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I'm hoping that those with some experience, knowledge, and familiarity with building a house in Hawaii might be able to field a question or two below?
Although there are the obvious basics involved in home building (picking a lot, drafting a floorplan/eleveation + site plan, foundation, framing, & trades, etc) there are specifics that make building in Hawaii unique and different than any other state in the country - heat & humidity, high cost of electricity, rocky land, water meter waiting lists, water catchment systems, high cost of shipping materials + much more. I'd love to hear from folks who are thinking of, currently under construction, or have completed building their homes on the island. What lessons have you learned? Although we are focusing on Maui, I believe the same challenges can be found on all the Hawaiian islands.
Background: My wife and I will be moving from Virginia to Maui in a few years and will be living on the island for 1-2 years before building and I am in the napkin-sketching stage now. Knowing this island's limitations is crucial to the planning stage. I have built a new home here -in Va-before (sharing GC tasks) and I renovate homes professionally so I am not a complete novice but I know enough to understand that Hawaii building offers a whole unique set of challenges and way of thinking.
If you had a moment and could field 1 or 2 questions below I believe it would not only be a tremendous help to me but to others considering the same. Our goal in building a 3000 sq ft home (half 1 level, other half 2 levels) is to use as much locally sourced/supplied standard materials as possible to keep costs down -- special ordering only when absolutely necessary or when costs favor it.
Mahalo in advance!
Questions:
1. What is the lowest "reasonable" price per sq. ft. to expect from a builder? (I've seen threads say $200 - $300 is avg)
2. What is a good siding material?
3. OSB - ok or not? What is typically used?
4. Gas vs Electric - Heard gas/propane is cheaper. Any issue with using gas for cooking, instant tankless hot water heater, furnace?
5. Tips on achieving good internal house temp? Heard using fans and open windows is best and cheapest so any tips for home orientation or window placement?
6. Is there an optimal length for the eaves?
7. What is the most economical roofing materials when considering possible water catchment & a cooler roof?
8. What is a satisfactory concrete foundation slab thickness?
9. What is a good price for a 10' high x 40' wide foldable glass door?
10. For installing an in-ground pool, is there a "usual" top-soil dig depth of before you start to hit rock?
11. Do builder companies take jobs on all of the hawaiian islands? Or do they only stay on the island they are based on?
12. Is there a list of good builders for Maui?
13. Why don't I see many homes constructed with steel studs? Any issues with those? They are lighter than wood studs (shipping), just as strong, and termite resistant. Any reason they aren't used?
14. Any favorite building-material supply companies?
Questions:
1. What is the lowest "reasonable" price per sq. ft. to expect from a builder? (I've seen threads say $200 - $300 is avg) Haven't a clue, I just draw the pictures and let the homeowners and contractors fuss with that. Although a lot of it depends on what is being built. A fancy house is going to cost a lot more per square foot than a standard house. Also, it depends on how far the contractor is going to go with it. Some will do a turnkey house, others will just put up the structure and let the home owner finish it off. You do have to have the electrical and plumbing done by licensed contractors, though, so the homeowners can't finish that part. But they can do the paint and trim and such.
2. What is a good siding material? T1-11 is by far the most commonly used siding. Some folks will use the T1-11 without grooves and put a batten on it to simulate a board and batten look, although IMHO they screw it up by putting the battens at 16" o.c. instead of 1' o.c. and use battens that are too big.
3. OSB - ok or not? What is typically used? Not. Humidity kills it. Ply is usually used. Although it also depends on where you are, in a dry area, OSB might work.
4. Gas vs Electric - Heard gas/propane is cheaper. Any issue with using gas for cooking, instant tankless hot water heater, furnace? There is no natural gas in Hawaii, although there was rumor they were going to start brining it in in tanks. For water heating, go solar. For electric, go solar. There are very, very few furnaces in Hawaii, usually up at elevations above 3,000 feet.
5. Tips on achieving good internal house temp? Heard using fans and open windows is best and cheapest so any tips for home orientation or window placement? Orient the house and windows so you can catch the trade winds.
Cross ventilation in the rooms with the windows spaced on opposite sides of the room instead of directly next to each other.
Also, vents up near the ceiling help let out hot air.
Transom windows above doors are helpful.
High 9' ceilings also keep the hot air up above your head.
Vents in closet floors if you have a post and pier house with louvered closet doors to get cooler air from under the house going up through the house
6. Is there an optimal length for the eaves? Minimum 3' to keep the sun off the sides of the house. Also a covered lanai gives a cooling space for the air before it enters the house.
7. What is the most economical roofing materials when considering possible water catchment & a cooler roof? Corrugated iron, your basic "tin" roof. It comes prepainted in many different colors and you can choose different rib shapes. Use a light or white colored roof to keep the house a lot cooler than if it has a dark roof. I'd guess over 90% of all Hawaii buildings have tin roofs.
8. What is a satisfactory concrete foundation slab thickness? There's variations on the edge thickness depending on if it's a one or two story structure, but the basic slab thickness is 4". No dug down foundations unless the lot has a slope or something that requires it. New building code wants to see 12" embedment at the edges of concrete and there's a minimum - I think it's 6" or 8" between grade and wood. At least, on the island of Hawaii, the island of Maui may be different.
Concrete slabs are not your only foundation choice. I find them pretty hard on the feet, myself. You can use a post and pier foundation or some slab and some post and pier. Elevating the house up off the ground cools off the house as well as slows down critters such as centipedes.
9. What is a good price for a 10' high x 40' wide foldable glass door? Haven't a clue, that would have to be custom made.
10. For installing an in-ground pool, is there a "usual" top-soil dig depth of before you start to hit rock? Nope, depends on where you are. In Puna, it could be zero, in Hamakua, it could be twenty feet. In Maui, I haven't a clue. Also calculate the energy costs in running a pool. Figure electric rates around 40¢ per kilowatt hour.
11. Do builder companies take jobs on all of the hawaiian islands? Or do they only stay on the island they are based on? Some of the bigger ones will go from island to island, although that also depends on the project. Most of the smaller contractors have enough work to keep them busy where they are. You may also find it hard to get a contractor to reply to you if you're not already on island or unless you're building some sort of monster house. Currently, I have a client building a dairy and he hasn't been able to get a single contractor to reply to his request for bids. He's on island as of last week, so now he will be able to get bids.
12. Is there a list of good builders for Maui? Usually these sorts of things are word of mouth unless you're looking for the expensive award winning builders and such.
13. Why don't I see many homes constructed with steel studs? Any issues with those? They are lighter than wood studs (shipping), just as strong, and termite resistant. Any reason they aren't used? I'd suspect it's rust and the contractors aren't familiar with them and don't have the tools to work with them or the employees familiar with them. There's also a cost factor. I know of one contractor who was going to specialize in that type of construction and now about six years later, he's back to doing standard construction. If you choose to build on Hawaii Island in the Hamakua district, he'd be pleased to build a steel framed building for you.
14. Any favorite building-material supply companies? On the Island of Hawaii, HPM and Argus, although those are chosen for standard construction and not high end fancy. HPM is Hawaii Planing Mills and buying stuff from them keeps more money in the islands instead of sending it to Lowe's or HomeDePot.
And yet another reason that hotzcatz is the absolute BEST and MOST INFORMATIVE poster on this forum!
OP, you say that you'll be living on the island for a few years before building. When do you anticipate buying your lot? Being on-island will help you be able to pick out a good location for getting the cross breezes. Here on the Big Island we are at 1200 feet and are so much more comfortable than being at sea level.
As someone who is planning to move to Hawaii once my daughter goes off to college several years from now I have lurked this site for awhile to satiate my daydreams of the Islands. If I were to move imminently, I too would seriously consider building new as opposed to buying an existing property so I appreciate the tone and information of this thread.
I don't wish to hijack this thread from the OP but if others who have gone through the new SFR construction process in Hawaii and are able to specifically answer his questions others like myself would appreciate it very much. The one thing I would also appreciate is if those who have completed the entire process can comment on what the completion timeframes were vis-a-vis the estimated timeframes of the entire building process...the mythical "Island Time" does exist in some form even from the most professional builders I presume?
Hotzcatz has it well covered.
Propane is great for cooking but not recommended for hot water heating. The damn things tend to cut off and leave you with water that is either too hot or too cold.
My guess is that having a house built on Maui will be at least as expensive as the cost on Oahu, as whtviper1 has so graciously shared.
Keep vegetation away from immediate house surroundings to maximize air circulation and minimize bugs.
*blush* Thanks, Dreaming of Hawaii. It's nothing special, it's just the same as if you were discussing your job so it's not like I had to go research the details or anything.
That's about $200 per square foot, WhtVipe, that's pretty good. Are you helping any or will that be turnkey from your contractor? Does the year time frame include getting the building permits? Did you get a garage as part of the guest house? Since you've upgraded to a Tesla, does that mean the Viper is now the guest car and will be kept garaged at the guest house?
Water heating, clothes dryers and cooking (any time you make heat, basically) are traditionally the energy hogs. The most economical water heating is solar hot water since the only electrical costs for that is the small circulating pump. The solar hot water heaters will have either an electric or propane back up. Propane on demand water heaters are more economical than traditional propane water heaters, except you have to demand hot water (in quantity) before they will turn on.
Photovoltaic (solar electric) systems are probably the best for keeping electrical bills down. However, there is an upcoming change in the rates. Previously, it was one watt in = one watt out. Now, they are going to calculate it as one watt in at wholesale rates = one watt out at retail rates. Figure it roughly as two in equals one out. I was just chatting with an electrical contractor yesterday and he said the systems couldn't be double sized to cover the discrepancy, either. Not sure how all that is gonna play out, but if it gets too quirky, folks on PV power can always just add a battery bank and go completely off grid. More of a pain, though, than a grid tie system since you have to track if there's enough power to do things, check battery water and terminal fittings, keep a backup (usually gasoline) generator, etc.
That's about $200 per square foot, WhtVipe, that's pretty good. Are you helping any or will that be turnkey from your contractor? Does the year time frame include getting the building permits? Did you get a garage as part of the guest house?
That is turnkey from the contractor - however, it isn't done - and I anticipate more dreaded "change orders". As mentioned, this is a fairly basic guest house - nothing fancy. The timeframe includes getting the permits and it is a fairly painful and lengthy process. It does have a garage (not attached) - and doesn't include the costs for solar and other things like the driveway.......
Location: not sure, but there's a hell of a lot of water around here!
2,682 posts, read 7,585,613 times
Reputation: 3882
Quote:
Originally Posted by whtviper1
That is turnkey from the contractor - however, it isn't done - and I anticipate more dreaded "change orders". As mentioned, this is a fairly basic guest house - nothing fancy. The timeframe includes getting the permits and it is a fairly painful and lengthy process. It does have a garage (not attached) - and doesn't include the costs for solar and other things like the driveway.......
Shouldn't take more than two weeks................. (and that's Hawaiian time)
And yet another reason that hotzcatz is the absolute BEST and MOST INFORMATIVE poster on this forum!
OP, you say that you'll be living on the island for a few years before building. When do you anticipate buying your lot? Being on-island will help you be able to pick out a good location for getting the cross breezes. Here on the Big Island we are at 1200 feet and are so much more comfortable than being at sea level.
Wholeheartedly agree! Hotzcats --- wow! Its like Christmas! So many good things there I'll have to reply in a separate post.
The plan is to buy a fixer-upper, renovate, move in for 2 years while physically scouting a lot and begin construction. When finished sell the renovated home for higher $$ and taking advantage of the "2 of the past 5 years" free capital gains rule.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jungjohann
"No one said ANYTHING about a garge, and a driveway???? ARE YOU KIDDING ME"
Yeah, thats typical. The price you get for constructing a home usually DOES NOT include "site work". ie. driveway, land grading, site plan w/ lot survey, silt fences, trenching & installing utility lines, walkways, landscaping, grass, etc. Its a mistake to underestimate the cost of site work -- all of that was extra. All of the above, including demolition & removal of a old house, ran me about $50k in 2004. I GC'ed that so it might have been more to assign it to the builder.
A tip I learned and can pass on is that builders often require a "construction entrance" so they can get the big machines in (tractors, dump trucks, concrete pumps, etc) and not sink into the mud. Its made by putting down a blanket of large 4-5" gravel chunks. We put it down where the driveway was to be later paved -- it made an excellent base to install blacktop over, lowering the cost of the driveway.
Of course, all of that only took 2 weeks... rofl!
Quote:
Originally Posted by whtviper1
That is turnkey from the contractor - however, it isn't done - and I anticipate more dreaded "change orders". As mentioned, this is a fairly basic guest house - nothing fancy. The timeframe includes getting the permits and it is a fairly painful and lengthy process. It does have a garage (not attached) - and doesn't include the costs for solar and other things like the driveway.......
Yes, those change orders can be budget KILLERS! -- which is why developing a detailed plan and sticking to it is so very important. Even the best plans run into unforseen on-site issues. However the costs are only imposed when the customer changes something. If the builder needs the change then its typically free.
We wanted a 3'x6' wood railing separating the kitchen & livingroom removed. The builder wanted $500 for the change order -- even when it simply meant refraining from installing something that hadn't gone in yet. They persisted to our amazement. We told the builder "Fine, install it and I will take a sledgehammer to it once it is finished." Its 10 years later and the damn thing is still there....
Viper, how big is your detached garage and was it included in the price you mentioned?
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Beware of hidden costs
rofl!
