Site Preparation

[HADave]

Lets have any recomendations from the forum on good better best forms of aggragate to use beneath foundations whether they be slab or post & pier in design. Emphasis on a good compaction.

Why is this important? Loose fill eventually will consolidate and the soil will loose its soil bearing capacity, meaning its strength and a building could settle.

To rip or not to rip?
Perhaps to just fill in?

How to Obtain a Building Permit and when it is required.

http://co.hawaii.us/permits/how_to_get_permit.html





Edited by - HADave on 08/08/2006 03:22:41

[Rob Tucker]

The Big Island's Green Development Council would like people to consider these points when they buy raw land and begin to develop:

There's a rumor going around that
lava land is useless, that the only
way to "make use" of such land is
to bulldoze it flat and rip the rock
beneath it. As a result of this rumor,
Hawai'i Island's native ecosystem
is being lost at an alarming rate...

In fact, there are compelling arguments
for minimizing the changes you make to
the natural landscape, and we'd like you
to hear them.

#1: If it isn’t broke…don’t fix it.

Hawai'i's native ecosystem evolved over several millennia. In the process, hardy grasses, trees and shrubs that were well suited for the climate and soil conditions were selected. Trust Mother Nature. These plants will continue to grow well with a minimum of fuss and expense. Clearing your land of native foliage introduces a host of noxious weeds that may take years of hard labor and/or serious chemical treatments to get rid of.

#2: Creating a landscape “from scratch”
is more costly than you think

The high cost of bulldozing and ripping the land is just the beginning. The barren ground must
be covered with many truckloads of gravel or
cinder, and then, soil. These amendments are
expensive and can cause other costly problems.
Cinders can introduce ant colonies and soil may
be infested with millipedes. Establishing a new
landscape is an investment in plant materials, labor and fertilizers, and new plants may harbor
coqui frogs. In addition to taking on these risks
and expenses, destroying mature landscaping
diminishes the value of your property.

#3: There are many effective techniques
for adding plants to the existing land-
scape that do not require bulldozing.

Countless generations of people have farmed in Hawai'i without denuding the land. There are numerous less invasive, less costly, methods for enhancing the existing landscape. Composting green waste saves precious space in our land-fills and allows you to build soil. The county currently has ample stock of FREE mulch, as much as you want. Cracks and depressions in the lava can be used to establish roots and mounding soil around the base of plants ensures continued healthy growth.


#4: Hawai'i is blessed with abundance.

Many people come to Hawai'i and buy land
with the dream of growing exotic tropical
plants. Often, they make irreversible changes to the existing landscape in pursuit of this dream only to get tired of it later. Consider this: Hawai'i has an abundance of fruits and flowers and sharing this abundance is a special part of our island culture. Supporting the farmers' market is fun and, in the long run, you will probably come out ahead if you go there instead.

Chairman, Punaweb Committee, MSPA

[Seeb]

for any type of foundation it is best to put it on bedrock if possible or at least dig down to undesturbed soil, any kind of fill has a tendency to liquefy in earthquakes . if you must fill compact in short lifts if you make a big pile it doesn't matter how much you pound on the top the stuff underneath will be loose

[Seeb]

what is a good source of native forestry trees and canoe plants , im just about to start building a place in the lower part of HPP i was gona doze a doughnut hole for the house and fill in around it with useful things .
( mostly just grass and scrub now ) the old timers here i grew up would always plant apples and berrys and such wherever they could so there would be something to eat if times were ruff

[leilaniguy]

Rob, thanks for your post from the green development council, great advice. My neighbor across the street has been farming on 3 one acre lots for over twenty years and making a living at it and never cleared any of the land except her house site. She raises foliage for the floral industry & simply chooses to grow plants that are happy in the rainforest- ti, hapuu, palm grass, monstera, etc. and her place looks like a woodland park. My next-door neighbor, on the other hand, bulldozed and brought in topsoil, which brought with it allamanda, devils ivy, trumpet trees, gunpowder trees, and other weeds that have spread to my property and I'm still fighting them.



Edited by - leilaniguy on 12/04/2005 14:38:46

[HADave]

Thanks Rob, Seeb, and LeilaniGuy for your important points of concern I for one continue to find great pleasure in the art of keeping things simple. We shall take advice from the council and those of experience. I also hope that these replies bring good news to others as well. Thanks again, Ayuh!


Dave

[mella l]

Great topic, I would like to save as much native growth as possible. So do I only rip the house area or do I even need to rip it. Can we just clear a spot and put the post in pier right on top of the unripped lava? I do not have any idea about this, but it seems that all I have read thus far assumes that it is best to rip the land and please help me to avoid this mistake. Mahalo ALL, Mella L

mella l

[adias]

We also want to preserve much of the natural habitat as possible, both to enjoy it and to avoid maintaining a landscape. A slight addition to Mella’s question, how about the road that goes to the house; I assume there is no alternative to bulldozing this. Is it ripped or just scrapped?

Mahalo Everyone...
Ajit

Edited by - adias on 11/23/2005 05:49:53

[leilaniguy]

Regarding mellas question rip or no? Depends on what type of lava you have. If it's hard Pahoehoe and fairly level, you can get by with no ripping, I've done it. but if it's Aa, ripping & compacting are a must, as the loose rocks are always shifting. As to driveways, adias, I suppose you could handclear, but unless your land is extremely level and smooth, you probably would want it dozed. remember too, that the drive needs to be wide enough for heavy trucks.

[Rob Tucker]

Every site is different. I think the main idea in the Green Building Council note is to give bulldozing careful thought and not just assume one has to shred the lot edge to edge.

I have seen nice close work done by Bob Hill, who owns a small dozer. A smaller dozer will cost less per hour, probably take longer than a D-9, but can do much more delicate work for essentially the same money.

I do suggest that in planning your driveway you think in terms of delivery, container and concrete trucks making the turn into the drive. To this end gate posts (if any) should be back far enough and spaced wide enough to allow easy large vehicle access. A large vehicle could include a fire truck.

Chairman, Punaweb Committee, MSPA