Construction of Our Hilo House - Page 1
(Click on the islands for larger maps)
| This rather unimpressive looking piece of lava rock and vegetation is the site of our new home. This is the future location of 963 Kukuau Street (kuh-koo-OW...believe me, it could have been a lot worse). This area was created by the 1881 lava flow from Mauna Loa (Hawai`ian for "Long Mountain", due to the way its sides slope gently up to 13,680 feet). The mountain is about 35 miles away, so this was a non-trivial eruption! Despite this, we are in Lava Zone 3, which means we do not have to buy volcano insurance. There are 10 different Lava Zones. People in Lava Zone 2 must get volcano insurance, and people in Lava Zone 1 can't get volcano insurance. I guess they just pray to Madame Pele, the volcano goddess. | |
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Presto! Faster than you can say Humuhumunukunukuapua'a, the lot is cleared and rough graded. (We convinced the bulldozer to stop and smile for the camera.) It's an acre lot, approximately 100' by 400'. The operator of the 'dozer was pleased that he didn't encounter any nasty lava tubes or deep pukas (holes). Sometimes old lava flows like this hide real caves produced by lava that runs underground, then empties out, leaving a hole hidden under the surface. They've been known to swallow entire bulldozers. |
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As you can see, this is a slab house. These are the forms for the concrete slab. Basements are almost unheard of in this part of the Big Island, mostly due to the difficulty of digging into the lava rock. Lava is a soft rock, but it's still a rock. Most of the land here is actually black, bumpy-looking lava, and people make creative use of it in their landscaping. Despite its stonelike qualities, the lava is actually quite fertile, and with all the rain here things grow like crazy. (You can see Electra, my Subaru Outback, in the background of this picture. I don't have cool vanity plates for her yet. I suspect ALOHA is already taken.) |
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A lot of time passed between the laying down of the forms and the pouring of the concrete. Things do move a little more slowly here, though, so we weren't too concerned. Also,we had a run of really wet weather, so they couldn't have poured the concrete even if they had been ready. However, almost as soon as the slab was poured they began framing. You're looking at the front of our house here (Sarah is doing her Vannah White impression, giving a sense of scale to the picture.) About half the first floor has been framed in this shot. The garage is to the left, and Sarah is standing at the opening for our double front door. Large doors and windows are very important here because electricity is expensive, so almost no one has air conditioning. Your doors, windows, and the trade winds serve as air conditioning, and most of the time it works quite well. |
