How we found builders and started the foundation in Uruguay

This is how we searched for builders: our route, our figures and our nerves. Your project may be completely different.

Turnkey companies were outside our budget

We first looked at Uruguayan companies offering turnkey construction. Prices were around $1,000–1,500 per square metre, even for a profile or timber frame. Our plan used concrete and brick, which cost more. We realised this route was not for us and started looking for private builders.

We collected phone numbers from building sites that looked decent and from online listings, then sent out our roughly 70 m² house plan.

The first builders found the plot below road level

The first three Uruguayan builders worked in neighbouring developments. They visited the plot to prepare quotes and immediately found the main problem: the building area was roughly 1.5 metres below the road, and in places the difference was greater.

Our architect explained that the house floor could not sit below road level. It had to be raised by almost two metres so that the finished floor would be about 20 cm above the road. We argued about drainage and alternatives, but her answer remained the same: building lower was not acceptable.

Her first solution was roughly two metres of compacted balastro, a crushed-stone base, with a 15 cm slab on top. At the time that added about $8,000, plus the fear that heavy rain could wash the fill away. It did not fit our budget.

A second architect confirmed that the house had to be raised and suggested a strip foundation about two metres high. The builders quoted roughly $12,000 for labour alone, without materials or BPS. We could not carry that either and paused the project.

Piles led to a quote we could not afford

Another Uruguayan crew working in our development proposed piles, a slab and the house above them. They said this would be much cheaper than a tall strip foundation. We asked them to price the foundation, shell and roof without windows or doors.

A week later the quote arrived: $68,000 for a 70 m² shell with materials and labour, plus $8,000 in BPS. A finished version was $130,000 plus $16,000 in BPS. At those prices, the house simply was not going to happen for us.

The local standard often meant fill, a 10–15 cm slab, a timber or metal frame, OSB, a finished façade, plaster and paint inside, with the house ready in a few weeks. That was the product behind the roughly $1,000 per m² price. Our concrete-and-brick plan was in another cost category.

Ivan and Alexander proposed another foundation

A couple of weeks later we heard Russian at a neighbour's renovation and discovered that our acquaintances Ivan and Alexander were doing the work. They lived in Piriápolis and had construction experience in Uruguay. That gave us a little hope.

We sat down with the plans and asked for a price for the shell and roof, with materials but no windows or doors. After visiting the plot, they returned with a foundation sketch we had not even requested: a small strip foundation, columns above it, then a slab and the house. The scheme solved the height difference.

Most importantly, their price was far below the Uruguayan crew quotes and close to the budget our family could actually manage. My parents agreed because the other figures made construction impossible.

The next day we began registering them with BPS. We were told that hired builders needed either local construction experience or a builder certificate. They had the experience, so after about ten days of paperwork we finally had the green light.

A portable toilet, excavator, downpour and Artigas concrete

The rules required a portable toilet on site, otherwise there could be a fine. We booked one in advance for about $150 per month, including service twice a month.

We marked the building and used a mini excavator to dig trenches roughly nine by eight metres, with another crossing the centre. The excavator operator was German and had moved to Uruguay. We bought chipboard for formwork around a foundation about 40 cm wide and 30 cm high.

On the second day of formwork, an unusually heavy downpour flooded the site. There is a video of it. Fortunately there was no serious damage, although my parents were very worried.

Over the next two weeks the formwork and reinforcement went in. We ordered concrete from the Artigas plant and added a concrete pump, then waited a week in the queue. The pump came with an operator who handled the hose himself. After vibration and levelling, the thick concrete felt like stone within about four hours. We removed the formwork a few days later and left the foundation to gain strength for at least a week.

That was the start of our house on the other side of the world. Next came columns, the slab, walls, roof and moving into the shell: /en/dom/korobka-i-pereezd/.