Storage trailer homes (Hilo: apartment, how much, home builder)

[Paul saia]

ALOHA I'm looking in to storage trailer homes I've seen some very nice ones most as far as I can see are on the mainland they are made with steel so tirmites should not be a big problen any new wood can be treated for tirmites & humidity etc. has anyone ever bulit a strorage trailer home ? IF so how much does it cost is it cheaper/ more expensive than a simlar mobile home ? do you know where I can find a ised storage trailer home or a mobile home ?


MAHALO & ALOHA
Paul

[leilaniguy]

Do you mean a Matson container? Try Craig's list.

[Grassyknoll]

Originally Posted by leilaniguy

Do you mean a Matson container? Try Craig's list.

Leilani guy is correct. Search Big Island Craigslist, there is a company in the Hilo area that will build a container home to suit your needs. They have a base model/price to give you an idea of $.

[smarino]

Moving to Hawaii to live the life, and you end up living in a shipping container. Doesn't sound good to me. Those things are narrow, and while steel won't rust, it cannot breathe like a home needs to either. Humidity will sweat the walls inside, and give you a very unhealthy climate inside the home. Without insulation, every little noise will come in. Loud, low frequency noises might actually be louder due to the structure acting like a drum if it isn't insulated. I suppose you could sheet rock the walls and ceiling inside (and what do you nail the sheet rock to?), and insulate it, but it's still going to sweat humidity. Steel will rust too, especially in high humidity. There's a reason why its not used in home construction in any state I've ever lived in. If you've seen it, that's fine, but no home builder I have ever met would recommend or build one, and in 63 years I've never ever seen one. I've seen steel clad buildings but that's a different story. Steel also has very high thermal conductivity, meaning if its hot or cold outside, those temps will leak like a sieve into the home. The thermal bridging is so bad that you actually should insulate the OUTSIDE of the home. If it ever catches on fire, wood may burn, but steel will melt. No fireman will enter a steel constructed building. They will only stay outside to hose it down.

Redwood, cedar and cypress (good luck getting the latter. Its the best, but will not be cheap) are termite resistant. As is regular old treated (poisoned) lumber. There are a number of very good non traditional building materials around, and I am sure that even adobe is possible in high humidity climates if built correctly. Maybe even straw bales. Even a yurt would be better and cheaper (again, no insulation and noise would be my concerns). Spend some time googling alternative home construction. Steel or any metal would be my last choice. I'd bet it would eventually lead to some nasty lung issues due to interior condensation. Cinder block is possible. I lived in several apartment buildings over on Reed's Bay on the B.I. that were constructed from that. Even block will breathe. You absolutely don't want to build a home that cannot breathe.

No mobile homes are allowed in Hawaii to my knowledge.

[85rx-7gsl-se]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/kristinchiri...ing-containers

[HonaunauLove]

To me it doesn't make much sense when there are so many vacant houses on that island right now.

[hotzcatz]

Well, there aren't any mobile homes so that gets rid of half your search right there.

There are a lot of costs that are going to remain the same no matter what else is built. Driveway, septic/cesspool, electric supply are constants no matter what structure goes along with them. For a lot of the rural areas of the island, water supply will also be in that lineup. So, you can add in catchment pool, water pump and pressure tank. Which, if you're doing catchment, you may want to add a large lanai for more roof space to catch water.

So, driveway figure a rough estimate of $2,000 for grading and rock. Roughly $8K for septic/cesspool (note: that's just for the septic/cesspool, not the plumbing), water catchment another $5K or so. Roughly $2K for temporary electrical pole. You can chew through $15K - $20K for your groundwork and utilities.

Add in $2K for drawings and permits. Then build a 16' x 20' structure and that's about the minimum house right there. The 16' x 20' meets the minimum size for an "efficiency dwelling".

Figure post and pier foundation, so you'd need about nine footings. Not sure how much those are but guess $50 each so $450 for footings, then a bit of 4" x 4" post on each one along with some 2" x 4" bracing. Maybe five 4" x 4" x 8' posts. How much are those? Figure $30 each (I'm just pulling numbers out of thin air, if you want a more accurate figure, go look up the prices) so $150 for posts, add in another $75 for 2" x 4" bracing. The footings should have two metal straps, you'll need a box of nails for building, add in another $80 for nails. Probably two big boxes, as well as big nails and medium sized nails. So, $160 for nails.

You'll need floor beams, figure minimum 4" x 8" beams, six of them eight feet long or three of them at sixteen feet long. Maybe 4 x 10's although 8's might do. I'd run calculations for you, but I'm being lazy. Figure 40 pounds per square foot for your basic floor load. I'll guess $50 for each 8' beam? So, that's another $300 for floor beams.

Floor framing, probably 2" x 8" x 10's, maybe 2" x 10's. About 42 of them, plus matching blocking at 4' o.c. so an additional 8 of them for blocking makes 50 each. How much is a ten foot 2" x 8"? Maybe $20 each? Times fifty of them comes out to $1K. Floor decking is ten sheets of 3/4" T & G plywood. How much are those? $65 each? So, another $650 for floor decking.

450 footings
150 posts
75 bracing
160 nails
300 floor beams
1,000 floor framing
650 floor decking

So, you now have a platform that is about three to four feet off the ground and costs about $2,800.

2" x 4" @ 16" o.c. wall framing. Single bottom plate, double top plate. 27 ea 2" x 4" x 8' for top and bottom plates. 9 more for blocking, 54 for studs @ 16" o.c. plus another 10 for various things, so roughly 100 each 2" x 4" x 8'. How much do those run? $7 each? So, $700 for wall studs.

18 sheets of 5/8" thick T1-11 exterior sheathing. Haven't a clue how much that is, $70 each? So, $1,260 for exterior sheathing. Another 18 sheets of 1/2" drywall for the interior. Maybe $10 per sheet? So, $180 for drywall, add in another $100 for screws, mud and drywall tape.

2" x 6" top chord trusses at 2' o.c. spanning 16' with a 3' roof eave. Maybe $200 each? Figure 11 of them so $2,200 for roof trusses. Metal criss cross strapping at 4' o.c. and you'll also need hurricane clips here and there throughout the building, so figure $1,500 for Simpson ties of various varieties. 2" x 4" roof purlins @ 2' o.c. By this time, the roof spans 26' from end to end because of the length of the house plus the roof overhangs, so two 8's and a 10' should span the length. A five in twelve roof pitch is a good standard pitch, three in twelve if you want a lower one, although this isn't a big house so maybe some storage room in the attic might be nice. Anyway, figure about six runs of purlins on each side of the roof so 24 each 2" x 4" x 8' long and 12 each 2" x 4" x 10' long for roof purlins. Figure $7 for the eight footers and $12 for the ten footers? I'm just guessing here, if you want better numbers, look them up. Anyway, $312 for roof purlins.

26 gauge pre painted metal roofing. Roofing is about $7 a foot for approximately 24" - 30" width coverage. The exact width covered depends on the specific corrugated pattern used. About 26 lengths of roofing should cover the roof. Around 13 foot long - roughly - each length so each sheet of roofing should be roughly $90 so about $2,400 for the roofing tin. Add in another $200 for roofing screws.



2,800 Floor deck
700 wall studs
1,260 T1-11 exterior sheathing
190 drywall for walls
2,200 roof trusses
1,500 hurricane ties & strapping
312 roof purlins
2,600 roofing & screws
100 drywall for ceiling

Roughly $11,600 and you still need doors, windows, plumbing and wiring. The doors and windows can be gotten from Craig's List or there is a Restore in Hilo or Kona with discounted doors and windows. Otherwise, front and back door at $225 each, closet door at $100, four windows at $200 each, one smaller bathroom window at $100 each, a toilet at $250, sink with vanity at $200, shower/tub enclosure at $500. Kitchen sink, $250, kitchen faucet at $75, minimal kitchen cabinets and counters at $1000. Plumbing and wiring has to be done by a licensed plumber & electrician so figure $2,500 for each of those.

So, that's roughly $20K for the utilities and $20K for a basic 16' x 20' house. Land plus $40K should get you into a very basic house although you'll have to do a lot of the work yourself.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

WOW. Hotzcatz should win another award for the most informative, non-judgemental poster! Thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge. You certainly are one of the best posters on this forum.

[terracore]

I have a couple of shipping containers I use for storage and I did exhaustive research to determine the viability for using them as living space and I discovered that the amount of money it takes to overcome their limitations is greater than traditional stick building from scratch. There are times when shipping container homes do have value: for example you need something immediately, you need something portable/moveable, or you need something temporary. Other than that, in Hawaii at least, they are more expensive to retrofit to overcome their limitations than they are to build something from scratch.

[KauaiHiker]

Hotzcatz, you forgot the price (and sanity) of digging the basement.