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!

Check Updates

This is just a note to remind you to check the Framing Slideshow for new additions. As well, I have reset the Blogger rules so that you can now leave anonymous comments without having to get a Google account. Enjoy!

HELCO Arrives!!

After being "off the grid" for three weeks, we were happy to see these fellows arrive! It was pouring rain (not the best time to work on electric lines) but it didn't deter them.

Here the boom truck is lifting the transformer up into position.

The line crew gets the pole and wires ready to mount the transformer and attached the high voltage lines.

This fellow is attaching the 110/220-volt lines to our mast. Now all we have to do is plug in!

Windows and Doors

Today was a special day. Not only did we start putting on the siding...we also installed most of the windows and doors!

In this photo the crew has applied the Tyvek house wrap (a breathable moisture and wind barrier) and is nailing the T1-11 siding on. We used 4' x 9' sheets on the sheer walls and 4' x 8' sheets on the second floor. The kitchen window is just visible.

Marlon is using his loader to lift the heavier windows and doors up to the second level. This is one of the large windows for the living room.

This is a lot easier than trying to lift them up using ladders and brute strength... a lot safer, too.

This is a view of the south-facing wall with a six-foot-wide sliding door on the left and a 4' x 5' horizontal sliding window on the right.

Off the Grid

Katie writes:
We have now been out on the land for 2 1/2 weeks, totally off the grid. Our little motorhome (24 ft. in length, about 100 sq. ft. of living space) has provided us the means for all necessities. And Mother Nature has been very generous with water! We have had over an inch of rainfall just in the past 24 hours! The canopy on our RV is tilted so that the rainfall ends up in a 24-gallon plastic trashcan with a mesh screen covering to filter out leaves and other large debris. We then use a small bucket to scoop the water out, and using a large funnel with a 1-foot long piece of dishwasher hose, we pour the water into our onboard water tank, which holds approximately 40 gallons of water.




This tank supplies us with water for dishwashing, showering, and washing hands. We add bleach to the tank, which we feel is sufficient for the short term here, until we get our water catchment system installed and start using all the filters, including a UV lamp. We have 2 five-gallon water jugs which we take to have filled with reverse osmosis water in nearby Kea'au; it costs $1.00 for 5 gallons of water, which is a bargain. We use this water for cooking, drinking, and brushing our teeth. So far, no problems! It is such a marvel to me, after living so long in Colorado and Arizona where water is so precious, to gather rainwater for our own use. So simple! Once our 10,000-gallon water catchment system is installed, I won't be so parsimonious about taking short showers! Our onboard water heater only heats up 6 gallons of water at a time (using propane, which is also onboard), which means that we take "camp showers" meaning you turn the water on, get wet, turn the water off, soap up, turn the water on and rinse off, etc. But we usually are conservative enough that one heating of the water tank is enough for both of us to take showers and also to do the dishes, which I only do once daily (Mom, don't read this!).



This is an 800-watt inverter connected to the 12-volt coach battery which provides 115-volt AC juice to recharge the laptop and cell phone batteries. The onboard generator is loud, so we only fire it up in the morning (a handy little switch inside the RV) for the coffee maker, the toaster, and the microwave. We usually don't use the generator more than about a half-hour a day, tops. But we are very conscientious about use of lights and other drains on the coach battery. Both of us read at night, or else we watch DVD's (we're currently watching Season 2 of "Lost" and we're totally addicted!), or write on the laptop, so we do use lights and the laptop quite a bit at night. We aren't suffering here, but we are conservative with energy use, which is good practice for when the electricity is actually hooked up...electric rates in Hawai'i are quite high.
And today, HELCO (the Hawaiian Electric Company) came out and installed the transformer and connected the lines....unfortunately, they brought the wrong meter, so we will have to wait for the right one to be brought back out....but POWER is in the near future!! At that point, we will run an extension cord from the RV to the electric pole, and voila....no worries about running the battery low! And our builder, Marlon, will be happy to have power for his tools so that he isn't having to rely on his generator (or our onboard generator, when his wasn't working). At times, we've toyed with choosing alternative energy sources, but for now, hooking up to the grid will suit our needs.
So our little self contained home on wheels has provided us a dry, warm (not that we've needed the furnace, but we do have one, and also an air conditioner onboard), comfortable abode while we are building. We have a 3-burner stove, a convection/microwave oven (I admit to not doing much baking in it, though), and a double sink for dishes. We do lack counter space, but we've managed nicely for 2 years now. We also have a bathroom sink, and of course, the toilet and shower. This RV is a "Class C" motorhome, which means it has a bunk over the truck cab. It also has a queen sized bed in the rear of the coach. So the bunk bed is used for our book case (yes, we read a lot!), and for storage of file boxes and other miscellaneous items. So far, although we've been tempted to build or buy a storage shed, we are doing just fine with the amount of storage we have onboard the RV. Nature does abhor a vacuum and empty space attracts "stuff."
This motorhome has been my house for 2 years now, and I will be sad to see her go, but once the house is built, I will need to sell the RV... we can use the profits for ...oh, simple things like furniture!!! LOL!! I figure someone here in Hawai'i will love having the convenience of living on-site while their house is being built, or else someone in the construction business will enjoy having all the amenities of home on the building site. So our little motorhome will continue to find use here on the Big Island, I am sure. And I have to admit that having a "bit" more space in the new house will be a welcome change, after 2 years of RV'ing!