Pingu
In reality nobody in the DR uses wood because of the climate and because of the price of wood compared to concrete. As I had mentioned earlier the floors are usually poured after the walls are constructed and the Dominicans try to level said floor using a homemade wooden float (trowel ) and their calibrated eye balls. As most Dominicans can not afford to purchase ceramic tiles or marble they use a technique of applying colored cement on top of the pour and floating this into the pour to give a marbled effect.
If you had the money to invest then I would suggest three possibilities.
Depending on where you are building and its susceptibility to water.
1.Having your floor level at least 2 or 3 feet above ground level and laying treated wooden beams to apply a wooden floor.
2. Pouring a concrete floor and applying ceramic tiles.
3. If you have a 2 story building then you can, if you wish, have your second floor wooden as the wood at the second floor level has less likelihood of getting wet. If choosing this option you still must treat the wood against insects as that is a big problem here.
If you should choose to have a wooden floor at ground level I would suggest doing only a portion of the floor this way and the rest concrete. I would think that having an impressive livingroom and or dinningroom with a wooden floor would look nice.
Galina,
First step is to have land to build on!!!!! All kidding aside, The majority of construction of houses here do not have a building permit or any other type of paperwork. I am not really sure of the law here concerning construction so there is the possibility that there is a permit required to build but if there is I have never seen it done. If a permit is required and you build without it can they bring misery into your life? Probably but my house and land is in my wifes name so if they should decide to move against me it will be poor Domanican vs Domanican government and it can be pointed out that none of the people in the barrio had a permit, tear us all down or charge us all.
If you should build you can use any blueprint you wish but take into account that the use of wood is not a good idea because of the price, climate and insects. The availability of material and hardware here. The DR is not famous for the ability to purchase such things as tar paper, shingles, sheetrock (drywall), metal joist fasteners and things of that nature. All those things that you take for granted in the USA and you can buy from any local Home Depot. The majority of the people don't use those items here and wouldn't know what to do with it if you handed it to them. 95% of all cement workers here use a metal float or wooden handmade float to work with cement. If they were to see a metal/rubber or metal/plastic float they would think they had died and gone to heaven. Same is true with things like a screed vibrator. Those things that we take for granted for in the USA and can buy or rent in any town.
Hope this helps the two of you.
Rick
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