Single wall construction; I don't get it! (Hilo, Wahiawa: cheap home, new construction)

[Retired Early]

On the mainland when we talk about double wall construction we mean two framed walls with insulation and a space in between to make a super-insulated wall. I think it's a waste of money unless you live at the North Pole, but that's just me. So at first when my daughter refered to her new, old, house in Wahiawa as single wall construction I didn't think anything of it. Then I thought that maybe the framing was exposed on the inside. Boy was I ever wrong, there is no framing! The tongue and groove pine boards make up the whole wall and support the roof. I've never seen anything like it and I've been a carpenter for forty five years, but, never in Hawaii.

Just goes to show you that you can teach an old dog new tricks! The house is pretty nice. It doesn't need anything but it can use a lot of modernizing. I. Going to start working on it tomorrow for two weeks and see what I can get done.

[eureka1]

All the old planation housing was single wall.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Retired Early

The tongue and groove pine boards make up the whole wall and support the roof. I've never seen anything like it and I've been a carpenter for forty five years, but, never in Hawaii.

Yeah, it's just one of what I call the 1,001 ways Hawai'i is different from anyplace you've ever been before. One of my friends lives in a very nice house, of prewar vintage, which has a few places you can see daylight through cracks in the wall.

And in another difference, the state mandate to update Hawaiian building codes up to mainland standards, including such details as double wall construction and hurricane straps and insulation in the attic are being fought bitterly by locals who are opposed to such "unnecessary expense."

Have fun. Don't get freaked out if you go to Home Depot or a local lumber yard and they don't carry some of the items you consider "everyday" on the mainland. We do a LOT of things differently.

I think of it as part of our charm.

[hunterseat]

Yep, our place is single wall, probably dipped in arsenic too. No biggee. Our jalousie windows are open 24/7 so no need for insulation.

[KauaiHiker]

I love our single wall house from the 50's. I never have to look for a stud. But then sometimes I punch the drill all the way through and think "whoops, I just put a hole in my house." Hanging the hammock was tricky though, I didn't want to pull the walls in so I had to drill into the corners.

Climbing around in the attic is enlightening as well. I never knew so little wood (some of it recycled from cement forms!) and so few nails could hold up a roof and survive 2 hurricanes. You can also see how everything just sits on the top edge of the walls, with a few more pieces of wood. Essentially, it is only the box shape of the rooms that gives the house it's rigidity.

[davephan]

My dad was a carpenter, so I've done a lot of carpentry work over the years helping my dad on jobs. I was surprised at first how single wall construction was defined in warmer climates. That type of construction would never cut it in Minnesota. The standard single wall construction method in Minnesota for many decades is using 2x6 studs with Sheetrock on both sides of the inside walls. Paint, wallpaper, paneling, tile, or bricks go on top of the Sheetrock. Sometimes inside walls could use 2x4's, but outside walls are 2x6's, except really old homes where outside walls use 2x4's.

I know a guy that had double wall construction, as defined in the northern states. He had two walls with 2x4's. Between the two walls, there is space. The outside walls were 16 inches thick and they were with insulation. I don't know what kind of insulation he had. I know that foam insulation is the best. Foam insulation is far better when the winds are above 10 mph. This guy's entire winter heating bill was only $200. I've also heard of a extreme super insulated house in Canada where the whole house could be heated with the equivalent heat output of a four slice electric toaster.

Once you learn that single wall construction is defined differently, then you're OK. To me, single wall construction in Hawaii would be below my standards. So I would look for a double wall construction house in Hawaii if (or when) looking for a house in Hawaii.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by davephan

Once you learn that single wall construction is defined differently, then you're OK. To me, single wall construction in Hawaii would be below my standards. So I would look for a double wall construction house in Hawaii if (or when) looking for a house in Hawaii.

Each to his own, but lots of very fine homes in Hawai'i were built single wall. And why not? When you live in a climate that is 70-80 F year around, dipping down to the low 60s at night, what do you need with insulated double wall construction? At least, that's the thinking that still prevails in many corners of the state which are pushing back against "Chicago-style" building codes.

Yet having an insulated roof helps keep the house cool on a hot day, which is why they are now required on any new construction employing central air conditioning. In Volcano a lot of houses, some VERY nice, were built single wall because they were only used as summer homes, when the cool summer air here at 4,000 feet made a welcome retreat from sweltering heat and humidity in Hilo. But as year round residents know, the winter temps in Volcano can hit the 30s during the night, so single wall construction fell out of favor for new buildings towards the end of the 20th Century. But there are single wall houses in the village that are breathtaking.

[whtviper1]

I never really thought of the single wall house thing until this thread. At sea level, unless you have a house built or happen to come across one - anything but single wall will be elusive.

Went for a run this morning on Keolu Dr around the lake and didn't see any house that wasn't single wall.

I suspect unless you run AC full time you'd roast in a double walled house at sea level in Hawaii.

[smarino]

Single wall construction is a bad, bad idea anywhere, both in terms of safety and insulation. It has been illegal to build w/ that method in Hawaii for a long, long time. It was started when cheap homes were built for the sugar cane workers, who were essentially indentured servants. Build them a shack, give 'em some food, force them into a 20 year contract, and forget about them was the idea. I lived in a few of those houses. It was not fun. There is essentially no noise damping, and you can hear a normal conversation in any room throughout the house. Not to mention that if a strong storm were to hit (remember Iniki?), oh oh. The homes I lived in did not have plywood sheathing on the roofs either, just tin nailed to joists. Also not legal to build that way post Iniki. Why would you roast in a double walled house? Insulation keeps heat out in summer, and in during winter. Hawaii is no different than anyplace else on earth in this matter. An insulated home is much more energy efficient. You need good airflow to be cool if you do not have A/C. If you have A/C, no insulation, or poor insulation, will let all that expensive refrigerated air leak right back outside. A well insulated home will keep it inside where it belongs, and keep the hot sun that heats the outer walls outside, away from the interior of the home where you live.

[whtviper1]

What Smarino???????

Every new house built in the area where I live is single walled. Just ran by a place under construction this morning and definitely single walled.

I'm pressed to see ANY houses not single walled.