Construction questions (Hilo, Waimea: appliances, how much, house)

[MikeyMike11]

I'm looking at shipping some building materials in a shipping container to the BI. I'm not quite clear what happens once the container is at port. Do I need to unload it immediately, or can I take some time to do that?

How much is a single 2x4x8' in the local hardware store?

How much is concrete by the yard between Waimea and Hilo?

Do I need to hire an electrician, or any tradesman for that matter, if I work on my own house?

What about solar power? How much does a 1 kwh setup run plus install? Or should I ship my own?

Any very expensive items I should just ship there? I'm thinking kitchen appliances?

Are septic systems allowed, or should I go with a composting toilet + grey water system? If septic is allowed, do I need a minimum soil depth?

How deep are footings or piers required to be? (Here it is 4 feet for a simple deck post)

Are metal roofs a good choice in Hawaii? Any metal roof suppliers in Hawaii, or should I ship that?

Sorry for the interrogation, I am OCD when it comes to budgeting and pricing out a structure. Thanks so much, love listening to the stories about island life here!

[mikereilly]

Lumber isn't terribly expensive in my experience, but I'm comparing to Canada so ymmv. I don't know the price of concrete. You are required to hire an electrical and plumbing contractor if you want to get permitted. Carpentry is ok to do by yourself as long as you aren't Canadian, then you have to hire people for everything. You can check HD web site or Sears for appliance costs. Septic is required although until a couple years ago, Cess Pits were accepted. Composting toilets are a new fangled thing they don't like to think about. There are septic systems in areas with no soil at all, just busted up lava rock. About a third of the island has less than 6" of soil. Not sure about the pier depth, but I know that 5 years ago you could place concrete blocks on level compacted surfaces (maybe with rebar drilled into the bedrock?) and sheer walls. That was with the 2006 IBC rules, not sure if it's been updated.

[67Cam]

There are a lot more people qualified than I am to answer your questions, but I can help with a few.

Originally Posted by MikeyMike11

How much is a single 2x4x8' in the local hardware store?

I was curious about this when I first started researching a move and build. You can look up prices for lumber and other commodities at Home Depot in Hilo (make it "your store" in the search). There are several other lumber yards as well - Honsador, Argus and HPM - but they don't list prices. I believe with any lumber yard you can pick your own when you buy to ensure you get straight stock. The important thing is getting treated lumber as the termites are ferocious. It seems Hi-Bor (borax) is the standard now.


Do I need to hire an electrician, or any tradesman for that matter, if I work on my own house?

Unfortunately, yes for electrical and plumbing. The state requires a liscensed plumber and electrician. Although my understanding is they have to sign off on job but technically you could do the work. That would involve finding an electrician and plummer to allow you to do it yourself, have them inspect and sign with the state that they did it. I thought it may be possible to pay them a nominal fee to do this, but who knows. Everything else you are allowed to do yourself.


Any very expensive items I should just ship there? I'm thinking kitchen appliances?

Others who live there can answer this better, however as mentioned above you can check Home Depot Hilo website to see the cost of apliances. I did a year or two ago and believe the cost difference wasn't that much. Compare from your local HD to the Hilo HD on the same skew #'s


Are metal roofs a good choice in Hawaii? Any metal roof suppliers in Hawaii, or should I ship that?

Metal roofs are the standard. A majority of the homes rely on water catchment from their roofes to provide their water needs.

Sorry for the interrogation, I am OCD when it comes to budgeting and pricing out a structure. Thanks so much, love listening to the stories about island life here!

[Jungjohann]

If you're going to build a home, best bet would probably be to buy a package home from HPM. The Pilikai is a very nice little cottage, doubt if you could beat the material price by bringing in everything yourself.

Don't forget, it's the Pilikai model, not the Pilikia model...


The latter is,,, uuuurrrrrpppp, scuze me, fraught with peril and

[TwoByFour]

Originally Posted by MikeyMike11

I'm looking at shipping some building materials in a shipping container to the BI. I'm not quite clear what happens once the container is at port. Do I need to unload it immediately, or can I take some time to do that?

If you ship with Matson you have I think 2 days to pick it up at the port. We hired a trucking company to bring it to our house and unloaded it there. You are supposed to return the container within I think 7 days. I posted all the costs in a thread in the Maui forum so look there.

What about solar power? How much does a 1 kwh setup run plus install? Or should I ship my own?

Devil is in the details. Off-grid or grid-tied? 1 KWH is not very big. That will power maybe your toaster and a light or two. For grid-assisted you can ball-park the cost including installation at about $3.50/Watt, so a 1 KWH would be $3500. Off grid will be more due to batteries. If you really know what you are doing I would ship it here. If not, I would buy it here through a company that will install it. To be legal and insurable, you will need an electrician to install it. If it is grid-tied you will need an electrician.

Any very expensive items I should just ship there? I'm thinking kitchen appliances?

We went through this same question and decided to buy on Maui. Reason is warranty and replacement. If you get it a Lowe's for instance and the thing breaks down you can get Lowe's to come out and replace it. If you ship it you are more on your own.

How deep are footings or piers required to be? (Here it is 4 feet for a simple deck post)

We made ours 18" deep but the ground was level and packed.

Are metal roofs a good choice in Hawaii? Any metal roof suppliers in Hawaii, or should I ship that?

Good choice but lots of composition roofs too. Yes there are local suppliers. If you know exactly what you need, bring it. It will be cheaper. But if you don't and you need more roofing you will be in a bad situation trying to duplicate what you brought.

[MikeyMike11]

Thanks guys! I'm used to the electrician and plumber requirements, since that's what it's like here also. Just double checking because I see all kinds of weird setups from YouTube... Work that no licensed electrician would ever complete. I'm guessing that I can run my own electric, and just have an electrician hook it up? I definitely want it to be permitted and legit, as this will be our future home.

And, also curious about the lava rock... We have tons of that out here as well, and it is usually not the best to be building on. Are there any areas in which the lava is too crumbly to pour concrete footings on? And by busting it up, do you mean with a jackhammer? I never thought I would need my jackhammer in Hawaii, but I'm really glad I asked that question now. Lava rock out here wouldn't stand a chance against a jackhammer, and for 4 piers, it would take about 1 hour to chip away at most. Is the lava rock the same in Hawaii? I guess if everyone else is doing it, it must be safe to build on?

[MikeyMike11]

Originally Posted by TwoByFour

If you ship with Matson you have I think 2 days to pick it up at the port. We hired a trucking company to bring it to our house and unloaded it there. You are supposed to return the container within I think 7 days. I posted all the costs in a thread in the Maui forum so look there.

Fantastic, that is exactly what I need to know.

Originally Posted by TwoByFour

Devil is in the details. Off-grid or grid-tied? 1 KWH is not very big. That will power maybe your toaster and a light or two. For grid-assisted you can ball-park the cost including installation at about $3.50/Watt, so a 1 KWH would be $3500. Off grid will be more due to batteries. If you really know what you are doing I would ship it here. If not, I would buy it here through a company that will install it. To be legal and insurable, you will need an electrician to install it. If it is grid-tied you will need an electrician.

Honestly, I don't know much about this, but we definitely are going off-grid. We plan on using on demand hot water, and propane for 90% of our needs. Main draw will be from our fridge (but looking into alternatives there), and definitely our computer. Using LED lighting. Anyone have any experience with a Tesla Powerwall? Saw a thread about propane fridges, that I'm going to look into next.

Originally Posted by TwoByFour

We made ours 18" deep but the ground was level and packed.

Any settling issues so far? Even with 4 foot footings here, I can't seem to get my old ass house to stop settling..

[Arktikos]

Originally Posted by MikeyMike11

..Any settling issues so far? Even with 4 foot footings here, I can't seem to get my old ass house to stop settling..

Depends on where you're building. I've seen a new commercial construction in downtown Hilo that has pier blocks on top of the ground, with apparently no buried depth whatsoever. That's also the way it's done in Puna.

In general, lava rock does not settle here. You would need to get an engineer's stamp for your foundation, if building to code.

[67Cam]

I'm curious about where you live now that has lava rock?

[TwoByFour]

Tesla Power Wall - I did tons of research on it as I was considering getting one. The odd thing it was mostly hype for a year - you just could not buy it anywhere and they wouldn't sell them except to special projects. But just since September they are more available. But I am not sure they are available except to installers. Tesla does not really want DIY'ers to be installing them. And from what I hear the price for installation is hefty, like around $3k.

Lead-acid batteries are the traditional battery to use and are cheaper at about $100/KWH. Tesla Power Wall 2 is going to cost $275/KWH before installation and special parts. But the PW-2 will last twice as long as LA batteries and has better power delivery (it can discharge deeper). It is still new technology. LA batteries have been around a long time.

You should check out these guys for a lot of info on PV systems: Solar Power Systems - Complete Home Solar Systems