Post and Pier? Catchment? Subdivision? Elevation? Lava Zone?
Searching through the MLS listings in the Ka’u District brought up numerous homes in my price range. Most of which were fee simple, permitted and in decent shape. At least they appeared to be in decent shape from their pictures. Some did not have pictures, though. Every listing stated which subdivision the home was in. Searches on the Internet brought up little about the subdivisions. And I had to look up the address or road so I could see the general area the house was in. Most of the time Mapquest couldn’t find the address or road, just the general vicinity. Needless to say this made things somewhat difficult to decide if the house was worth researching deeper.
There were other things mentioned in the listings. They mentioned the house was bulit on post and pier or slab on grade. Post and pier construction means the house is built on stilts. Research showed that this is the traditional method for constructing homes. Post and Pier construction allows the trade winds to flow under the house which seems to help keep it cooler. Also, it allows for fewer places for insects and pests to enter the house. Slab on grade houses appeared to be a little cheaper and allows for more places for insects and pests to enter the home. Even though either type of construction is fine with me, I decided I wanted a post and pier constructed home. Now if I could only find a house I liked.
Another thing that was mentioned in the MLS listings is that all the houses were on “Catchment Systems”. My research uncovered that most of the subdivisions in Ka’u are not serviced by the County of Hawaii with water supply and sewer services. Huh? How can it be that people live without water and sewer hookups? It seems that most homes have cesspools. If you know anything about lava, any liquid you pour on top of it will filter down and disappear. So digging a hole under the house and capping it with concrete makes the perfect cesspool. Now, catchment is a different story altogether. Every house has a 6,000 to 10,000 gallon water tank on the property. And every house has rain gutters that are piped directly to the water tank. So when it rains the water is caught and dumped into the tank. Combine this with an on-demand water pump and you get running water. The pump turns on as soon as you open a faucet or flush a toilet.
Some of the listings also tout that the house is at the perfect elevation. Why should I care? I’ll tell you why I should care. Because at night it gets cold above about 2500 feet or so. Cold? In Hawaii? If it gets cold above 2500 feet then how cold does it get at 4000-5000 feet? I see some houses are up at that elevation. There is no natural gas on the island. And propane and electricity is VERY expensive. So each home is built without air conditioning and heating. All of these homes have huge picture windows facing the direction that the trade winds blow in from. So houses stay relatively cool during the day. So how do people heat their houses at the higher elevations? Wood burning stoves. Now I know I don’t want a house above 2500 feet.
Another thing I learned is what is known as lava zones. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has developed a map of how the lava from the currently dormant volcanoes MAY flow if they were to erupt. This map is colored and numbered 1-6. Where the lava flows numbered with a 1 are predicted to be the most likely to occur IF the volcano erupts. And those flows numbered with a 6 are least likely predicted to have lava flow if one of the volcanoes erupt. While this is very interesting, I really don’t care. Everyone on the Big Island lives on the side of a volcano. And to the best of my knowledge very few people have been killed by lava on the Big Island. This is because the eruptions of the volcanoes on the Big Island have very slow moving lava. One can out walk a typical lava flow. So who cares? As it turns out later it will be quite significant to me and my dream to buy a home in Hawaii.
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