We were back home in Costa Rica from June 29th 
through July 5th. What a productive week. Early on we went shopping in San Jose to settle on roofing material, and get started on Kitchen and Tile. We also wanted to get serious about our stair design.
through July 5th. What a productive week. Early on we went shopping in San Jose to settle on roofing material, and get started on Kitchen and Tile. We also wanted to get serious about our stair design. So, we started by visiting the local "EPA"; pronounced 'eppeh' which is the Costa Rican Home Depot. Honestly, I don't know if they are the same company, but it is very similar. We looked at EPA supplied kitchen cabinets, but found the variety and quantity wanting.
While in the store we found an awesome water heater (http://www.tanklessking.com/Steibel-Eltron-Instant-Electric-Water-Heater.aspx); and some great roofing. 
You can see the sample in our color here, and a sample house done up with the same roofing here. The cost is similar to the steel roofing Pietro was advocating, but this is quieter; has a long life, and looks great in our opinion. This is the website for the roofing manufacturer (http://www.stonehengeroofingproducts.com/). You'll see aspects of our house look in this sample from Stonehenge website, but our casa will be decidedly different as well as you'll see in the coming weeks.
You can see the sample in our color here, and a sample house done up with the same roofing here. The cost is similar to the steel roofing Pietro was advocating, but this is quieter; has a long life, and looks great in our opinion. This is the website for the roofing manufacturer (http://www.stonehengeroofingproducts.com/). You'll see aspects of our house look in this sample from Stonehenge website, but our casa will be decidedly different as well as you'll see in the coming weeks. Once done at EPA, we headed to Euromobilia (http://www.euromobilia.com/); who distributes Costa Rican manufactured cabinets in the european style. Beautiful stuff, without the pricetag of actual european makes. Sylvia was great. With her help we've conceived of a U shaped plan with an eating space which will integrate well into the casa. Later, when we were at the building site, we took that concept, and decided to change the location to a brighter spot. Lots more on that in my next blog.
Finally, we headed to Constru Plaza for plumbing supplies and porcelean tiles. We found a great line of Moen faucets for all needs with a beautiful Euro look, but with familar Moen cartridges. We also found American Standard bathroom sinks, and excellent ultra low flow American Standard toilets. Roderick and Andy were of great help. We are pumped about the tile selections. I think our vacationing guests will find the look and feel wonderful.
Finally, while in Parrita we saw a building under construction that set the design concept of the stairs going up to our upper kitchen/living level. This photo is the concept photo for that. This all steel design creates a pan for concrete, which will be the substrate for our floor tile.
We enjoyed three nights at our friends Rita and Steve at Casa Bellarita - our first recommendation as a place to stay when you arrive in Costa Rica (http://www.casabellarita.com/).
So; this is part of the story. Probably a new post daily for the next few days. Enjoy!
Ricardo y Jeeeem
ps - Jim set up a NEW BLOG which will set about to give the history BEHIND this construction project. Part 1, 2 and 3 are posted; others to come over the next several weeks. Link is: http://jimdicktdacasainthebeginning.blogspot.com/
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