12-11-2011, 04:52 AM
When we lived in Eden Roc (Mountain View) the winter of 2007-2008, we had just built our house, my husband was away visiting his kids in Canada, and I watched with horror from our lanai as sheets of rain fell hour after hour and the 10,000 gallon catchment tank overflowed in rivulets .... I emptied the rain gauge as often as I could, but still it would overflow so I have no idea exactly how much rain fell..... I logged over 40" of rain in about 48 hours. With all the cinders, we fortunately didn't have flooding, but I wasn't sure how long the puddles would last (it being my first year there).... Madame Pele sucked the water down in about 24 hours, and all was back to normal, but I will never never forget the fear I had watching the rain just pour out of the sky (I had lived for about 30 years in arid Colorado by that time, so this "gentle island rain" was a real shock!).
In terms of insulation, we did insulate with regular fiberglass in our ceilings, and also in the walls surrounding the bedroom (in an attempt to provide a quiet space in case one of us wanted to watch TV and the other wanted to sleep). We would sometimes have mildew smells in the house, but that was greatly reduced by a dehumidifier.... I admit I have no idea if there was mold building up inside the walls (we had dry wall and texturing over it and paint over that, which all took forever to dry, but it eventually did - again the dehumidifier helped enormously) or in the attic, but we never had any indication of any problems. I think maybe the sprayed insulation would be a better idea??
We actually preferred the cold nights requiring some blankets, as neither of us likes high temperatures, but I do know what you mean about wearing a jacket.... we actually bought a small space heater and would use it first thing in the mornings to warm up our little house on those cool mornings.
RIght now, we're parked in an RV visiting one of my sons in Pueblo, CO, and it's gotten down to about 10 degrees most nights (and we even had one night that was MINUS 9 degrees F), so I am envious of your "cool" temperatures there, and even your rain.... at least you have the lush green all around you. Here it is brown and grey, altho the skies are brilliantly blue and the sun is very very welcome..... and the mountains are pure sustenance... No place is perfect, of course. But I yearn for "home" in Hawaii, and hope to be out there sometime this spring for a month long visit.....
Here's hoping you all dry out soon...
Wherever you go, there you are.
In terms of insulation, we did insulate with regular fiberglass in our ceilings, and also in the walls surrounding the bedroom (in an attempt to provide a quiet space in case one of us wanted to watch TV and the other wanted to sleep). We would sometimes have mildew smells in the house, but that was greatly reduced by a dehumidifier.... I admit I have no idea if there was mold building up inside the walls (we had dry wall and texturing over it and paint over that, which all took forever to dry, but it eventually did - again the dehumidifier helped enormously) or in the attic, but we never had any indication of any problems. I think maybe the sprayed insulation would be a better idea??
We actually preferred the cold nights requiring some blankets, as neither of us likes high temperatures, but I do know what you mean about wearing a jacket.... we actually bought a small space heater and would use it first thing in the mornings to warm up our little house on those cool mornings.
RIght now, we're parked in an RV visiting one of my sons in Pueblo, CO, and it's gotten down to about 10 degrees most nights (and we even had one night that was MINUS 9 degrees F), so I am envious of your "cool" temperatures there, and even your rain.... at least you have the lush green all around you. Here it is brown and grey, altho the skies are brilliantly blue and the sun is very very welcome..... and the mountains are pure sustenance... No place is perfect, of course. But I yearn for "home" in Hawaii, and hope to be out there sometime this spring for a month long visit.....
Here's hoping you all dry out soon...
Wherever you go, there you are.
Wherever you go, there you are.