How to Spend Your Vacation in San Pancho and Progress in Building our Vacation Rental Rooms and Home.

Xmas and New Year Vacation in Puerto Vallarta and San Pancho (San Francisco, Nayarit), Mexico

We have had a great time for our New Year vacation in San Pancho and Puerto Vallarta. We spent several days in San Pancho. The village was busy, but not too busy and this is the charm of San Pancho which has just the right amount of activity to make it pleasant, as opposed to the saturated and overcrowded Punta Mita and Sayulita.

The restaurants were in full swing, there was live music and people danced in the streets. The beach was busy only at the main point at the end of the Tercer Mundo street leaving both sides/edges of the San Pancho beach with sparse specs of vacationing tourists.

In the opposite spectrum you have Punta Mita and Sayulita which get so crowded that you can hardly walk the streets. You can easily get into a stalling traffic waiting for about 30 minutes to get a parking spot. I was told that one Easter (Semana Santa) Sayulita was so crowded that the police closed its entrance and would no longer allow people to enter the village!!!!

We walked along the San Pancho beach with the kids all the way to our lot. The kids were really excited as it was their first time to visit the lot and our youngest 7 year old was surprised that there was not already a house built! 😊 LOL

We took a great drone video of the lot from several points of view and it will give you a perspective of what the lot looks like the surrounding lush jungle and the amazing views to be enjoyed once Selva Suites is built and ready to accept vacationers. I am in the process of editing the drone footage and adding some music. The drone video includes footage of the nearest beach area only 3 minute walk from Selva Suites.  I will be posting the video soon on YouTube.

Building Project of Selva Suites in San Pancho.

We have concluded these steps: Closed the property purchase with the Title (Escrituras). Completed Topography, Land and Soil Survey, removed some trees, Architectural Design, Environmental Impact analysis happy to already have it.

The next step will be the Structural analysis. We are receiving three quotes for this. Based on the prior steps, the Structural

Analysis will be done to provide the recommended quantity of materials (cement, rebars etc) needed to built our dream place. This will be created and signed by a Civil Engineer who will ultimately be legally responsible for the safe and sound structure of the project, so this is an extremely important step. Also based on this analysis, we will be able to get a better cost estimate of building the home and the vacation rental rooms.

Also we have started deciding in the interior and exterior wall finishes.

They will be flat, clean, contemporary, minimalistic. They will be primed, painted and sealed with special liquid used on beachfront homes to withstand the salty ocean winds.

Wall Materials

We are also now starting to consider potential building materials for the walls for our Selva Suites in San Pancho. We want it to be cost efficient, easy to manage and build, long lasting

and environmentally friendly. While in San Pancho the construction of the walls that I have noticed, has been done with traditional cement

blocks and steel rebars for seismic reinforcement, our architect has recommended a material he has used and after researching

in various forums and websites, it appears to be a great option. It is called Convitec. It is Styrofoam reinforced with a structurally advantaged steel mesh. The theoretical advantages of this material are:

 

 

 

Structural Strength and Integrity

The diagonal zig-zag steel mesh is supposed to be stronger and more flexible than a traditional square/cube design in case of an earthquake.

More economical

These “walls” come in prefabricated sizes and are installed on-site. They are easier and faster to install. They are lighter to transport than cement blocks. It provides integrated enhanced insulation to what I have read is about R25, therefore saving on energy bills.

Risks of Convitec

Some of the potential risks that I read were that the workers must have experience working with this material. They must know the installation process and be monitored carefully that they do a good job. Part of the process is that the walls are covered with cement. That cement coverage need to be sprayed adequately so that it dries properly. If it is not done correctly in read that within a couple of years the wall may develop cracks on the surface.

Another cautionary information is that the steel wire mesh must be reinforced with additional rebars spaced appropriately. The wall corners where two walls meet must also be reinforced with additional wire mesh and steel rebars shaped in L form.

Finally, I read that it must be covered in cement completely and be done well, so that critters, mice or rats do not manage to get within the wall and eat away the insulating Styrofoam.

The encouraging news is that I have been reading that this material is used extensively in Latin American countries such Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador and Mexico, places which have similar warm and humid climate as we have in the Banderas beachfront area which include Punta Mita, Sayulita, our vacation rental accommodation suites in San Pancho and Lo de Marcos.

Do you have any experience with this building material? Please comment below.

We are also starting to be looking into other finishes like tile flooring, plumbing details, vanities and more. This year of 2019 will be extremely busy and exciting!