Shipping Large fragile valuables from mainland (for sale, rent, houses)

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Originally Posted by Wevlf

I do plan to stay for the long game. I have read that when people ship their autos they stuff them full of stuff. Is this not true?

I don't know where you read this, but it isn't true and it wasn't true ten years ago when we shipped our vehicle.

I suggest that you look at the Matson website. You can learn just about anything you want to know about shipping household goods and vehicles, including costs, the process, how to prepare your vehicle, etc. etc. It is a good website, and if you have any questions their customer service is helpful.

[Wevlf]

Thanks for the advice all! I spent the day reading up on shipping and containers. I have seen a number of people talk about bringing building supplies in their shipping container. I too will be bringing along higher end tools as I dont want to buy them again. I read that people not only bring tools but raw building materials as well. This has me wondering are materials really that much more expensive than the mainland? I dont recall ever going into a lows or home depo while visiting. For example is a sheet of beadboard going to be nearly 50 percent higher or are we talking like 5 percent? I will likely end up buying a BI home that will need some interior sprucing up.

[hotzcatz]

Originally Posted by Wevlf

Thanks for the advice all! I spent the day reading up on shipping and containers. I have seen a number of people talk about bringing building supplies in their shipping container. I too will be bringing along higher end tools as I dont want to buy them again. I read that people not only bring tools but raw building materials as well. This has me wondering are materials really that much more expensive than the mainland? I dont recall ever going into a lows or home depo while visiting. For example is a sheet of beadboard going to be nearly 50 percent higher or are we talking like 5 percent? I will likely end up buying a BI home that will need some interior sprucing up.

When bringing a higher end anything, make sure what ever you need to make it run is available on island. Having the best nail gun on the planet won't do any good unless you can get nails for it.

You can check prices online for Lowe's & Home DePot by putting in a zip code for Hilo or Kailua Kona. I've had clients ship in timber for framing before, but that was all big timbers. For the more common light framing, usually by the time all the shipping expenses are added in, they don't save enough to make it worth their time and effort.

AFAIK, there is absolutely no place on island or even in the state to buy tile board (that bath panel that looks like tiles) and no place they sell it on the mainland will ship it to Hawaii. We're in the middle of a restoration/remodel and wanted to use tile board but haven't been able to source it anywhere. Tile board is around $25 per sheet and formica or some other waterproof sheet material is about three times that price. I've noticed that frequently the lower priced options won't be shipped in, just the expensive options which might be part of the reason construction around here is more expensive than other places.

[5yenem]

This is really good to know. I will be going back down in May or June and I think I'll spend a good bit of time walking around the box stores checking out reno material options.

[hotzcatz]

In general, when shipping to Hawaii, if it's light and fluffy, then via the post office is the least expensive method. Ocean freight charges by volume, not weight, so ocean freight is for heavy dense items.

If you can source anvils and bring in a supply of them, there's been folks asking for those for years. We used to yard sale every weekend and folks would give us a list of what they were looking for. Several folks were looking for anvils and we could use one ourselves, but we never did find any though.

Usually, for used goods such as plywood, basic lumber, fasteners, etc., folks will pay about 50% of retail. Which means you'd have to source it for way less than 50% of Hawaii prices to pay for the shipping container. Really high end folks don't care about price much, so they'd not really be clients for you so stocking the trailer with high end stuff may not work, either.

Well, if you bring in tile board, we could use some. That's a fairly inexpensive item that isn't available anymore.

[Wevlf]

Hotzcatz you seem very knowledgeable about all things big island could I ask you, what is the best way to figure out which subdivisions dont allow rooster fighting/breeding and actually enforce this. I dont have a big list of request as far as what area I end up buying in other than no roosters, on grid electric, and need high speed internet.

[grantw]

Originally Posted by Wevlf

Thanks for the advice all! I spent the day reading up on shipping and containers. I have seen a number of people talk about bringing building supplies in their shipping container. I too will be bringing along higher end tools as I dont want to buy them again. I read that people not only bring tools but raw building materials as well. This has me wondering are materials really that much more expensive than the mainland? I dont recall ever going into a lows or home depo while visiting. For example is a sheet of beadboard going to be nearly 50 percent higher or are we talking like 5 percent? I will likely end up buying a BI home that will need some interior sprucing up.

You can look up prices for Lowe's and HD online. Add the Kona zip code 96740.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Originally Posted by Wevlf

Hotzcatz you seem very knowledgeable about all things big island could I ask you, what is the best way to figure out which subdivisions dont allow rooster fighting/breeding and actually enforce this. I dont have a big list of request as far as what area I end up buying in other than no roosters, on grid electric, and need high speed internet.

You can't figure it out first finding a house in a subdivision with an HOA. and then looking at the CC&Rs for each subdivision where you will be looking. Some will be specific about prohibiting livestock and farm animals and some won't. And enforcement of those CC&Rs will also vary by neighborhood.

Are you aware of all the feral roosters running around the island? If it's the noise you're concerned about, then good luck.

[Wevlf]

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Hawaii

You can't figure it out first finding a house in a subdivision with an HOA. and then looking at the CC&Rs for each subdivision where you will be looking. Some will be specific about prohibiting livestock and farm animals and some won't. And enforcement of those CC&Rs will also vary by neighborhood.

Are you aware of all the feral roosters running around the island? If it's the noise you're concerned about, then good luck.

I used to have several hens and roosters. Im not a huge fan of the general noise but my main concern is being within hearing distance to a fighting farm. Im not trying to talk bad about other peoples rights and cultures but for me those are just sounds I dont want to hear.

[Grassyknoll]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

In general, when shipping to Hawaii, if it's light and fluffy, then via the post office is the least expensive method. Ocean freight charges by volume, not weight, so ocean freight is for heavy dense items.

If you can source anvils and bring in a supply of them, there's been folks asking for those for years. We used to yard sale every weekend and folks would give us a list of what they were looking for. Several folks were looking for anvils and we could use one ourselves, but we never did find any though.

Last month I bought a big anvil (like 70lb) for our maintenance department from Amazon, took checking a bunch of vendors but it shipped free with Prime.