Cesspool Overflow

No, we don't have a cesspool overflow! But we would like to document our problems here so no one else has to make the same mistakes.

Today, the cesspool was finally capped with about three tons of concrete, thereby bringing to a close the only bad experience we've had with our project.

Our contractor, Marlon, had recommended a licensed cesspool contractor to us before we even arrived on the island. We put off contacting this person because we wanted to get the lot ripped first and firm up our building plans. At the time our lot was ripped, the folks who did a great job of leveling the lot offered to dig our cesspool for us since they already had the available equipment on-site. Marlon reminded us that he had a licensed cesspool contractor lined up, but we went ahead with the guys who were already running heavy equipment on our lot, especially after they assured us that they worked for a licensed cesspool contractor and could take care of all the paperwork. The price was also very affordable. Almost "too good to be true." Warning....

For whatever reason, these guys didn't finish the job. They did complete the hole and did a pretty good job of that. They also partially constructed the steel covering for the cesspool. Negotiations bogged down when we wanted them to bring the rebar for the concrete lid (which was originally agreed on) and no one showed up. Phone calls were not returned. The worst part was that our paperwork was not signed off and even though we did get the cesspool inspector to inspect and pass the cesspool, we still needed a licensed (note the word "licensed") cesspool contractor to take responsibility for the project. The guy that Marlon originally recommended wasn't willing to do this even for a cash payment of $400. Another contractor that was recommended was in Australia! Weeks went by and we were concerned that we wouldn't be able to pour the concrete lid for the cesspool prior to having a licensed cesspool contractor see the hole and agree to take on the responsibility. Finally, Katie contacted a licensed cesspool contractor that had been recommended on http://www.konaweb.com/ and http://www.punaweb.org/ by the name of Paul Andrade at Excavation Tech. Paul returned the call within 12 hours, and within 24 hours, he arrived on-site, inspected the cesspool, and agreed to sign off on the job. Paul was prompt about getting back to us, and helped us put this situation behind us, and although we haven't actually used him for any excavation or cesspool work, we would recommend him based solely on his aloha. We will include his card on our "Recommendations" post.

And the moral of the story is: listen to your contractor (if he's Marlon Ordonez!) and use a licensed cesspool contractor.

Plumbing, Electrical, Odds and Ends

It's been a busy couple of days...our gorgeous bedroom window has been delivered and installed (altho our screens were damaged and will have to be replaced). Now Marlon will build a small railing on the outside of the window because the building code states that all windows on a second floor must be up so many inches from the floor, whereas we want to be able to look directly out from our bed into our rain forest... it may be that once the final building inspection has taken place, this little "gate" may just happen to fall down, and we will procrastinate (forever) on replacing it. This window has two casement windows on the side for ventilation, but the main picture window will be right over our bed, providing a great view of hapu'u ferns and all of Katie's bromeliads that have been planted on the moss-covered fallen trees to the north of the house.



Our electrician, Ross, and his assistant, Se (pronounced "Say") arrived at 7:30 a.m. yesterday. We made a fast trip into Hilo to pick up some lighting fixtures, and Ross and Se made quick work of installing the pot light boxes, stringing wire, and putting in outlet and switch boxes. These two guys are extremely professional, and not only fast, but thorough. They also don't mind making last minute changes to the plans, which helps! If all goes well, the rough electrical work will be finished today, and then we await the electrical inspection.



Our plumber, Billy, had installed all the rough-in plumbing last Wednesday. The plumbing inspection has already taken place, and Billy has already corrected the two minor issues the inspector disagreed with. So the next time we will see Billy will be after the drywall has been hung, and we're ready to install the sinks and toilet, and connect the propane hot water heater, clothes dryer and stove. Our appliances have been ordered, and should be delivered within another week, so the drywall hangers will have to work around the appliances. What can we do? It's a construction site, and we have limited storage space.

Marlon has been busy finishing up minor projects like the window installation, and making forms for the last concrete pour. One other project we were happy to have him do was to use his tractor to dig holes for five trees that will be planted on the southern (front) side of the house. We now have large holes in the lava for our Washington navel orange tree, a longan tree (a strange tropical fruit that, once peeled, looks like an eyeball, but tastes great!), a Fremont tangerine, a mountain apple (again, a tropical fruit), and a pua kenikeni tree, a flowering tree that produces very fragrant blossoms that were traditionally used in making leis. Pua kenikeni means "10 cent flower" because each bloom used to command that price. The fragrance is heavenly! We will also have a Tahitian lime and a Meyer's lemon in large pots. This leaves several other trees that we have already accumulated that will need to be planted out in the hinterlands once the uluhe is cleared: an avocado, a Manila palm, an ulu (breadfruit), a "forbidden fruit of India" which produces spicy fragrant blossoms, and a mango tree that David started from a very tasty mango we found on the grounds of Queen Lili"uokalani's park in Hilo, one of our favorite places to walk in town. The avocado, mountain apple, and ulu were all given to us by our friends Linnette and Ron who also live in Mountain View. Linnette babysat our guava starts that we brought back from Kauai in February (from Kai Guava Plantation's master gardener, Jack Gushiken, who sweetly gifted us with 6 small guava trees), and those will eventually need to be planted out, too. Anyone for a fruit salad in a year or two???

Marlon and Aiven have become family for us. We all arrived out here on the land a mere 8 weeks ago, and now, thanks to Marlon and crew, we have the lovely bones of a home. Their work is winding down here, and I think we will sorely miss their presence. True to the Hawaiian spirit of aloha, I'm sure we'll stay in touch. We are so grateful for this joyful experience, which wouldn't have been nearly as sweet if it hadn't been for Marlon and his expertise, and his very patient, hardworking, meticulous nature. We truly can't recommend him highly enough. How do you thank someone who has created a work of art that you will now call home?

Peachy Keen

Well, this is an unexpected post! Marlon, our contractor, offered his painting services and we couldn't argue with his rates...especially in light of the horror stories we had heard about the quotes some people were getting for their painting! So it was off to Home Depot to choose a color scheme and buy some of their tried and tested Behr products...a high quality, latex, semi-gloss exterior paint. We had already decided to go with a tropical theme to go with the Teal roof...and we are very happy with the results.

Here's Marlon all decked out to start applying the primer. There really is no substitute for a spray application, especially on the T1-11 siding that soaks up paint like a sponge.

Aiven follows behind with roller to even out the paint and catch any drips or runs.

In this pic, the priming has been completed and we've started with the base color on the T1-11. Marlon isn't too sure he likes it, but what the heck. With all the rain we get up here, we need a sunny backdrop at all times.

The weather has cooperated and given us a couple of sunny, dry days...so we have gone non-stop. The trim color is a lighter shade of the base...and Marlon thinks it looks like a gingerbread house in the woods! It is bright, but we think it looks good. I think we used 20 gallons of primer, 15 gallons of base color, and 10 gallons of trim.

This is a shot from the street...the house is more visible than we had planned. We lost some ohi'a trees during the site prep, but we've started some palms and bananas to fill in the spaces. You can see the water tank in the back.

Water, Water...Everywhere...

This post is all about erecting the water catchment tank, and since there are a lot of pictures, I thought I would try another slideshow. Click on the little balloon in the lower left corner to see the picture captions, and use the "Pause" button to slow it down.

In this region of Hawaii, most rural homes use a rainwater catchment system composed of the roof, gutters, and a storage tank for their domestic water supply. Fire insurance underwriters require at least 10,000-gallon capacity since there is no other source of water although many older homes have less. Some sources say that a family of four will use 200 gallons of water per day (we use about twenty!), so this represents about fifty days storage if a drought were to occur. We purchased 5,000 gallons delivered by truck to get the system jump-started. When we connect the roof catchment system, we should collect about 1,000 gallons of water for every inch of rainfall. Since Eden Roc receives about 200 inches of rain per year, we should always have a full tank!



I will update this post when we install the gutters, overflow, and "first-flush" components.

Framing Finished!!

It's been a week since my last post (my apologies to my loyal fans!), but it was not because work had stopped. For all intents and purposes, the framing stage has come to an end. Our contract with Marlon was to get the house "up and tight"...and with the exception of the custom window for the bedroom, we are there. So this post will have lots of pictures, both inside and out, along with some details which are characteristic of Marlon's work.

This is the south-facing front of the house showing all the railing along the lanai. The corner sheer walls are shown below.

This is the east-facing entry side complete with the massive and beautiful stairway.

Here is the northeast corner with missing window and siding...hopefully, the window will be delivered by the end of the month!

The two photos above are of the lanai along the front and side with all the railings installed. From here, Katie and I already spend hours watching and listening. One of our primary goals was to have lots of space for living out-of-doors...our eating area will be out here along with a glider swing and plenty of plants.

This is the u-shaped kitchen area...the window will be over the sink.

This is from the bedroom door where the large window will be installed on the left...the patio doors open onto the lanai.

This is the living area.

These photos show some of the complexities of hip roof framing, and some of the caulking that Marlon does for both appearance and protection from moisture and wood-chewing varmits.

Here is a close-up of the stairway...

with an underneath detail of the tread hangers.

Lastly, the laundry room under the house.

While Marlon was busy completing the framing, we were back and forth to Hilo buying everything from insulation to toilets to water heaters. I picked up some power tools on sale that I will need for finishwork, and we even picked out the exterior paint colors. The coming week should see the water catchment tank being built, and we are hoping the plumber will start the rough-in work, too.

Roofing Day

Today was Saturday (the end of Week 5) and usually it's a day off for the crew. But we were surprised to hear cars and trucks arriving about 8:00 this morning. Marlon said it looked like good weather, and he was here to put on the metal roof. The materials had been delivered yesterday, so with two new additions to the crew, Stanton and Dayson, the work began.

This shows the metal sheets arriving...the color is "Teal"...this had been ordered several weeks ago. It doesn't look like very much compared to the usual plywood and asphalt roofs stateside.


In this photo, Kulani and Stanton are cutting a sheet to the hip angle using a tool called "the nibbler!" Like cutting butter!


Here's one of the longest pieces going up. Because we have a full hip roof, every piece has to be cut on an angle. The sheets overlap and are screwed onto the purlins (the long horizontal 2 x 4s) with a screw that has a gasket to seal the hole.

Once the hip is formed, Marlon and Dayson apply an adhesive tape over the joint. Then the metal hip cap is fastened over that to make a water-tight seal.

It all goes up pretty fast!

In less than eight hours (including lunch), we have a roof! There is a little left to do on Monday, but we can already see the house beginning to dry out. The roof is such a major step in the construction process that many owner/builders have a "topping off" or "drying out" party. We seldom have a day without rain...we have had as much as 4.5 inches in twelve hours...so the crew often has to work in very wet conditions. But this changes everything...in fact, Katie and I have already started moving some gardening things under the shelter of the new roof. As we sat on the lanai in our deck chairs drinking gin and POG (passionfruit/orange/guava juice), the rain began, and it drummed out a comforting rhythm above us.

Dollars and Sense

Katie writes:

Many folks have wondered how we can afford to build this house in Hawai'i; after all, doesn't everything cost more in Hawai'i? I'm here to tell you, in dollars and cents, that it is do-able. Obviously, we have not come to the end of our building process, so some of these figures are estimates, and there will inevitably be a few surprises along the way. But here are the rough figures we have amassed so far for a post-and-pier house (8' above grade), 600 sq. ft. living space, 400 sq. ft. covered lanai, and about 1,000 sq. ft. of developable space at grade level:

1-Acre Lot: $35,000

Architect plans and permits: 1,500

Grubbing and ripping of lot: 3,500

Cinders and base coarse for driveway and house pad: 2,500

To get the structure "up and tight" (this was a contract which included labor and materials for foundation, framing, exterior windows and doors, pre-fab trusses, metal roof, stairs, railings, and exterior trim): 65,000

Water catchment system, including 10,000-gallon steel tank, cover, pump, filters, UV system and installation: 8,000

Cesspool: 1,800

Plumber (rough-in and finish, including propane work): 4,400

Electrician (rough-in and finish): 5,800

Drilling of hole for temporary/permanent electric pole; metal pole and cap: 1,150

Kitchen cabinets (not installed) and counters (installed): 6,800

On-demand water heater (gas): 750

Gutters (necessary for water collection): 1,500

Refridgerator, stove, microwave, washer, gas dryer (hit some good sales!): 2,500

Tub, sink, toilet, kitchen sink: 800

Bath vanity and countertop: 500

Bamboo flooring (not installed): 1,200

Electrical fixtures (ceiling fans, etc.): 500

Interior dry wall; material and labor): 3,500

Paint (exterior and interior): TBA

Insulation for roof and west wall: TBA

Sooooo. Known costs currently total $146,700, including the cost of the land, or $111,700 for the building of the house itself. The unknown costs are at the bottom of the list, but will probably only total at most another $10,000 since we will be doing some of the work ourselves. Using the combined living space and covered lanai, that will work out to about $120/sq. ft. excluding major appliances. Just wanted you to know that you don't have to be a millionaire to live in paradise....

Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenter

This was a big day! Today, the roof trusses arrived. These are all designed and prefabricated off-site. Marlon has been worried since Day 1 whether both the delivery truck and the boom truck would be able to make it up the driveway and have room to move on-site. His worries were well-founded...but both drivers worked their magic and managed to get the job done!

Here the trusses are arriving on a 65-foot tractor/trailer combo. The main trusses are over forty-feet long.

Everyone was holding their breath as the unloading began. If he had to raise the small pieces this high, what was he going to do with the really big ones?

We just had to coax these along...past the trees, electrical wires, and other obstacles. In this shot, Kulani is using a come-along rope to guide the main trusses into the site.

This was a heart-stopper! Marlon assembled some of the trusses on the ground so they could be lifted into place. We all held our breath as the crane operator maneuvered them over the house.

Here's the almost finished job only three hours later. The trusses went together like a kit with a minimum amount of cutting and fitting. All that is left is some blocking and anchoring. We should be ready for the roof steel in about three days.

The Garden of Eden Roc

Some of you have wondered what we do with our "spare time"! Since we are experiencing a relatively quiescent period in construction while we wait for our roof trusses to arrive, I thought I would post a slide show on our gardening efforts. The title was too good to pass up, so please bear with me... This tropical gardening is new to both of us so it definitely qualifies as "experimental," but we have consulted many books and talked with many local nurseries. Water is no problem...we regularly receive an inch in a day...a few days ago, over 4.5 inches fell in less than twelve hours!

Enjoy the show!