Thanks. We feel quite blessed to have found this piece - 21 acres - about 20 miles north of Hilo. Returning to live in Hawaii has been a 20+ year dream. All the Zoning in our area is 20 acre AG. We are also fortunate in that we have deep soil. I'm planning on 6 months to build the house, although my wife is thinking less. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Actual construction probably won't start until Nov 2005. The plan is to definitely have the tractor on site by then.
This March, we started building the 640 sf, 2 story, shed in the pic. Here it is after 24 days work. Next week, we go over and put in real doors, start the deck, and just maybe get a partial blessing from the county building inspector. Once the house is complete, the shed will morph into a guest house. I'm already thinking about where to build the tractor shed./forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
Seems your area may have escaped the worst of Frances? We sold the last of our FL panhandle property last year. According to one of my Hawaiian neighbors, we got about 50 inches of rain during last March, much of it the 2 weeks I started the shed.
Actually, it was a very educational experience. I saw how and where it puddled in my access road and will need box blade, saw about half dozen places I'll use the backhoe to get flows open, and generally, developed a sincere appreciation for just how much water can flow down the side of a mountain. All in all, very helpful in my discussions with the bulldozer guy. I've not doubt, the house pad will be high and dry.