Bamboo homes.

I saw something about the Bamboo Homes on public TV. It said they were enginered for Hurricanes. They are cool. They are manufactured in Hawaii. My son built a couple of them on the North Sore of Oahu. He thought they were well designed and strong. Some was mentionedabout $60/sq. ft. ?

http://www.bambooislandhome.com/

if anyone knows where one is here on stx i would love to go see it.

STX
There is a place in Little Fountain "below Canaan Ridge" called Discovery Grove. They just built a few and I believe they can be viewed by the public but not sure how to reach them. There was an article in the Avis a few weeks back about them.

would like info also. someone told me to go to bamboo homes.com.....might be able to see a pic of them..

The way I read it, they have an office in Christianstead. I sure would like to have as much info as possible when we arrive in Feb,March time frame.

Aghhh,off to fix the darn clothes dryer today. Oh well I guess it is a good reason to burn a little sick leave.

I saw the three Discovery Grove bamboo buildings during the August 12, 2009 open house. The three buildings were built on/secured to wooden posts, with stairs leading up to the structures. It took approximately 5-10 hours to construct each building depending on the size.

Jeannette Davila
Realtor Associate
Coldwell Banker Land-de Wilde Realty
Gallows Bay Marketplace
Christiansted, Virgin Islands 00820
(340) 778-7000
jeannette@coldwellbankervi.com

For those who need to get building loans on these, I checked into this about two months ago, and the bamboo homes company on St. Croix was "working with" bank lenders to try and secure the building loans for those wanting to construct here. So I guess step one is making sure the bank will give a green light. Also, some of the building covenants with the homeowner's associations have restrictions against building pre-fab homes. These homes look GREAT from the pictures, but I guess there is still the "pre-fab" stigma with some places on the island.

you can get any size kit? and does the 60 sq. ft. include roof also ??? we have been looking for something like this for a guest cottage.
do you know where the office is in christiansted. would like to see brochure or pics of some.

Does it include a roof ? Now there is a question I did not think about. I would say that if you can gain bank financing it would have to have a roof.

The next question would be will it go VA financing ? I guess if it only took 5-10 hours erect,it would really have to impress me. As for bamboos strength I can say that it is in fact very fire resistant. I have used it to make a small pressure cooker for rice. The cooker works very well and could probably be used more than once.

I did not catch where in Christianstead, their office is located. We won't be on island until Feb- March time frame so that leaves plenty of time to keep this post going. Thanks for all the replies on the subject. I can't help but thinking that I really do like concrete construction with a lot of re bar. Bamboo is very strong, but I have to wonder how it would hold up to a tree limb flying through the air at 150 miles per hour.

What ever we decide,it will be a very strong house able to resist a very bad storm. I can stand the thought of cleaning up the aftermath of a hurricane but not rebuilding my life and home.

I can scan the brochures and email the information to you.

Jeannette Davila
Realtor Associate
Coldwell Banker Land-de Wilde Realty
Gallows Bay Marketplace
Christiansted, Virgin Islands 00820
(340) 778-7000
jeannette@coldwellbankervi.com

Gilligan and the Skipper never seemed to have any problem.
Seriously I too would like to know where in Csted they are located.

http://www.bambooislandhome.com/
My son has built a few of these hmes on Oahu. He says they are very cool. They go up realitively easily and they are as strong as you have them engineered. There are several options with detail. The site says they are engineered for hurricane strength winds.
Terry all the contact info is on the web site. Keep us posted as to your opinion.

Does anyone know costs on these buildings; material only

I read on a real estate blog that they start at $6o/ ft. Sq

http://www.coldwellbankervi.com/images/pdf/sept_2009.pdf Land de Wilde's website newsletter

jeannette:

If you have the brochures could you scan and email to me.....i will pm you with my email address.
We are interested in a small one for a guest room.

I am also going to check if they are insurable. we have on our homeowners coverage for a outside structure. i think this would cover one.

I scanned them in. You can contact me at my email address below. I asked and Bamboo Island Homes is working with Scotiabank on financing but it is not settled, as of yet. Also, the houses will probably not be approved by VA.

Jeannette Davila
Realtor Associate
Coldwell Banker Land-de Wilde Realty
Gallows Bay Marketplace
Christiansted, Virgin Islands 00820
(340) 778-7000
jeannette@coldwellbankervi.com

Will my pet Panda eat holes in them?:@)

lol terry...good guestion..wonder if termites like bamboo. and isnt bamboo considered a good luck plant? guess it would mean you have a lucky house.....

i think a house made out of popsicle sticks would be cute too. but thats stretching it a bit.

I looked into these a few years ago. There is a lot that is not taken into consideration in the $60sqft.
You still have to pay for site prep, sewage, and a cistern. All that puts the cost pretty close to $120sqft. At least thats the price if you built on STT.

There is always the extra cost. The cabinets, plumbing fixtures,lighting,flooring. $60.00 a square foot more than likely buys you only the shell. They never do like to mention all of the extra cost of building. If anyone checks them out on St Croix,please post a review .

Hmmm...might be hard to put that over-sized flat-screen on these walls...not that I'm in the market anyway.

we were not going to do cistern, septic, just wanted one for a guest bungalo. would tie in with main house.
So 60 sq foot might work for us. but i still wonder if that also takes in the roof?????

This would work for a guest house.
Also, the roof is included in the total cost. It looks like an all bamboo house but there is actually a fair amount of steel, especially where the roof intersects with the walls.
The company who got these home approved in Maui are called Bamboo Technologies.