is still a trouble spot and we’ve got a trip planned to visit Costa Rica instead next year. Maybe we should try a trip over the border.
David Steckler
Sep 14, 2011
Hi Joel,
Our very first trip to Nicaragua was through Costa Rica, primarily to save $ on our airline flight. We crossed the northern border into Nicaragua and spent 10 days in SJDS and took day trips to different areas. If you do some investigating you’ll find that Nicaragua,in terms of crime rate, is now considered the safest country in Central America. In any event have a great trip to CR and possibly their neighbors to the north.