Basements on BI (Honolulu: transplants, big house, transfer)

[jeffington]

Originally Posted by Jungjohann

Well, if you hit blue rock, which is firmly attached to the center of the earth, you'll end up spending so much time drilling and blasting that it would hardly be worth the effort, let alone the expense. Closest thing I've ever seen to a basement over here as a contractor, was up on Clipper and Mariners Ridge above Hawaii Kai. Because of the steep incline on the majority of the building sites, the owner would either opt to build entirely on stilts or would dig and blast into the rock on the highest point, then CMU that portion in, leaving the remaining portion on post and pier. Actually worked on one house way back when, that was 'bolted and glued' into semi-vertical blue rock, the rest of the house was on posts. You could almost touch the rockface from the ridgeline on one side of the roof, the roadside was about a 100 foot drop, right in Likelike valley..... I'm bidding a job right now that has a 'semi' basement, up in Kehalani on Maui, on the valley side slope of the West Maui mountains...

Uuuurrrrpppp,,,, would be nice for keeping the beer cool................

How do they dig the swimming pools, or are they very shallow.

[carmel123]

There is another thread here with a guy building an underground house. It may be helpful.


https://www.city-data.com/forum/hawai...ound-home.html

[Jungjohann]

Friend of mine built a swimming pool on his lot up in Maui Meadows back in the seventies, unfortunately the blue rock the back hoe hit on day one had been there since the seventies as well, but more like 100,070 BC. He spent a hell of a lot of money on blasting, pissed his neighbors off for days, and then the pool LEAKED!!! He never was able to find out where the water was disappearing to, but it was way to much for evaporation loss.

Aloha and,,, uuuurrrrpppp,,, talking about evaporation.........scuze me

[hotzcatz]

Earthquakes and concrete don't mix well. There aren't a lot of basements in Hawaii for a multiplicity of reasons, but the earthquakes are one of the biggest reasons.

In many areas, the ground (blue rock, lava rock) is just too hard to dig into in an economical manner.

Most folks in Hawaii spend a lot of time outside so houses have a tendency to be smaller since folks don't use them much. Being in a hole in the ground is just foreign thinking for many Hawaii residents.

Generally Hawaii houses are more concerned with ventilation than stopping drafts. I suppose a basement would be cooler since it's underground, but generally folks just build up off the ground instead to get the cool breezes blowing under the house to cool it off.

Tropical rains occasionally will pour down in multiple inches per hour. Four to six inches of rain in one hour is a lot of water. If the house is raised off the ground, the water goes under the house, no problem.

Centipedes would LOVE a basement.

When living together on an island, folks get an attitude of liking to fit in and basements just don't fit in.

The hillsides here are still moving, too, so you'd need a retaining wall as much as a basement wall. I don't know how thick that would have to be, though.

There are quite a few houses which are built up against a hillside with the hill undercut a bit to sort of make an under house area. It generally isn't a true basement and frequently the house will be on post and pier and the wall to keep the hillside out from under the house won't have the weight of the house sitting on it.

But you can dig a basement if you like. We will watch and see how it works out.

[jeffington]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Earthquakes and concrete don't mix well. There aren't a lot of basements in Hawaii for a multiplicity of reasons, but the earthquakes are one of the biggest reasons.

In many areas, the ground (blue rock, lava rock) is just too hard to dig into in an economical manner.

Most folks in Hawaii spend a lot of time outside so houses have a tendency to be smaller since folks don't use them much. Being in a hole in the ground is just foreign thinking for many Hawaii residents.

Generally Hawaii houses are more concerned with ventilation than stopping drafts. I suppose a basement would be cooler since it's underground, but generally folks just build up off the ground instead to get the cool breezes blowing under the house to cool it off.

Tropical rains occasionally will pour down in multiple inches per hour. Four to six inches of rain in one hour is a lot of water. If the house is raised off the ground, the water goes under the house, no problem.

Centipedes would LOVE a basement.

When living together on an island, folks get an attitude of liking to fit in and basements just don't fit in.

The hillsides here are still moving, too, so you'd need a retaining wall as much as a basement wall. I don't know how thick that would have to be, though.

There are quite a few houses which are built up against a hillside with the hill undercut a bit to sort of make an under house area. It generally isn't a true basement and frequently the house will be on post and pier and the wall to keep the hillside out from under the house won't have the weight of the house sitting on it.

But you can dig a basement if you like. We will watch and see how it works out.

It sounds like it will be more like "blasting" a basement, but that is okay. Living in one of the most earthquake-prone areas in the US,, I have never had a problem with my pool except water splashing out. It was built in the '70s.

I understand that people live differently there, but I am pretty much one who does his own thing, his own way. Don't see that anybody would even bother to make it their business whether a house has a basement or not, but if they are curious, that is cool with me. Having a basement will double the square footage from about 3,500 to almost 7,000, and I will use it for my various hobbies etc., I'll probably have about a foot or more of the basement wall/foundation above ground.

Thanks for the info.

[hotzcatz]

Yee gawds and little fishes! What do you want with 7,000 square feet of house? You aren't planning on keeping this clean by yourself, are you? Some folks entire property is less than 7,000 square feet. There are going to be annual tax disadvantages to having such a large house, too. Oh well, it's your house. Guess you'll have lots of room for guest rooms, huh?

The Big Island has a small town mentality, they will all make it their business to know everything about you, your house and your business. That may have something to do with lack of other entertainment, perhaps. Maybe we all need more hobbies, too.

Are you able to get the supplies for your hobbies online or make them yourself? There aren't many hobby shops on the island. There used to be a general hobby shop in Kailua over by Costco, but it closed several years ago. Hilo had a art/hobby/stained glass shop for awhile, but it closed several years ago, too. There is a yarn shop over by Costco now which does have some art supplies, although if knitting or weaving was one of your hobbies, then you'd have supplies available.

There is quite a bit of different woods available for a woodshop, but that's not really a basement sort of hobby, is it? It would seem dust and flue/lacquer fumes would be better outside in a carport sort of area, but I'm just making guesses on possible hobbies you'd enjoy.

[jeffington]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Yee gawds and little fishes! What do you want with 7,000 square feet of house? You aren't planning on keeping this clean by yourself, are you? Some folks entire property is less than 7,000 square feet. There are going to be annual tax disadvantages to having such a large house, too. Oh well, it's your house. Guess you'll have lots of room for guest rooms, huh?

The Big Island has a small town mentality, they will all make it their business to know everything about you, your house and your business. That may have something to do with lack of other entertainment, perhaps. Maybe we all need more hobbies, too.

Are you able to get the supplies for your hobbies online or make them yourself? There aren't many hobby shops on the island. There used to be a general hobby shop in Kailua over by Costco, but it closed several years ago. Hilo had a art/hobby/stained glass shop for awhile, but it closed several years ago, too. There is a yarn shop over by Costco now which does have some art supplies, although if knitting or weaving was one of your hobbies, then you'd have supplies available.

There is quite a bit of different woods available for a woodshop, but that's not really a basement sort of hobby, is it? It would seem dust and flue/lacquer fumes would be better outside in a carport sort of area, but I'm just making guesses on possible hobbies you'd enjoy.

Most of them have to do with firearms and fishing/hunting equipment. I am curious, though. There seems to be a mindset of "small living" that not only exists, but is attempted to be an almost forced standards. Where I live, a 3500 sf house is a nice house, but it certainly isn't a mansion. Usually, basements and garages are not included in the sf assessment for tax purposes.

People ask me, almost concescendingly, why in the world would I want a basement, and why and what I need 3500 sf as if it is akin to a sin. Does success-envy run rampant on the BI? I would think wanting something as mundane as a basement, or a hot tub or pool would not lift eyebrows so.

[Jonah K]

Originally Posted by jeffington

I understand that people live differently there, but I am pretty much one who does his own thing, his own way. Don't see that anybody would even bother to make it their business whether a house has a basement or not, but if they are curious, that is cool with me. Having a basement will double the square footage from about 3,500 to almost 7,000, and I will use it for my various hobbies etc., I'll probably have about a foot or more of the basement wall/foundation above ground.

Thanks for the info.

On the mainland, most folks don't care whether or not the neighbors build a basement. On the Big Island, constructing a basement will definitely be a novelty and provide many folks with something to "talk story" about.

There are some luxury homes on the Kona side that have "wine cellars" and a few that have underground "screening rooms", so constructing a basement can be done. From the planning stages to the actual construction, one of the following companies should be able to assist you in building a home with a basement on the Big Island...
Armstrong Builders LLC (http://www.armstrongbuilders.com/main/index.html - broken link)
Kohala Creative Construction (http://www.kohalacc.com/contact.html - broken link)
Carlson Homes
Smith Brothers Construction

[jeffington]

Originally Posted by Jonah K

On the mainland, most folks don't care whether or not the neighbors build a basement. On the Big Island, constructing a basement will definitely be a novelty and provide many folks with something to "talk story" about.

There are some luxury homes on the Kona side that have "wine cellars" and a few that have underground "screening rooms", so constructing a basement can be done. From the planning stages to the actual construction, one of the following companies should be able to assist you in building a home with a basement on the Big Island...
Armstrong Builders LLC (http://www.armstrongbuilders.com/main/index.html - broken link)
Kohala Creative Construction (http://www.kohalacc.com/contact.html - broken link)
Carlson Homes
Smith Brothers Construction

Thanks for the info. I'll file this away. However, I plan on doing quite a bit of the work myself and with my bro in law. I may need to hire an earthmover to do the shooting, though.

[mdand3boys]

Hotzcatz brings up some really good points.
I recently read some reports on the high radon levels in the ground here, which wouldn't be good either.