New Home Contruction Quality

[psanderson5]

Thanks for the feedback! Does everyone leave the ceiling fans running at all times? Does that help with mildew on fabrics? and damp sheets?

Also, for the roof, Are they painted/coated with a material to keep them from rusting for catchment? How long does the paint job usually last?

[eightfingers2.0]

Most of your questions will be easily answered if/when you come here.
Climate in lower HPP is different than up by the highway. Lot more maintenance issues by the ocean for example.
Are you going to work/commute? You may want to live closer to the highway and off gravel roads.
Do you want county water or be on catchment?
What kind of neighborhood would you like to live in? You need to drive through some areas a few times before you select your lot.
What’s your budget?

[Obie]

"Thanks Obie, how long have you been in your home? No issues with moldy smells or buildup? Better at keeping the critters out? I'm feeling apprehensive about living with cane spiders and centipedes, lol"

Previously in a 2 story house built in 1973 that was 1000 ft from the ocean. We bought it in 1999 and over the years we replaced all of the windows and the siding on the north side. Lots of salt problems from being close to the ocean. 2/3 acre lot with many trees. We had every kind of critter in Hawaii in our house at one time or another. Extremely hot on the south and west side late in the day.

Been in the new house for about a year It was oriented on the lot so it lines up north and south for maximum solar exposure. The 1 acre lot was ripped and mostly covered with cinder and gravel. We don't have any problem with critters except for gnats. It has Hardi plank siding with insulation in the walls and attic. We added A/C for comfort in the summer.
Lower Makuu but far enough from the ocean that salt damage is minimal. We have a well.

---

"Obie, what altitude do you live at? How warm does your home get in the afternoon with just passive cooling? Or if you run AC, what does that contribute to your HELCO bill? Thanks!"

Close to sea level. Attached garage is on the west end of the house and gets the brunt of the heat. House usually stays comfortable. We had a mini split system installed by Hilo Air for July-Sept. 2 units inside one is in the garage. Last bill was $177.00 with ac on 24 hours a day 2 refrigerators and a hot tub and washer dyer.

[psanderson5]

Obie, thanks for the candor and perspective. That really helps.

Eightfingers2.0, those are great thought provoking questions.
We will be commuting to Hilo, so that's a great consideration.
We are used to having municple water with no thought other than turning on the tap and paying the bill, but we are very open to catchment and not having a water bill.
We are thinking HPP is our 1st choice, Ainaloa 2nd. It's hard to wrap my head around the micro-climates within the same neighborhoods.
I've already spoke to a mortgage broker to discuss financing options and we are coming out in April or May to cruise the area for final decisions on neighborhoods.
Just trying to get our ducks in a row to make this possible by late summer/early fall next year. Mahalo

[terracore]

You're going to want insulated windows in the bedrooms, otherwise the coquis and roosters will keep you up all night and early morning. The only advantage to jalousie windows is that the entire window can be opened as opposed to half with a standard window. I've never seen a jalousie window that looked like it was truly clean. A lot of them are textured or frosted to some degree to hide the fact that you can't really clean or see out of them well.

And, it's relatively easy to adapt an air conditioner meant for a vertical closing window to one that closes horizontally, but putting an A/C in a jalousie window would be a head scratcher without removing it.

[Ccat]

You're going to want insulated windows in the bedrooms, otherwise the coquis and roosters will keep you up all night and early morning.

Yep, you want dual pane  “Insulated” glass...for noise insulation. We leave ours mostly open until the neighbors get out of control.

[psanderson5]

Very good points, Thank you both. I read that the coquis are getting out of control in some areas. Insulated windows are on the list, lol

[Chas]

I can handle the coqui noise. It's the roosters that drive you crazy.

I am wondering how many times you have been here. We looked for a long time over the course of many visits at lots of different places before settling on where we are... and really glad we took the time to do so.