new puna house design

[Rourk]

Cork flooring on top floor reduces noise well. Area rugs also help.

[Jeffhale]

And then there was this! Now you can realize a home beyond your dreams! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ5Elbvvr1M

Of course, it's not practical for a owner builder at current but, it's very simple because, all this guy did was to create a 3-D printer in larger scale. Companies could actually rent out a system.

Coming to a neighborhood near you, is as simple as dropping a few tracks and assembling the printer on it. Homes are being built across the globe now, in some cases claims of 20 in a day!!

And in Hawaii, where light weight sand is in abundance (Pele's gifts) the possibilities are only limited by your imagination

Hit your search engine, google or? with this: '3-D printed homes'

quote:

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Originally posted by cinnaminnacat

towards a quiet house:

"fiberglass.." i am assuming you mean fiberglass batts laid on top of the room flat ceiling, as in the attic space.

i like/ need quiet interior space. if we decide to go 2 story to get the view, i am actually worried about the household noise echoing, esp., top floor foot traffic. coquis are loud enough but at least they are a natural sound. most smooth surface finishes, even glossy paint adds to echo. i just realized that metal cabinets will echo!

what else can i do to control generated noise, echo, etc?

does the "quiet rock" sheetrock help much?

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[cinnaminnacat]

3d printers...

yep, i am looking forward to great things from this invention, but as you suggest, not a house anytime soon. LOL!

SIPS panels with maybe some steel sound more realistic. I am not ruling anything out at this early point.

/--/

right now, we are evaluating site features. the lot is a'a with decent ohia and fern cover, some possibly useable contour. but, ohia dieback is showing up about a half mile away giving us pause to consider site design. no sculptural pahoehoe, and maybe no ohia in 10 years. hmmm..

[Docmayo]

Alternative building system?
What about glass reinforced concrete over foam as built by: http://www.greenbuildershawaii.net/
There spec"s are amazing and there are already homes on island. Very cost effective.

[Seeb]

That SABS system seams to be pushing the envelope a bit, I would wait to see one after a decade of wear. The site is a little vague on a few things.
There are other thin shell concrete that have been around ponder and are proven.

[danl]

We are also planning to build in Puna a few years from now. This discussion is very useful to us too.

After reading this thread and many others, I had a thought. What about a floating floor? Since they are not attached to the sub floor, removing them when they start to take damage should be pretty easy. We recently installed some and that is also not difficult. They are available in many different materials. An easily replaceable wood floor might be the way to go.

[cinnaminnacat]

yes, i like the floating floor idea: an idea whose time has come.

our first house has strongly attached tile. its extremely hard to replace one when needed..

[gwiz]

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Originally posted by Rob Tucker
I managed to keep wood out of my house structure completely. So now I only have to deal with termites in my furniture and cabinetry. Bummer.
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Is the primary concern of wood construction in Pahoa (Formosan) termites and carpenter ants...or rotting from wet weather...or both?

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Originally posted by Rob Tucker

There are a group of woods that have good reputations. Redwood, Cypress, Cedar. All of these got their well earned reputation with old growth lumber. There is no more old growth lumber for all practical purposes.

For redwood you have to get all heart to even be red. Cedar may have the best modern potential but cedar has a number of sub species that all get called cedar. The range in quality is wide The good stuff costs more. The poor stuff is still called cedar and barely qualifies.
Know what you are talking about if you are investing in a cedar home.

Once it ships across the big water there is no sending it back.

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So, you would vouch for All-heart Redwood or white Cedar (Port Orford) actually working durably well as advertised in real life there?

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Originally posted by ElysianWort

Buying the resistant woods like cedar and redwood will give you time but the bugs will reach it too eventually. I have a friend who's parents house is 35 years old here in Puna, a beautiful home made entirely of redwood and cedar and they are now beginning to find signs of termite damage.

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But as stated, I think as their essential oil slowly leaches out or degrades...cedar woods lose their repellency to termites?

So, I guess any wood, and even for interior cabinetry or shelves, is a bad idea in the long run?

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Originally posted by Turtle

Hello. I see advertising for all bamboo housing. How well does bamboo hold up against termites? Most bamboo houses i see advertised are open plan designs. Which to me would eliminate most pest issues. Am i on the right track with that thinking?

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Yes, what about naturally "termite-resistant" bamboo then - that is also borate-treated on top of that?

Or what about monolithic dome homes? They are basically a concrete shell covered with polyurethane foam.