Breezeway construction started

While we're waiting for the permit, one part of the construction that can go ahead (since it has no poured concrete, only concrete blocks) is the breezeway that will connect the guest house to the main house.

These are the beams that will hold up the floor

Looking towards the guest house

The first beams for the master suite were also put up.

More beams and posts

Several more beans were put in place, many of the pier blocks were put in place, and posts were cut and installed.

First beams in place

We still don't have a building permit, which means we can't get a foundation inspection, and without the inspection, we can't do the concrete pour, but some of the other work can be done while we're waiting.

This is the first beam to be put in place. It's on the side of the main house.

The second beam.  The ground is not perfectly level, so the posts holding the beams have to be individually cut to size to ensure that the beams are level.

New sushi restaurant

We tried a new-ish sushi restaurant called Takenoko in Hilo (it opened a few months ago) that's been getting rave reviews.  The restaurant is very small, with just one counter for eight people and no tables.
The sushi was exceptionally high quality--some of the best sushi we've ever had.  It was extremely fresh, tender, and tasty, but a little pricy.

This is the entire restaurant--we're sitting at the end of the bar.

Some of options: raw shrimp, clams, and scallop

The sushi was so good, I forgot to take pictures of the food, but this is what it looked like afterwards.

Foundation work

The stack of 18-foot 2x4s delivered yesterday were cut into these two piles of 9-foot wall studs.

Each of the concrete pier blocks gets a metal pan that fits over the metal straps like this:

My job is to make the holes in the 72 or so pans with a chisel and mallet.

Each block holds a 4x4 post, which needs to be painted.

The end of each post that goes against the metal has a felt square attached (to prevent moisture from contacting the wood).  The squares are cut from a roll of felt and stapled on.

One of the last steps before the concrete pour is to attach bolt hangers to the forms.  The hangers hold the bolts in position when the concrete is poured.

The bolts hold the walls (house) onto the foundation

Final inspection passed

The inspector came back today, and everything passed!  The house is now officially (legally) habitable.

Ducts and an exterior vent were installed for both bathroom exhaust fans.

These are the ducts that were added to the fans.

The silver-colored sheet above the rafters is a thermal barrier the reflects almost all of the heat from the sun away from the house, keeping the house nice and keep even on hot, sunny days.

 This is the vent--the little one to the right.

We also obtained a letter from the manufacturer of the door stating that the glass used is safety glass, and that was good enough for the inspector.


Today, we got another delivery of lumber in preparation for the start of construction of the main house.  The area in front of the house is starting to look like a lumber yard.

This is mostly 2x4s for the walls and 2x10s for the framing and joists below the floor.  The tarps are to prevent damage from the sun (cracking of the ends and warping).

These 18-foot 2x4s will become 9-foot wall studs.

Final inspection

The inspector conducted the final inspection today.  He found just a few things that need changes or clarification.
First, the vents that we have in both bathrooms need to be vented to the exterior (currently, they vent into the attic).
Second, the glass in the doors (front and side) and the sidelight next to the side door have to be safety glass, but there's no indication that it is safety glass, so we need to get some kind of documentation.

Once we get those things taken care of, we can get re-inspected and have the permit closed.

Our first fruit trees

We went to a large wholesale nursery that supplies most of the retail nurseries on the island (and on some of the other islands) with fruit trees during their semi-annual open-to-the-public day and bought our first fruit trees.

A very important addition to the orchard--an avocado

Calamondin lime--a lime that is orange when ripe

The lime already has a few small fruit

A lime blossom. It has a very sweet, but not particularly strong fragrance.

Clementine orange

Miracle fruit. After eating the berries, even the most sour foods taste sweet.

Pepper (the spice) vine

A gardenia (not a fruit tree)

Chickens hanging around

 This is the process of chickens roosting for the night.

Getting ready to jump into the tree

Another one goes up. Chickens are not the most graceful flyers.

And the third one

Grabbing onto a branch

Chickens in a tree

Tree removal

There's a pretty large ohia* tree that's very close to the back of the (future) master suite that's leaning and there's a risk of it coming down onto the house in a windstorm, so we decided to remove it.

Mitch removing some low branches with assistance from Steve

They attached a line to help ensure that the tree falls in the desired direction

The line is attached to some other logs, and Steve will pull as necessary

Making the first cut

And the second cut

 

Now the back cut

It's starting to come down

It's down.  Almost exactly where planned.

This is the stump. It turns our the center was hollow, so the tree posed a significant risk of coming down in a windstorm.

The plans call for at least two ohia posts in the house, so we'll save this tree and see if it can be used for one of the posts.

Can you find the critter that was hiding in the leaves around the stump?

* Ohia (Metrosideros polymorpha), known locally as ohia lehua (ohia refers to the tree, and lehua refers to the blossoms), is a flowering evergreen tree that is endemic to the six largest islands of Hawaii.  In many areas of the Big Island, including where we live, it is the predominant tree.  It can grow as tall as 60 to 80 feet, is is generally smaller in areas with shallow soil (such as on our property). Ohia is often the first tree to grow on recent lava fields. The wood of the ohia is extremely hard, dense, and heavy, and it can be very difficult to work. The heartwood has a pink to red color and attractive grain. 

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