Chiricano Floor Beams

These floor beams are made from a wood that is known locally (and maybe in all the Spanish speaking world for all I know) as Chiricano. It is neither the most expensive wood nor the cheapest. It looks nice enough, is fairly hard, if the bugs / termites get at it they can make a few holes without causing much of a problem, and it's hard to work with. But that's ok because all that needs to be done is to cut it to the right lengths.

We are planning to use the same wood for the roof beams.

There are loads of different kinds of wood in Costa Rica. Here are the names of a few I can remember and their relative merits:

• Melina - cheapest, easy to work with and stain, no grain, reportedly resistant to bugs but depends who you talk to.
• Cedro / cedro amargo - semi hard, commonly used for windows, doors and furnishings. Costs about twice as much as Melina.
• Laurel - unreliable strength / hardness, sometimes used for roof beams, nice looking grain. Similar cost to Cedro or a little more.
• Chiricano - hard wood, costs about three times as much as Melina.
• Cauilla - similar cost to Chiricano; slightly easier to work with.
• Manglío - not so easily found nowadays; nice color to grain, costs four time as much as Melina.

There must be twenty other woods that are frequently found in saw mills around the country although what is available locally may vary a lot.