Tips for building a house in South America?

Hello dear construction experts,

I am planning to build a house in Paraguay. Everything there is done very differently than in Germany.

There are hardly any building regulations, rules, or laws for building a house.

You can build almost whatever you want. Total freedom to build. However, this also has some major disadvantages. There are hardly any people or public authorities you could call for inspections. And if someone claims to be a construction expert, they often turn out to be fraudsters because they have no idea at all.

Well, that’s how it goes every day in PY. The builder has to take care of absolutely everything themselves and check everything ten times. If they don’t, they will either be cheated from start to finish or the workers, the site manager, and the architect work conscientiously but poorly. No, worse than poorly.

If you don’t say down there that you want the windows installed straight, the site manager says: "But you didn’t tell me that." And folks, this is NO joke. That’s how the construction process works down there, and even worse!

I’m a total construction newbie and have absolutely no idea. So I wanted to ask you what I should pay special attention to? I don’t want my house to mold, flood, collapse, or whatever other terrible things there are after 5 years…

And what are the most common botched job tricks to watch out for? Down there the word “botch” takes on a whole new meaning. For example, lime is mixed into the concrete, since it’s cheaper than sand.

Here are a few photos so you can get a rough idea of how construction is done in Paraguay. The workers, I was told, were very good and the house turned out tip-top for PY standards. I also have a video of a chaotic construction site to offer, but it’s hardly worth watching. It will make your toenails curl *g* My house would also be built only from bricks because they are simply unbeatable in price there.

I look forward to fundamental tips I absolutely need to pay attention to.

Regards Jens




Foundation




Filled foundation



Slab being poured



Walls built up




And this is what a typical scaffold looks like in Paraguay

I think it looks great at first glance. Natural stone foundation is fantastic. The walls are thin, which is very important because more massive walls retain heat longer at night! The construction site is tidy. The scaffolding regulations are of course not according to DIN. But if the result is right, it shouldn't be a problem. PS: We have built both in Brazil and in D. If possible, you should always have an absolute trusted person on the construction site. Every day. Ideally, the builder does this themselves. But this applies exactly the same in D!

As I said, those were very good workers and a great site manager but unfortunately that was not my house.

When I build and end up with botchers, I would like to know what to definitely pay attention to.

Yes, I will be the one who is on the construction site every day but without knowledge I can look at work all day without recognizing mistakes or botching :-/

I continue to ask for general tips on what a layperson should pay attention to.

Thank you very much!

Hello,

off the top of my head, my tips would be as follows: air conditioning, bulletproof glass, alarm system, especially burglar-proof doors/windows, wall around the house, barbed wire on top of it... - and don't forget the monthly tribute to the local police prefect...

Humorous regards...

What you mean applies mainly in the city. But I live out in the countryside and in this area everyone knows everyone. Of course you can be attacked there too. Bulletproof glass is almost unaffordable. especially in PY.

Most have bars on the windows, which looks too much like a prison to me. Besides the only door, which will be a disguised armored door, I will simply use massive steel plates on the windows that will run on rollers in iron rails on the wall inside the apartment. Painted nicely white, you can hardly see them against the white wall.

To make sure this is not visible from outside, there will also be metal folding shutters in front of the windows, which can also be locked (not visible). Additionally, two very watchful shepherd dogs who sleep outside at all times and that should be enough.

But this was actually all off-topic now. Does no one have real tips for house construction for a beginner builder? :-( Surely there is a lot that could be botched!?

Is that asked too generally?