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. 

Go back to the top.

Electrical inspection passed

The electrician came back a few days ago and made all the changes we needed, and today the electrical inspector came back and approved the final electrical inspection.  That was the last step before the final inspection.

Rebar and tent expansion

The next step in preparing for the concrete pour is cutting, placing, and tying together the rebar that goes inside the forms.

Form with rebar arranged

The rebar is put on "chairs" to hold it in the proper location when the concrete is poured.

Every form requires rebar

Mitch added another canopy to the work tent, mostly to have a place to store materials and tools out of the rain and sun.

Another delivery of wood--this will be used primarily for the breezeway between the guest house and the main house. Construction of the breezeway will be started after the preparations for the concrete pour are done as we're waiting for the permit and foundation inspection.

Another one of our tasks has been to paint (primer and top coat) these vents, which go in the blocks under the eave all around the house to provide ventilation in the attic.  After painting, they're inserted into the holes in the blocks.

These are a few of the vents over the living room window.  There are just over 50 of these around the house.

Closeup

Forms (mostly) complete and chickens learn how to roost

The forms are built, placed, and fully staked.

The forms are examined by some very strict inspectors.

The chicks hatched under the house and have lived there ever since, but thinking that it can't be good for them (or us) to continue sleeping under the house, we decided to chase them away one night when they decided it was time to "roost" around dusk.

They were confused at first, and we had to chase them away several times, but we were able to herd them towards the thicket and they somehow got the idea that they should roost in the trees.  They were very clumsy in their first attempts to get in the tree, but they eventually made it up and into a large bush.

Chickens in a bush

This one completely missed the bush the first time he tried to jump/fly into the bush and got frustrated.  He really, really wanted to go back under the house, but we chased him away a few times (and physically removed him once), and after a while, he tried again and made it.

More foundation preparation

After a brief hiatus, work on the foundation has resumed.
The gravel under the concrete and the blocks has to be compacted before the concrete is poured or the blocks can be placed in the final positions.

Mitch compacting the gravel with a compactor while Steve puts the finishing touches on a form.

 The site after the compacting is done.

A completed form.The stakes are to hold the form in place and prevent it from coming apart from the weight of the concrete when it's poured in.  The strings mark the centers of the forms.

 Master suite

The main house