Bamboo ferro cement house

[nappingking]

Does anyone have experience with this form of building on the BI? I have read about it working really well in Belize Indonesia etc. Similar climes. We are in Eden Roc...tent and ice cooler operation as of now. I enjoy your posts Mark P! You have made me look at my "container house" idea more realistically. I am thinking post and pier subfloor with bamboo and ferro cement mesh for the walls and roof. My catchment tank will def be made by us and fit into the land and architecture of the house and the land as well. Input welcome :-)

"In spite of ourselves we'll end up sitting on a rainbow"--John Prine

[MarkP]

Not that I am setting a good example but of course the code does not allow cement reinforced with bamboo. Cement buildings require an architect or structural engineer's stamp and they won't with bamboo reinforcement. If you go that route you will be going it alone. I rationalize what I have done so far by saying that I can always move the container and not be stuck with anything non-permitable left behind. Not so with creative cement structures.

I worry about wood and bamboo rotting in Eden Roc.

Boy, what a kill-joy I am today.

[kalani96746]

Thats not entirely true and there is a bamboo ferrocement house permitted in the State of Hawaii. The same guy who pioneered the entry of bamboo into the uniform building code, David Sands (in Pahoa - Bamboo Living), designed it, the house its in Maui I think.

Anyway there's only one variety of bamboo thats approved (it costs 60K and a decade to add a single variety to the Uniform Building code) and only under certain processing requirements. Anyway what that means is Bamboo Living (with its factory in Vietnam) is the only way you can use bamboo to build (with or without ferrocement). Any other bamboo and you couldn't get the home permitted. You can get kits from them and build but a DIY grow your own bamboo isn't possible right now. However if you're in a remote location who's going to know - but you face the risk of the county saying you have to take it down.

Theres a guy name Leimana whos designed some connectors to connect bamboo and theres a place called "Bamboo Village" in Puna too.

Bamboo rotting is prevented by treating bamboo in boric acid, a natural salt. It keeps termites, rot, and fungus off and you can also pressure treat it. This is necessary if you are in a humid environment which all of Hawaii is, some areas more than others.

Good luck

[VancouverIslander]

Eden Roc seems to be mostly a live and let live neighbourhood. Our road has more unpermitted places than permitted and nobody seems to mind. After jumping through all the hoops to bring our place up to code and get permits passed, I can completely understand why so many haven't done so. It's a very expensive and time consuming task.

[john the architect]

Bamboo reinforcement for concrete has been around since the late 60's and I would like to try working with it. Licensed in Hawaii, can stamp plans, so if you have a project, or want me to design one, and even find the perfect lot for it, I can do that.

John Maloney
310.562.0362
johnmaloney3@me.com
Hawaii Architect AR8082