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Old 04-10-2011, 12:28 PM
 
129 posts, read 389,738 times
Reputation: 231

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Quote:
Originally Posted by PacificFlights View Post
I think it makes it more low class because this is not like homeless camop, but people who own and live like a shanty town. Dont mean to upset and I really hope that the way it seems passing through is not the way it is.
Puna is a large, sparsely populated district and the subdivision lots are typically one to three acres in size, so it's hardly a shanty town. There are low income families living there, because it's by far the cheapest land in the islands.

But it's not all poor people, rebels and bandits by any means. Some of my neighbors were university professors, some were 'refugees' from high powered jobs on the mainland. There are lots of decent, hard working, educated people in Puna.

However, I don't think there's anything Puna is "passing through" as much as "trending towards". And all I could see trending in my 20 years there, was more people of all kinds.

It's always had a certain "lawless" quality to it, but if anything, that's declined over the years. The respectable types, and more people in general, seem to have made the area seem more "legitimate" to the county authorities. When the subdivisions were carved out in the late fifties, locals apparently saw it as only an investment scam for visitors. The idea of actually living there was still alien to most locals into the early seventies, so whatever went on there, was ... well, just too far back to bother with. That's changed.
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Old 04-10-2011, 12:35 PM
 
129 posts, read 389,738 times
Reputation: 231
Quote:
Originally Posted by OpenD View Post
To be honest, I've seen people living in 10 x 20 carport tents, with sides added, down in the Pahoa area. And as long as they don't **** off any neighbors, they don't get hassled.*
There used to be (still is?) an A-frame cabin in Orchidland that was built without a permit. Right on the road, it could not escape the notice of the building inspector, who would tell the owner that it had to be torn down. The owner would agree, and the inspector would be satisfied.

A few months later, that scene would be repeated. It went on for years.
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Old 04-29-2011, 01:50 PM
 
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
14 posts, read 64,135 times
Reputation: 21
I decided that I love being "plugged in", it would be too much work, and I'm not ready for that type of commitment....
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Old 09-09-2011, 04:45 AM
 
2 posts, read 3,339 times
Reputation: 10
This thread has been very helpful....I will not be considering an RV now that I am better informed. Thanks to everyone who contributed.
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Old 09-12-2011, 06:37 PM
 
Location: Puna, Hawaii
4,412 posts, read 4,900,190 times
Reputation: 8042
Quote:
Originally Posted by car2 View Post
This thread has been very helpful....I will not be considering an RV now that I am better informed. Thanks to everyone who contributed.
Google "shipping container housing". Its probably the RV alternative you're looking for and the high cubes can be made into permittable homes.
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Old 09-12-2011, 07:39 PM
 
7,150 posts, read 10,896,236 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by terracore View Post
Google "shipping container housing". Its probably the RV alternative you're looking for and the high cubes can be made into permittable homes.
Shipping containers can be made into interesting housing ... but that can be said of many materials and techniques. I offer the following observations for consideration:
shipping containers offer only quick base walls, roof, and floor -- which are not the hard parts of building a house ...
Shipping containers still require foundations ...
shipping containers are steel ...
Hawaii is an intensely salt-air climate ...
salt rusts iron and steel with a quickness unless expertly protected ...
protection against the salt climate will have to be regularly and religiously maintained ...
shipping containers, like all metal structures, "sweat" like crazy with ambient humidity -- living in them requires special, insulated, moisture-barrier inner walls ...
base walls, floors, and roofs represent far less then 50% of the cost of building a home ...
walls, floors, ceilings all need finished surfaces for living ...
and then one needs: plumbing, wiring, cabinets, fixtures, windows, doors, porches, and more.

When all is said and done, your shipping container house will need constant attention and will cost you nearly as much, if not equally as much, as any other home.

In the tropics, consider traditional approaches to tropical challenges of: vermin, air flow / ventilation / cooling, insects, moisture / humidity, salt ... etc.
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Old 09-13-2011, 07:22 PM
 
Location: Puna, Hawaii
4,412 posts, read 4,900,190 times
Reputation: 8042
Quote:
Originally Posted by nullgeo View Post
Shipping containers can be made into interesting housing ... but that can be said of many materials and techniques. I offer the following observations for consideration:
shipping containers offer only quick base walls, roof, and floor -- which are not the hard parts of building a house ...
Shipping containers still require foundations ...
shipping containers are steel ...
Hawaii is an intensely salt-air climate ...
salt rusts iron and steel with a quickness unless expertly protected ...
protection against the salt climate will have to be regularly and religiously maintained ...
shipping containers, like all metal structures, "sweat" like crazy with ambient humidity -- living in them requires special, insulated, moisture-barrier inner walls ...
base walls, floors, and roofs represent far less then 50% of the cost of building a home ...
walls, floors, ceilings all need finished surfaces for living ...
and then one needs: plumbing, wiring, cabinets, fixtures, windows, doors, porches, and more.

When all is said and done, your shipping container house will need constant attention and will cost you nearly as much, if not equally as much, as any other home.

In the tropics, consider traditional approaches to tropical challenges of: vermin, air flow / ventilation / cooling, insects, moisture / humidity, salt ... etc.
I would never consider a shipping container for permanent housing, but I would choose one over a tent.
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Old 09-13-2011, 08:15 PM
 
941 posts, read 1,966,663 times
Reputation: 1338
terracore: "I would never consider a shipping container for permanent housing, but I would choose one over a tent."

Not if you've been inside a shipping container sitting outside in the tropical sun! Sure, to make a shipping container livable, you have to cut holes and redo the inside. Might as well buy/rent and RV.

A large tent, with a tarp tent over it is the preferred and preferrable way of living outdoors in Hawaii. You could set up a cot inside, and a kitchen sink outside, and a porta-potty if you're on your own land.
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Old 09-13-2011, 09:24 PM
 
7,150 posts, read 10,896,236 times
Reputation: 3806
Quote:
Originally Posted by terracore View Post
I would never consider a shipping container for permanent housing, but I would choose one over a tent.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KauaiHiker View Post
terracore: "I would never consider a shipping container for permanent housing, but I would choose one over a tent."

Not if you've been inside a shipping container sitting outside in the tropical sun! Sure, to make a shipping container livable, you have to cut holes and redo the inside. Might as well buy/rent and RV.

A large tent, with a tarp tent over it is the preferred and preferrable way of living outdoors in Hawaii. You could set up a cot inside, and a kitchen sink outside, and a porta-potty if you're on your own land.
Terra -- I understand your thought here, but KauaiHiker is correct ... a tent will serve you better in the tropics for several reasons ... that said, if you want something more substantial and permanent you are better off considering structures that are primarily suitable for all ventilation considerations: heat and moisture. Many visitors to Hawaii laugh in disdain at the "flimsy" structures they see so commonly ... but it is often the case that those houses deal well with the conditions. Ventilation is rule #1.
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Old 09-15-2011, 09:20 PM
 
Location: Puna, Hawaii
4,412 posts, read 4,900,190 times
Reputation: 8042
Quote:
Originally Posted by KauaiHiker View Post
terracore: "I would never consider a shipping container for permanent housing, but I would choose one over a tent."

Not if you've been inside a shipping container sitting outside in the tropical sun! Sure, to make a shipping container livable, you have to cut holes and redo the inside. Might as well buy/rent and RV.

A large tent, with a tarp tent over it is the preferred and preferrable way of living outdoors in Hawaii. You could set up a cot inside, and a kitchen sink outside, and a porta-potty if you're on your own land.
Agreed. I was thinking of the container only for securing belongings while off the property.
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