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Thank you everyone for all the advice. As stated before, we can put more money into out build if needed, we just want to go a low cost as possible. I actually want to go tiny and keep the house under 500 square feet. Not only will this allow me to build another home on the lot later and change the status of the first place into a guest house. Additionally, anything under 600 square feet doesn't need an architect or engineer stamp. I plan on drawing up the plans myself. I took some architecture classes in college and I've also done some research on some people who have drawn up their own plans and built their own home and who have found ways to save money.
I'm not saying it's going to be easy but I know we can make this happen.
Location: not sure, but there's a hell of a lot of water around here!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hjmontijo
Additionally, anything under 600 square feet doesn't need an architect or engineer stamp.
I'm not saying it's going to be easy but I know we can make this happen.
I don't know where you're getting your info, but that sounds wrong from the get go. Best of luck, although I doubt if your neighbors will approve of your plans.
The building code seems a bit vague to me, regarding whether if it's necessary to get an architect or engineer to sign off on buildings under 600 sq. ft.
The way I read it, it is not necessary, unless you go with post and pier.
Of course, the project would still need submitted plans and a permit.
(c) All plans and specifications relating to work which affects the public safety or health and for which a building permit is required shall be prepared, designed and stamped by a duly registered professional engineer or architect in accordance with chapter 464, Hawai‘i Revised Statutes. For residential (R-3 Occupancies) and accessory (U Occupancies) only, plans and specifications shall be designed and stamped by a professional architect or structural engineer when any of the following applies:
(1) Single story structure and more than 600 square feet of floor area for R-3 Occupancy.
(2) Single story or two-story structure of mixed occupancies (R-3 and U Occupancies) with more than 1,200 square feet of total floor area. Item #1 criteria applies.
(3) Structures of R-3 or U Occupancies that are three or more stories in height.
(4) Flood Zone.
(5) Structural members are concrete, masonry or steel.
(d) All plans for retaining walls over 4 feet in height shall be designed and stamped by a professional architect or engineer in the structural or civil branches, pursuant to chapter 464, Hawai‘i Revised Statutes.
(e) All plans for post and pier type construction with/without perimeter foundation walls of R-3 Occupancies shall be designed and stamped by a professional architect or structural engineer.
Spend huge amount of time prepping for your build. The city will most likely have a list of permits, find owner builds and ask to visit them... they can show you the pit falls..
HOA , HOA HOA. read every single word, talk to them until you know everything they want, because they will be in charge. And be nice , nice , nice. People are much more likely to help you if they think you will be a positive force in the community.
We bought a cottage in Eden Roc that we upgraded to fully permitted status with grid power and catchment water (~600 sq. ft.) Initial price was ~30k, it was well built, but the plumbing and electric had to be completely re-done. The biggest expenses were getting the SSPP extension (and power from the road to the house) and the electrical work. You can't do your own plumbing and electrical, it must be done by a licensed contractor. In the end, it cost us ~70k to get everything done, so a total of 100k for a 600 sq. ft. cottage with a 200 sq. ft. lanai appliances included on an acre of land (land market value was around 10k at the time).
We're not even sure we know exactly where to start.... Okay, I guess let us start with these points;
- After the Purchase of the lot. We are left with 25k to build. (We can possibly go up in budget)
- We want to do an owner build permitted small house (the HOA will not allow unpermitted).
- The lot is mainly crushed lava rock (most of the lost is pretty level).
- We want to build High on stilts (post and pier) as to keep a great view (thinking of future builders).
- There is no county water, it’s all catchment.
- Even though power is available, we want to go off-grid with solar power.
We’ve had the chance to contact the county on a few different questions that we had, but we have so many more. We're just looking for a little help from people who have some friendly advice. Here are some of the specific questions that we have. We may have asked some of these questions in previous post, but never got the answers we were looking for.
- I’ve heard that if we're drawing up my own plans as an owner the max square footage we can go is 600sqft, is this true?
- Also if this is true, does the lanai get taken into account for the square footage or is that separate?
- How long and how much is the permitting process?
- What are the exact rules and regulations on a composting toilet?
- We’ve heard that septic tanks cost a lot. How much would it cost for a system in a small house for only 2 to 3 people year round?
- Is the septic system something we can easily build ourselves?
- Does anyone know of any great ways to break through lava rock without having to hire an excavator?
- Does anyone have the cost to fill a catchment tank, price per gallon?
- Does anyone know about living in a temporary situation on the plot while building the house? We were thinking of maybe living in a large tent on the property.
- Does anyone know the best cost effective way to build a solar power system?
- We’ve heard that it’s cheaper to buy building material here on the mainland and then having it shipped to the big island, does anyone have any knowledge on this?
- Does anyone know the current cost for shipping vehicles? We are getting rid of one of our cars but keeping our 2013 Toyota Tundra.
Please, if anyone has any great advice, send it our way. Again we only have a budget of 25k, however, if absolutely necessary, we can always put 10k or so on credit. We are really trying to avoid putting anything on credit as we want to be able to have a little debt as possible in order not to have to work much at all. We want to live a simple, easy life. This has been a dream of our and we are both very hard working people and will do what it takes to make our dreams come true. Please do not reply to this post if you have all negative things to say. We are looking for help and inspiration.
Mahalo!!!
Post & Pier pretty much means an architect/engineer's stamp. Figure about $500 to $1000 for that on a small house. You'll also need about the same amount for the septic engineer's stamp.
Lanais aren't usually included in the square footage of the house, but verify that with the Planning Department if it matters in your planning.
Planning process isn't too long for small houses that are a standard construction but it can take several months even when it's pretty quick. Permit prices are on the Building Department's website. They use a standard amount per square foot to calculate the structure's value and base the permit price on that value. It doesn't have anything to do with the actual construction costs.
I've not run plans for a composting toilet so I can't tell you details, but it would have to be a standard brand they approve of. Also all plumbing work must be done by a licensed plumber, same with the electrical.
Septic systems are sized according to bedrooms in the house, but if you're planning on building the house bigger at some point, putting in a septic system sized for the final size of the house would be best. You can not build your own septic system, all plumbing work must be done by a licensed plumber.
Dynamite is a great way to break up lava rock, but they don't let you buy it anymore. An o'o bar is about the only hand held lava rock busting thing that most folks use. You're not digging that large of a hole with it, though, it's more of a tool for planting trees and things than septic systems.
Haven't a clue about filling catchment systems, we've been on County water for decades. Folks just order a truck load of water, I don't think they go per gallon. Mostly you're paying for the delivery and not really the water itself.
As for if you can live in a tent for awhile, well, Moiliili is pretty open so it's not like folks won't see you. Add in the HOA and I'd guess it wouldn't be something you could do for very long.
You can't legally build your own solar electric system.
For the size of the house you're building, I don't know if you could save enough costs in the materials to pay for shipping the container. You can pick up a lot of materials inexpensively on Craig's List as well as at Restore. The structural wood parts are supposed to be graded and stamped by the wood mill.
Hmm, maybe $10K - $15K for plumbing (septic tank, one toilet, one bathroom sink, one kitchen sink, one garden hose bib, one catchment tank, one pressure tank and pump). You can probably pick up the fixtures pretty inexpensively on Craig's List or at Restore, but the septic tank & catchment tank and pump will probably be bought new. Plus they will need to be installed by a contractor. Oh, water heater, too. You may as well see if you can get a solar water system if possible. Much cheaper to run than gas and with photovoltaics, you're not going to run an electric water heater.
Electric has to be put in by a contractor, see if you can just get a small system to start, just for lights and light electronics.
You may be able to build the core structure and then as money is acquired along the way, it can be added onto.
Hello again! So we have finally came up with a floor plan for our tiny house. I have attached the photo in the case anyone is interested or has any input. However, we still have not decided if we are going to move forward with getting an architect/engineer stamp on our plans in order to build higher on post and beam or if we want to go another route and build on a concrete slab to avoid needing to get a stamp for permit approval.
Like I stated before, Yes, we do have extra money to build, however we are trying to keep the cost as low as we can as we do plan to build a larger home on the lot a few years down the line. This first home will be something that will get us by for the next 5 to 10 years.
I want to thank everyone who sent us a private messages with positive feedback. We've gotten the chance to talk to a few people about their input and experiences.We got a lot of great advice and encouragement from many of you. It was great to talk to people who built their tiny, permitted homes on a really tight budgets who did most of the work themselves as we plan to do. We are now more confident that we can make this happen. With a lot of hard work and faith, we will make our dreams come true.
It looks good and simple but maybe a bit small for a 10 year commitment. I think the front door placement is a little awkward next to the bedroom door. I would move the front door to the middle of the room or the bedroom door to the back by the closet. You might also consider a pocket door for the bath room.
I would put in larger windows in the bedroom and living room, especially the outside wall of the bedroom and the back of the living room. For more better ventilation, consider transoms above the doors and maybe a ventilated screen above the bedroom wall into the living room.
Can't really think of how to fit in a bigger space between the sink and the refrigerator, but that's probably going to be the most used spot in the house. Maybe get one of those cutting boards that fits into the sink so you can use that as extended counter space?
Vents up near the ceiling, maybe some that start out in the floor of the closet? You're really lacking storage space in there, but maybe all that will be under the house? Linen closet for the bath? Where's the vacuum going to be? Broom closet? Might be worth it to go two feet longer and use that two feet as storage space between the living room and bedroom. That way the storage space can also be used as sound deadening.
More useful to have the door closer to the kitchen. Carry the groceries up the stairs, halfway across the deck and then back through the living room seems a bit of a trek for each and every bag of groceries. Not to mention the rubbish on it's way back out. Although, if it's up on post & pier, you could put in a rubbish chute as well as a laundry chute to down below the house.
I would love to build something larger, However, I want to keep the build under 500 sq ft as I plan to build a larger home later down the line. I do like the idea of vents.
my original plan was to have the under side of the home used as storage, However, I am still trying to figure out if I am going to build on a slab or I will build on post and beam. Although I prefer to go post and beam, I am trying to avoid needed to get a stamp as I am trying yo keep cost down. However, if anyone else has any recommendations on pricing on getting an architect/engineer stamp on plans that I draw up myself, let me know. I am also open to having someone else draw up all the specs using my design as long as the price is low.
The floor plan I posted was just a rough draft, I am still open to other layouts. I do have another layout that will give me more room in the kitchen, bathroom and living area, with a loft above the kitchen and bath. However, I am still unclear if the loft space would be considered added square footage in the home. Does anyone know the answer to this, again, I need to stay under 500 sq ft.
Mahalo!
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