Costa Rica Fishing Report from FishingNosara

This weekend was lost to heavy rain, but the crew of Nosara Paradise Rentals and FishingNosara are back in action, progressing rapidly on the second story of Casa Bianca

Fortunately almost no concrete seeped through the new slab…it takes precision to make sure that the forms are well sealed from below, and you don’t know if they are tight until the concrete is poured.

Satisfied with the quality of the pour, the team soldiered on with stacking the blocks for the second story.

Nine courses of block have been stacked and filled in just three working days. These guys are in a groove and the speed of the work proves it.

Meanwhile, the wood-shop-in-the-boat-shop is sending clouds of sawdust flying into the nature preserve like a steamstack.

The beauty of this wood is revealed in each pass of the sander, and we are excited to see it in place around Casa Bianca.

All systems are go and we are excited to keep going.

The crew hit a huge milestone on May 26 as Casa Bianca is really taking shape.

There is a lot of preparation to make sure the concrete pour goes smoothly. First up is to fit these 10-inch styrofoam blocks into the frame.

Similar to the first floor, we had to run the conduits, plumbing, and rebar for the second floor.

Of course the difficulty level of this process goes way up when you add the endless trips up-and-down the ramp.

Finally on May 26th it was time to put-up or shut-up. The crew started early and logged ten straight hours of tag-teaming up and down the ramp with full wheelbarrows of wet cement.

Then entire pour was completed in the early evening and we are so excited about this great result.

Great work by this team…the hardest working boat crews in the construction business!

The Nosara Paradise Rentals team is progressive at a rapid pace. For instances there are the eaves of Casa Tranquilo, which have been sanded and varnished.

This is difficult and dangerous work, but these guys are up for the challenge.

Of course the main project right now is the construction of Casa Bianca. We framed up the window and door headers.

Soon we will commence the monster pour of the second story slab. These styrofoam blocks will be encased in the slab, which is essential to save weight and improves HVAC efficiency while muffling the footsteps of the upstairs neighbor.

Here you can see the final form fit for the ceiling slab here:

Stay tuned for this amazing feat, as every drop of concrete will be poured from above one wheelbarrow load at a time. Here is what the road to success looks like:

Meanwhile the preparations for Casa Bianca’s roof wood continues.

You gotta love the depth and variety of colors in this lumber.

Look in the sky…it’s a bird? A plane? No…it’s the second story of Casa Bianca.

Now that the window and door headers have cured solid, the team has started to run rebar and frame the second story slab.

Part of building in Costa Rica is to anticipate earthquakes, and we do that by leaving gaps in the block wall and pouring in these concrete support pillars.

Here you can see Captain Alex and Captain Carlos roughing up the finished pour so that later we can add a wet-coat of concrete in a stucco-like fashion.

Meanwhile, the boat garage has been transformed into a wood shop. This raw timber needs to be sanded and cured for a few weeks before it is ready to be shaped into roof trusses, stairways, and trim pieces.

We are stoked with this progress and can’t wait to see what’s next!

The team in Costa Rica isn’t letting up on their work! The rehabilitation project of the wood fascias has now continued to Casa Tranquilo.

Casa Tranquilo is our second-oldest house, but you’d never be able to tell by looking at the wood.

Speaking of wood, Javier scoured the local sawmills for the perfect wood to use on the rood trusses and facias for the new house, Casa Bonita.

This locally-felled hardwood requires a long period of baking in the sun to dry out before it is ready to be cut and stained.

The ecology in Costa Rica is so aggressive that if the wood doesn’t properly cure before staining, the bugs will burrow inside the wood and chew it up from within the varnish. This kind of delay can (and has) held up our construction projects in the past, but Javier and Dieter are planning this caper perfectly. This wood will be ready to be built into trusses once we get to that step of the building procedure.

Casa Bianca is growing before our very eyes; one week after finishing the foundation, the crew has stacked and filled several courses of block.

The speed of this progress is astonishing, especially from a crew who are not full time constructions workers. Remember that these guys first professions are boat crew and office staff.

The next milestone is a real challenge: pouring the second story concrete floor, which is essentially a second fully-formed slab just like the initial foundation.

In order to get there, we first have to pour concrete lentils (or window headers). This tricky pour is a good warm-up for the big one to come. Here is a close-up look at the rebar lattice drilled into existing block:

Then we form in the sides and bottom of the lentil.

Also the guys were smart enough to pour these lentils on a Saturday so they can have a full 48 hours to dry and cure.

Exciting progress at the Nature Preserve campus as Casa Bianca is really taking shape!