Big decisions

I'm still alive. I have to work tomorrow, so another short weekend for me. Fair enough. I had a nice long one a few weeks back.

We just got word that our landlord is planning on putting this place up for sale in a couple months, and we get first dibs. It's a good debate. The neighborhood is great, we love our neighbors, the location is good, and its affordable. Due to a combination of ants, termites, single-wall construction (A very unique type of old construction in Hawaii where the walls are built out of 1" thick solid wood planks. No insulation, no 2x4's, no drywall, no plaster, no siding.), and the entire hillside in this neighborhood shifting & settling, this house is really barely standing. The foundation is completely cracked, and it is downhill in any direction from the kitchen. Every time we have heavy rains, the house shifts, and I usually have to make adjustments to a couple doors so they'll close properly. It would be illegal to rent this place out in Cali, but it's all just part of the lovely way of life in Hawaii.

So I need to get some opinions from several of my contractor friends as to what it would take to rebuild on this lot and what kinds of temporary fixes will make the house a little safer for the next couple of years until we're ready for a project that big. I know it can be done, it's all a matter of how much will it cost. The largest factor is that the house sits on clay fill from a marsh, and they didn't understand the hydrodynamics of clay that well in the 50's - especially not here. When it rains, it swells, and when it dries, it shrinks. I know we can have pilings driven/poured down a ways until we hit something more solid, but are we talking $10,000 or $100,000?

I'm excited because I've always wanted to build my own home. Heather looks at homes that are pretty with nice appliances. I look at homes and say, "Here's a nice lot, and the house is CRAP! Let's get it! I'll bring my sawzall!!" I really want to be able to build something to my specs, wire it myself, and know that every bit of work I put into it is saving me serious cash. After years of doing new homes & remodels I've seen what works and what doesn't, and would love to integrate ideas and details that would normally be far to expensive as options for other people or that you can't normally convince them to do until it's too late. Stuff like;

1. Installing the conduit for underground service so that the utility just has to tie in whenever they get around to taking down the power poles.
2. installing conduit and laying out areas for solar power so it can just be "plugged in" when affordable. In the meantime make it compatible with a backup generator.
   
3. Putting all of the low voltage wiring in pipe so it can be upgraded as technology changes
4. Lighted Solatubes - they're just way cool.
5. Extra capacity circuits or extra pipe in garage for vehicles - Plug in hybrids are coming, and full-electric vehicles probably are, too.
   
6. Panic/storm room
7. Rainwater collection - May be better as an augmentation or irrigation source, but I've seen homes further up the mountain that get all of their water this way.
8. Re-install solar water heater - and add anti-scald plumbing fixtures!
9. Install a hot water recirculating pump. The small amount of electricity it occasionally draws is nothing compared to the water wasted every night waiting for hot water at the shower.
10. Have the plumber install a 1/2" cooling loop somewhere cool outside for my computer. It's already watercooled, pump that heat somewhere outside of the room!
11. Whole house surge protection. Why spend $20 each on a surge strip when you can cover the whole house for under $100?