Originally posted by oladulce
I can see where halcyondays is coming from- they want to be able to use their property when they go down to visit. They aren't interested in renting
a place etc because they already know they like their property and location.
I told him in a u2u some of the mistakes or things we'd do differently such as NOT getting an older, inexpensive trailer then building a palapa and
2 or 3 wind block/enclosure walls around making it difficult to remove later on. After a few years our old trailer parts started breaking and RV
replacements were so expensive we wished we'd have just put up a couple more walls and built a small casita to start with at our old place.
A newer trailer would be a different story, but by the time they invest in a newer one and a palapa the cost is comparable to building a casita.
$15-20k for a newish trailer, another $15k + for a palapa over it (a low-ball price of a palapa in our area) which is about how much we spent to build
the 500 sf casita we're living in- granted this was without solar, water, and septic factored in. Transportation of materials adds about 30% to
building costs here , so they say.
Like Russ' suggestion, I recommended they start with a solid garage for storage, septic, water storage, then a shower/toilet and cooking facilities.
We were very comfortable for 13 yrs with this set up for our Baja vacations. They can do this a little at a time as budget allows.
We started with these same basics when we bought the new place 5 yrs ago and were still sleeping in our camper until just a few months ago. Hot water
for showers, a toilet, some wind block and shade, and a little concrete pad or two to get you out of the dirt feels decadent, like luxury camping and
is do-able for many years. As long as you have a BIG , secure garage you're off to a good start .
I like palapa for shade structures and over patios, but it's not for me for indoor living spaces and definitely not a garage. Since they won't be
living fulltime on their property, they won't be there to spray (or hire someone to spray) for bugs every few months.
Foam block/concrete roofs (not foam panels) are the norm where we are for durability and insulation . |
