The workers are laying the river stones in the door frame and have begun on the stairs.

Build Your Own Vacation or Retirement Home Part XXII. 22 weeks and US$73,564.57 invested in construction so far.

Scott Oliver - June 2009

Well it looks as if some critters have already moved into our new home - uninvited - before we did ...

We have a blue and white swallows nest 'somewhere' in the roof of the office on the second floor. I say somewhere because although we can hear the baby birds, we have yet to pinpoint exactly where they are because every time we go outside on the roof to try and see, the parents are flying around and won't enter again until we have gone back in the house.

The kitchen floor is finished and waiting on the the installation of the cabinets.

It's kind of funny because about 21 years ago when I was working on Wall Street, married and living in Ossining, New York I used to have lots of bird feeders in the back garden and we named the cardinals and a variety of other birds that regularly came to visit.

A half log has been placed at the front of the chimney

My wife (now ex-wife) bought me a beautiful bird's house for purple martins for the front garden but, they never nested there. But the blue and white swallows have quickly made our vacation home in Costa Rica their permanent home.

Garage floor is finished, front door - done and shower light installed.

I love birds, however I'm assuming that with babies they can cause some damage just with their waste so we'll be looking into that next week and we'll decide what to do ... But don't worry! We will not be doing anything drastic until the babies have flown the coop...

Build Your Own Log Styled Vacation Home - My costs in USD so far:

Construction began during the first week of January 2009 and as of the 5th June 2009 the total cost so far in building this vacation or retirement home in the country has been US$73,564.57 plus the cost of the 5,000 square meters of land.

You can see the home we built (and sold) previously in the same geographical area at: Mountain Home For Sale By Owner - Fully furnished with one acre of land. Three online videos.

Costs to build your home in the mountains of Costa Rica

You can see the 20+ articles about how you can Build Your Own Retirement or Vacation Home In Costa Rica here.

Have You Had A Similar Problem With Swallows In Your Roof?

And if you have ever had a similar problem with swallows in your roof and have a solution, please contact me ASAP.

Written by Scott Oliver, author of How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate Without Losing Your Camisa and Costa Rica's Guide To Making Money Offshore.