Homebuilding in the DR the inexpensive (Dominican) way

[Texas Bill]

In another thread, the one last year that discussed the US Military's presence in the SouthWest part of the country, one of the posters stated that they were developing a method of pre-fabricating concrete/fiberglass modules which could be used in housing construction.
I have misplaced his name and address,but perhaps someone might have it.
The process was very interesting in that it lent itself to many combinations of structures and assembly.
Might be worth looking into.
The location was in/about Barahona andthename Francis (???) sticks in my mind.
Anyone remember the discussion at thetime???

Texas Bill

[2dlight]

posting as kfrancis
Look into the "Choosing a construction material" thread.

Originally Posted by Texas Bill

In another thread, the one last year that discussed the US Military's presence in the SouthWest part of the country, one of the posters stated that they were developing a method of pre-fabricating concrete/fiberglass modules which could be used in housing construction.
I have misplaced his name and address,but perhaps someone might have it.
The process was very interesting in that it lent itself to many combinations of structures and assembly.
Might be worth looking into.
The location was in/about Barahona andthename Francis (???) sticks in my mind.
Anyone remember the discussion at thetime???

Texas Bill

[headnerd]

This is an excellent and useful thread. One of the things that has not been discussed, though, is the cost of obtaining permits and the other "taxes" that go along with building a home.

If you are building at the beach, you will need to deal with a fee for "La Marina". If you want to take down trees, there is a fee to "La Foresta". Both of these can be avoided, though, if you go to the capital and get a "Letter of No Objection" from a high-ranking official. You will also need one of these from your local town.

The latest twist that happened to me was a guy showing up from "Seguros Sociales" and demanding a huge fee. I sent him packing but still haven't figured out if it's legit or not.

Good luck!

[Texas Bill]

Originally Posted by headnerd

This is an excellent and useful thread. One of the things that has not been discussed, though, is the cost of obtaining permits and the other "taxes" that go along with building a home.

If you are building at the beach, you will need to deal with a fee for "La Marina". If you want to take down trees, there is a fee to "La Foresta". Both of these can be avoided, though, if you go to the capital and get a "Letter of No Objection" from a high-ranking official. You will also need one of these from your local town.

The latest twist that happened to me was a guy showing up from "Seguros Sociales" and demanding a huge fee. I sent him packing but still haven't figured out if it's legit or not.

Good luck!

Try to remember that guy's name and reaport him to the'Head Office" in Santo Domingo. H was just trying to scam you for money. The Seguro Sociales has NOTHING to do with "Building anything in the DR.

Texas Bill

[anitaemma]

I think that is legal some procents of total costs, but never pay to some guy coming to your house, always go to the municipal office to pay and figure calculations and demanding for example with permicion to build to see that they write it also to book not only make a receipt.
Btw, where are you building your house, have you got permit from CODIA ?

[suarezn]

Originally Posted by Texas Bill

Try to remember that guy's name and reaport him to the'Head Office" in Santo Domingo. H was just trying to scam you for money. The Seguro Sociales has NOTHING to do with "Building anything in the DR.

Texas Bill

That's not 100% correct. By law you're supposed to have insurance for the people working on your property, so any time you're building the insurance guys will show up and try to get you to buy this insurance. I had it happen with me when I was building. My Maestro told me that even if you pay the insurance if you have an injury in your premises the insurance company will give them the runaround and eventually pay nothing, so he preferred to cover his people himself.

If anyone needs a Maestro i have a really good one. He build my house and I'm very satisfied with him. He owns his own set of of wood frames used for pouring roofs (this is a very expensive part of construction). He's from Cotui, so he's relatively inexpensive.

[desmil]

Does anyone have any suggestions on where to purchase land at a reasonable price? What's the going rate?

[Richard Alberto]

I would say Barahona is going to be the next big area after Samana in relation to metric prices. Beachfront for $20+US mt2.

[desmil]

anything reasonable in santo domingo?

[chiquittabanana]

I am trying to get some work done in our house,, since I was building long distance, I loss a lot of money ( A los ojos del amo engorda el caballo) needless to say,,,, my horse still very skinny while the architects I had are "gordo & colorao" so.... decided to do it myself,, I have a Maestro and basically I will direct his work and he will direct the workers.

I am planing on doing the job by stages during the times I will spend in the DR,,, my question is how much area of "empañete" can I cover with 300 bags of cement? I am able to get a minimum of 300 bags per shipment at a better price from the cement fabric.

So my plan is to buy the 300 bags and get work done with that, for whatever area I can of empañete on the outside, plus the mochetas???? after I will contract the bars for windows & doors... and continue wrking on my next trip.

I am in no rush to finish the house, as our apartment in the city is quite comfy and I can't leave Canada just yet as my kid still receiving extremely importan IBI therapy,, but would like to get some work done.

Thanks


CB