Any info for building while not in the country?

I might get shot down in flames here - but one word  DON'T. 

There are experienced owner/builders here in Consejo that were on site every single day and have had endless - expensive problems. Everything from tiles and cement floors being ripped up and redone - to re-wireing, plumbing etc.

Deanna, you can contact me at lynn.nichi[at]gmail.com I can give you the phone number of a Canadian who lives on Consejo Shores Road, who has built 3 homes here (within the last year), and is now repairing a mess for someone else.  It might be worth having a serious conversation with him before you get started.

I will PM you

Good luck to you sunnybrook77. You are ahead of us in your progress. I hope all goes well. We are waiting to build once we actually move there. We are also having a local architect manage the construction. Yes, this will cost us more, but I have heard too many horror stories. I guess I'm just too chicken for that adventure.

Hey! Great to hear from you!  Gerry and Kate were over on sunday to share their adventures in Belize and asking if I heard from you guys.  We assumed you were already down there living the life of liesure!!

sunnybrook:

We have our house up for sale. Getting things in the business looked after. We would like to have the house sold before we go so we will see how long it takes. We are getting the drawings made up for the property. Things are moving, just slowly. The slowly part helps us get used to things in Belize ;-))

sunnybrook 77    I have heard from at least 6 people about the problems of building here unless you are on site every single day and know a great deal about construction in general and carribean construction too.  lawsuits, money lost, toilets in the living room etc. etc.   I would never consider building here unless I planned to be on site persanally, all day, every day.   think about it.  friends moved here, rented and after 9 mos of "building", the owner (a retired contractor) went to the site & was there all day, every day until completion in under 90 days.  A modest belizean house should take 90 days to build from foundation up.   fooling around for a year is not uncommon.  best luck, Kris

Kris & Sunnybrook: From reading stories here, and elsewhere that have stories like you described that we are not going to build until we are living in country (close by). The plan is the house will be the one we live in for a long time, therefore we would like it done right. We are not going to be in a rush, and prefer to get things done right. Hopefully this works out for us - we will let you know.

The "lucky" thing for us, is we decided to just build a little apartment for the interm untill we are there to build the "big" house.  So if we do have problems at least it should be something fixable.  I hope - LOL
  Plus as everyone knows, people are so friendly in the complex and I have made some excellent contacts that hopefully can keep us informed.  The gentleman we went with has build other houses there, is the general contractor to oversee construction and does come highly recommended.  haven't read anything bad about him or his builds.  Will post over the next few months on progress and hopefully it is a success story!

  2flyaway - have you been down to your property again since we met??

@ Kris - Hi!  Our you living in Belize now?  If so, where abouts?  Did you build?  Would like to meet up with you when we come down to hear your story!

sunny & 2 fly   I am looking forward to meeting all of you and hearing your stories. 

we are living full time in Corozal.  we have a 1 year lease on a 2 br/1ba cottage on a large lot surrounded by jungle on 3 sides.  We ike the jungle.  only hear birds and barking dogs, no people and cars.   we like that.

  We have already learned that if we have a cement roof we want at least 12-14 ft ceielings.  we are told that if we have a metal roof, when the big winds come it will fly away and cut people in half.  cement holds the heat, so a nine or 10 ft ceiling is literally like an oven.  The rains require good grading away from a house that is elevated at least 3 feet above ground.   many lots have required 3-4 feet of packed marl on top of the existing land, for elevation.   We will want to avoid standing water as the mosquitos are fierce and carry some ugly diseases here. 

So we are enjoying learning all that people are willing to share with us about their experiences.  I like almost everything about Belize.  I am not too happy about the feeling that when I walk around, people are looking at me like I have a dollar sign target on the middle of my forehead.  hopefully that will disapate over time.   kris


we plan to learn much more before we commit to land and housing.  I have a new friend out near a village who is living very well, off the grid.  Our electricity is erratic and expensive so "off the grid" is appealing.   Marc is in the process of applying for his work permit, so that is currently our priority.  when he is settled in his office, we plan to drive around more to see more of Belize.

Very interesting on the ceiling height, first time I have heard that and makes perfect sense.
What is packed mari??
   The dollar sign I have felt anywhere we travel outside of NA.  Will need to figure out how to address that.  Usually I have been a tourist, so not an issue, as I was a dollar sign!  But will all change when living permanent.
   I didn't realize you could get a work permit living there less than a year.  That is interesting.  Not sure if I will get one or not, but nice to have that option for sure. 
   I have done some research, so not jumping in cold turkey for the house build.  We have spent a year deciding where, what, etc., and so far happy with our decissions.

HIgh ceilings definitely help. So do windows and/or doors all around for airflow. Our roof has a big enough overhang so that the direct sun never really hits our walls.
Zinc roofs can be "hurricane clipped". Our roof in Seine Bight went through Iris, a cat 5 in 2001, Richard a few years ago and a few other nasty storms with heavy winds. Our roof never went anywhere :-)

brigitte          ty for the info on the zinc roof.

The home we are building is engineered to be hurricane proof to a level 3 hurricane. It will have a steel room. I agree with Kris, in a client like Belize a high ceiling is important to keeping cool. As Bridgette said - windows (vents) all around to let the breeze through. Wind towers are great too. Wind towers are a design from the middle east. They catch those high breezes and bring them into the house. We have got a topographical survey done of our property so we know exactly where the low and high spots are. That will help us for the rainy season. Our roof is also going to be extended over the sides far enough so that the direct sun will not hit them. Essentially a lot of the old style architecture from the south east USA work well in Belize. A hot and humid climate. We are also positioning the house so that it will catch the prevailing winds.

The roof colour and type of material / paint really change how much heat is absorbed. I have been doing a lot of reading of materials on energy efficiency. Having no air-conditioning will be a huge saver of electricity.

Lots more things we are planning. Of course the best laid plans of mice and men.... We will see how this works out. We are hoping that having local professionals involved that have been in the country for many years will give us a better home as we are new to this kind of a climate. We are used to dealing with 40 degrees below zero. A totally different house.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marl
The marl in our area is from very soft and powdery to rocks and big solid slabs. It does erode and wash away. Our road needs grading and occasional filling, especially after a heavy rainy season. Marl rock gets very slick when wet as well.