Anyone who’s in Puna or Hilo….there’s a younger gentleman by the name of Dustin C. At “Rooftop Painting” who does excellent pressure washing and or roof painting. I say this because out of all contractors whom I spoke with here, he was the most thoughtful and charged a fair price. It is so true that things like that need done every few years🌈😃🤙
Next video would be great if its you showing us the exterior of your Honsador Home, and some of the unique features of a Hawaiian Spec House and Carport. The people want to know about this stuff. Also, does Aloha Internet seem to get high reviews from people, or not so much?
I built this house in 2007. This is 2024, things are so different now, anything I say could be misleading. The total bill was $85 per square foot. That covered the driveway, water line from the curb and a cess pool too. By 2050 we have to pull it out in favor of a septic. I suppose I need to figure that cost too. Looks like my son will have to deal with all of dad's crap. Ha-ha.
I might be too late here to comment but I am surprised you haven’t encountered mildew problems under the flooring with a slab. I rented a place in the Bay Area 1960’s slab and one room had carpet laid directly on the slab that was infected with mildew that came up from the ground. Maybe it was cracked? I dunno. Earthquake?
My thought is poor construction caused the trouble. Nope, no trouble with floor mildew. The house was built on a pile of compacted rock because the sight was 16 foot deep volcanic ash and too soft for building. The slab was poured on top more gravel and then two different plastic film barriers were used between the slab and the flooring. Our house has over hangs up to 10' surrounding the building. Rain never touches the house walls. The ash soil we live on drains as fast as sand so water is gone as fast as it arrives. California has a lot of clay soil in the Bay. Perhaps they didn't install drainage below the slab and put film over it.
Mildew can happen on organic flooring materials here but mostly if the building is locked up with no air circulation and the sun light is omitted by closed blinds. Some people favor inorganic flooring like tiles but we live up in the mountains and my feet would freeze on tile. I use it only in the bathrooms. @@juliebbb6031
Sure. A few of them are harmless like the finches. These eat mostly weed and grass seeds. The Java sparrows and the Doves are mostly the same. The real pests are the Ring Neck Cardinals and the Mainland Cardinals. They pull up anything small enough to rip out of the ground and they both destroy berry crops. The Japanese White eyes pierce fruit skins and cause bruises and rot. The Myna Birds are generally annoying and can get into things if they choose. Mostly they harass Gray-C the cat because they know she eats birds.
We stomp those frogs. Legally they are an invasive species with fines for transporting them. Currently we have a bill to penalize harboring them. With a scream of 90 db. that goes on and on, the only good coqui is under the boot heel. Mostly they scream all night, why some call in the day is a mystery.
@GreenGardenGuy1 I absolutely love them 💕 They are apart of Nature, and always remind me that I'm home on the island. In Pahoa, they are just loud day and night and literally put me to sleep 😴 Sorry you sent like them but please don't stomp them! Your a kind man it seems, love nature ❤️
You can't make everyone happy. I don't try. There are a lot more unhappy people around from long haul covid. Insults have begun passing as conversation. Handling it is one thing, tolerating it is another. Aloha
Bamboo house became legal to permit here some years ago. Most of it is shipped from Vietnam. Tree houses are fine for the youth. Guys like me slip, and fall on wet steps after a rain. I like my house being only 4" above the ground. On occasion I trip anyway.
Being here in wisconsin, I feel I lucked out greatly with my house. Its biggest negative is the size, it's tiny, but beyond that; brick walls, well insulated, can barely hear anything except when the neighbor exercises (I think he fell over and hit the interior wall last night.) Cheap to heat, cheap to cool. I wish I had an outdoor space, but that also means I don't need to maintain an outdoor space. And the bank was willing to back me, that was the biggest fear.
You did good. When you put in your time and energy, good things can come to meet your effort. My take on people of your age group is, home ownership may have to start smaller. With everything so expensive it is a way into the market and it can be a stepping stone to bigger and better things down the way. My first home was smaller than yours. Remember the 6 sided cabin that Weasel lived in? I never have enough space but the current home is the biggest and best I ever owned. I didn't start here though. Good comment. Aloha
@@GreenGardenGuy1 Forgot to get to my point in the comment. House has 2ft eves, I love being able to stand at my door and unlock it without getting wet! 3ft eves sounds awesome.
@@Nesetalis Well, the truth is my shortest eve is 3 feet, several are 4 foot and I have one on the Lanai that is 10 feet. I live under that one half the time. These eves are what give the plantation house it's distinct appearance compared to a ranch house, that and the roof comes down to the corners rather than the ends. Pyramidal rather than A shaped.
Keep them back at a good distance if you do this. Too much shrubbery around the house blocks air circulation, encourages mold and increase the amount of insects around the home. Keep landscapes open so the trade winds sweep through. Lots of shrubbery close to the house also loads with Coqui frogs. Sheltered buildings hidden from the road are a target for criminals. You are correct, shrubs help block noise but cause several other problems. Stay away from small lots.
Thanks for these videos! I've seen your video on fire ants, hoping you might have thoughts on controlling termites. With a slab foundation I've heard they can get into the structure through plumbing penetrations, etc.
I live on a slab and everything except the sewer comes from above rather than below. If your home is built to code you won't have to worry much about termites. No homes can be built here with lumber that is not treated with boron. Termites can't eat boron. Keep the house well painted, keep the roof in good shape and termites should be too much trouble. I find the statement about slabs to be kind of humorous. If the house is built on posts then there is nothing to stop the termites. They walk right in. With a slab they have to go around the edges to get in. When you say "I heard" all I could think was, "It's the coconut telegraph again!" Lots of strange ideas circulate by word of mouth here.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 I was asking because of this video which promotes installing mesh around penetrations through slab vs. using chemicals- ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-m4d8QRprYg4.html I'm looking to build on the Big Island and just trying to do research. Thanks Bill
Perhaps some people build different. I can not tell you if bringing things through the slab from underneath is code or not. All I know, is the only fixtures that were run through my slab from below is the sewer and it is cast tight into the concrete. No room for bugs. Running anything else through the slab is a bad ide if you ever have to repair it. Pipes and wires are in the attic here.
Jumping in on this conversation uninvited 😂… I’m a local born and raised. I’m a little perplexed, as almost everyone I know is always concerned with termites whether it’s new or old homes. Slab foundation helps buffer but termites here FLY and swarm and are in no way limited to ground only access. I think where you live there’s enough space/acreage between properties and homes to be basically shielded from termite threat. I could believe that some areas have no colonies for many many miles. So they’re not a threat because they’re not in the area, but if they were a new build wouldn’t spare you forever. I’m in Kona, on a half acre surrounded by other half acre lots in private subdivision. My house is old so I’ve got termites have to tent every 5yrs to keep them at bay. They’re never going to be “gone”. Most houses around me are same age w termites too. There’s a couple brand new builds on slab built with treated lumber but because they’re surrounded by old houses, the termite threat is real. Maybe they can wait longer to start tenting and not have to tent as often but it’s definitely a consideration for them, albeit maybe 10-15yrs down the road? I seen swarms flying under the lights at the gas station 4miles away, as well as flying around at everyones place in the surrounding area ~10mi. I think termites are the #1 threat to a home in Hawaii, but the variable being location and saturation of the surrounding area and age of those buildings.
No restrictions on use. Harvesting gets touchy. Easiest to buy it from a rock yard. It is used extensively for building rock walls here. Homes seldom use it but you see lots of pahoehoe veneers on commercial buildings.
@@kennethhudson8013 1480 sq feet under the roof. 480 of that is the attached carport. We spend little time inside around here unless I'm sleeping, cooking or the rain won't stop.
Been through all that building woes back in 2008 and I’ll just say that the timing was HORRIBLE!! The economy wasn’t healthy and the place that we were needing the most help from was the ISSUE. The banks weren’t lending out money. We couldn’t get a loan. Would be nice to have few hundred grand just sitting in my savings but we didn’t have it in full. It was crazy. We had the credit scores and we had the collateral but still. But then we attempted to BUY an existing dwelling that didn’t need to be bonded and didn’t take phases to build and wada ya know!! Taaaaa daaaaa!!! We got a loan to purchase a home. At the time it didn’t make any sense. Still kinda doesn’t, but the reasoning the banks didn’t wanna give out construction loans was because of all the insurance crap going on. “Complicated”. That’s what the excuse was. We took the deal anyway and here we are. Have a home and a piece of land that we hope will gain huge value in the future. Huge headache it all was, but it was a huge headache that is a responsible one. Now we have assets that’ll be a plus in the near future….. We hope….🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🙏🏼🤙🏼 Hey bill, where can I get a japanese maple tree? Is ice cream banana any good? Where could I get one if so??
I imagine you are asking about a Japanese Maple for Hawaii? Since you need to be around 4000 feet before they start to grow well here the supply is very limited. Importing one from a source on the Mainland is the most logical choice. There are a few up in Volcano town. You could harvest seed in season. I have nothing good to say about the Ice Cream Banana. Doesn't taste like Ice Cream. It's more of a Plantain than a banana. The stalks lean and collapse as the fruit forms. They are very susceptible to the root weevil etc. I have some here if you need a sucker but I suggest Hawaiian Apple in this area. Sorry to hear your house project was a problem. Here ours was pretty seamless. Only downside was the house was finished in 2007. IF I had been able to do all this after the 2008 collapse it would have been about 20% cheaper. It didn't happen that way though. Aloha
The only native reptile here is the sea turtle. One of the gecko probably got here with the first Hawaiians. The rest of our lizards came later. Then there are the frogs, the Coqui being a Big island plague. The Brown tree snake tries to make it's way on to the Islands in shipping containers but so far they don't make it out of the port before someone beats them to death. They have a huge fine for moving the Jacksons Chameleon around the Islands. They are the favorite food of the brown tree snake. The short answer to your question is no, at least not yet!
The volcanic ash sticks. the water dries in the sun and it fuses to the metal. Much of it comes when there is no rain and gets bound with the dew as it dries in the morning. The bacteria, algae and moss tend to make a home that grabs the stuff. The rain causes algae which might be the glue holding the ash.
@@williammeszaros3382 I don't work for the county but I believe every property has to have at least one permitted structure before others are added. If the land is zoned AG then the county allows the farmer to build additional structures up to 6000 sq ft. without acquiring an additional permit. The additional structures can not contain bath or cooking facilities. These would require an ohana permit. I pulled this off the counties website last time I needed to know. Things change though.
