Questions about building a small cabin in Fern Acres Hawaii (Pahoa: homes, utilities)

[poschulte]

Originally Posted by alaskangrown

Totally. Where foes she have land?

I've looked at some kits (so briefly!), and the ONLY way they'd be cheaper was if you compared it to having to pay for someone to build a home for you. If you provide your own labour, you're just building equity.

I'd be curious to see if they have a website though, as it might be a good idea for some. My main concern too would be that the design would be poorly suited for the tropics, as many of the kits we saw. Yurts are a good fit, when outfitted with screen windows and vents.

It's a subdivision (Nana Vali) on the big Island. I noticed the lava is only about 6 inches down. Her road has no utilities yet either. So I've told her that for the time being anyway, she augt to forget about building since sewer, water and electric will all be a hassle. She's not taking my advise very easily though. I do like the Yurt idea though if I have to do something temporary.

[hotzcatz]

Originally Posted by mproveaux

Actually, did you know that if you don't specify windows in your building plans, no windows are required by code. And you can use recycled materials so long as they are not structural; a guy in our hood installed used metal roofing that looks like it's rusted beyond the point of use, but his house passed!<snip>

The code does require windows for residential construction. I think it states that habitable rooms are required to have 10% of the floor area in "glazed exterior openings" and 5% of the floor area in "openable openings" for ventilation purposes. There are different window codes depending on the use of the building.

[hotzcatz]

Originally Posted by poschulte

It's a subdivision (Nana Vali) on the big Island. I noticed the lava is only about 6 inches down. Her road has no utilities yet either. So I've told her that for the time being anyway, she augt to forget about building since sewer, water and electric will all be a hassle. She's not taking my advise very easily though. I do like the Yurt idea though if I have to do something temporary.

Nanawale will never have sewer connections so don't worry about waiting for them. Well, "never" is a long time, but within the next fifty years I see it as very unlikely. Since she's in an area off power, she's somewhere near the back of the sub, so it will be a long time until (or if) water gets there, too.

Building in Nanawale is not a problem, I built what I think is a nice house there back in the late '90's. This house cost less than $30K to build although that is basically the price for materials only since I did most of the work myself. I did have a part time helper, though.

It's a two bedroom house, fully permitted house, about 1,200 square feet. If I were to do it again, I'd be tempted to enclose the carport area as a lanai and park the car around back. I'd make the front window bigger, too.

The house was designed to be inexpensive as far as lumber sizes and lengths go as well as easy to build since it was just me building it. I'm also a female, so it's not like I can move heavy objects easily but persistence and levers will do wonders. The house is on a concrete slab foundation, post and pier would be a bit more expensive although easier on the feet. I did have a crew come in and help during the concrete pour. They were paid cash for the day as well as lunch and beer. There is a septic system instead of a sewer connection. If you have the dozer guy who clears the lot dig the septic hole that saves $$$ on the septic costs. This house was on power, though, you'd have to add about $10K - $15K for a photovoltaic power system. The water system is from rain being caught on the roof which is very typical in that area.

Since drawing blueprints is what I do, this house was designed with me in mind, I don't know if your girlfriend would have the same considerations as I did or not. If she can swing a hammer, she should be able to build a house. Oh, there's a book called "Basic Homebuilding" by Ortho Press. Get her a copy of that book and see what she can build, you might be amazed.

[alaskangrown]

This house is adorable! I love the colour

[mdand3boys]

Nanawale subdivision has electric and telephone throughout the entire subdivision. IF there isn't a pole near enough to your new home, the association has it as a requirement that they pay for the extension to get power to you. Only the upper, older portion has county water, everyone else is on catchment. Cable TV is ran to most of the upper parts (which have the most houses).

There are some other rules which mandate that your home be built within 1 year of the building permit being pulled and you can actually live in a shed or trailer within that 1 year time period.
If you don't want to abide by the rules, you may not want to build in Nanawale. They are serious about cleaning up the subdivision and have been fining violators and filing liens against properties.

[hotzcatz]

I was hoping to match the new ohia leaves with the paint color. If a bit of nitrogen were spread around the yard to dispel the yellow tinge, that shade of green would blend in nicely with the trees. These days, with the color matching at the hardware stores, I'd be able to take a new ohia leaf into the store and say "match this, please" and get the exact color wanted.

If I were to do it again, I think I'd add in a bit of gable detail on both portions of the roof. Sort of those old style vertical wood slat vents would add some nice character to the front of the house as well as more ventilation. I'd also be tempted to add wood louvers above and below the windows. There wasn't as much cross breezes as I'd hoped there. And one of those pull down attic ladders instead of the ladder type attic access it has. Still, for a "cheap" house, I think it turned out well. I think houses like this could be built for about that price plus maybe twenty percent, but someone would have to be willing to swing a hammer. Fortunately, the parts were all in small manageable sizes. The roof trusses were delivered to the top of the walls, too, so they just had to be pushed into place and tipped up. Building a house is actually a lot of fun, IMHO.

[YurtGirl]

If you go with the right yurt company, then mildew and moisture are not a concern whatsoever. Plus, they are far more secure than most houses, with the door being the easiest place to gain entry. There are local companies who help ensure proper design and upgrades and yes, yurts are FAR cheaper than building a any other standard kit home that I've heard of.

[poschulte]

Like the Yurt idea. They normally built on a raised platform there for critter control? Do you have a company you suggest and is there one in Hawaii?

[hotzcatz]

Send her a PM and inquire, I think she represents a yurt company. There are less expensive ways to build a home than building a kit house but kits are easier since all the decisions are already made.

Are yurts allowed in Nanawale? Don't they have CCR's requiring a certain square footage and such?

[leilaniguy]

Nanawale requires 880 sq. ft. I've not seen a yurt there, but the association might permit one. They approved the beehive house at the corner of Flower and Tutu roads. You can see it on
Google earth streetview, just type in "14-3444 Tutu Ln. Pahoa". Quite an edifice. I wonder if it leaks?