to
incorporate many
"hidden" structural
"extras" that are not
available in most conventional
home construction.
As to structural strength, wind loading and earthquake
resistance, our homes have been engineered to meet the
building codes of
Guam (typhoon conditions), which far exceed the
Hawaii and USA national building codes.
Part of this is due to the wind-resistant shape, and also to a number of extra
structural measures of quality, built into every Multi-Facetted Home package.
Wind-Resistant Shape.
As opposed to the standard recto-linear home shape, our
architects (and homeowners) point out that winds will tend to gently wrap around the more
round shaped multi-sided homes, whereas with a flat-style roof, winds can tend to grab and
lift the roof, like a sail.
Some of the extra Structural Featuresinclude the following:
1.
Hurricane Hardware. All our homes are designed with hidden hurricane straps
and hurricane hardware, which are concealed under finished wood trim.
Here is an example of a Hale-12 skylight
being partially trimmed, and before any trim has been applied to the hip rafter
joints:
And the finished skylight will look like
this:
(click to enlarge for detail)
In addition to the skylight hardware, the
entire home package contains hurricane strapping throughout, all hidden beneath
furniture-grade woodworking trim.
2. Framing
Members Screwed, Not Nailed. The
Redwood
framing of both the wall and roof panels, instead of being nailed, is screwed together
with long, 3" coarse-thread, weather-coated,"grabber" screws.
In addition to the life-time quality woods, this adds
extra strength and longevity to the security of your home's overall framing
integrity.
3. Special
T&G Milling. All our Cedar siding
is of the "Hawaiian-milled" pattern T&G, which has a long tongue and a
deep groove for added weather-tightness.
4.
Pressurized Siding Application. In our manufacturing
process, we have a technique developed where each T&G siding piece is
squeezed together with 40 lbs of pressure, while it is being applied to
the framing members, so that the siding always maintains a very tight fit.
The
combination of pressurized siding application, along with the Hawaiian
milling, makes for a very tight system, unlike what can be accomplished by
regular on-site siding application methods. And...
5.
Stainless Steel Ring Shank Siding Nails.
The T&G exterior siding is applied
with high-quality stainless steel ring-shank
siding nails, to prevent
eventual corrosion-staining of the beautiful exterior
woods, and to eliminate the
risk of nails working loose over years in the weather -- and this also adds to the
shear-strength of the whole structure.
6. Solid,
Bolted Construction. In addition to hurricane straps and hardware, the
roof panels are held together not with nails, but are through-bolted together.
7.
Flexibility - for
Earthquake and High Wind Conditions.
In addition to the
above, because all of the wall and roof framing is screwed together (not nailed) the
flexibility is greatly increased, and our homes can flex to extremes which are beyond the
tolerances of conventional building systems.
After
a recent hurricane-wind storm one of our Maui homeowners called us and
reported that a very large, dense Eucalyptus tree had crashed down directly
onto their Hale-12.
They were happy to find their roof system in perfect shape, and were
pleasantly surprised because of the very large size and weight of the tree,
which was difficult to have removed.
And...
In addition to all the extra measures we take to assure you the highest in
quality of materials and structural workmanship, our panels are also skillfully
hand-crafted and inspected for fine furniture quality finish-work.
Our customers tell us that
being inside a Multi-Facetted home is
"like living inside a piece of fine furniture".
Feel free to call for an appointment to
visit our model homes, where you can see and experience this unmistakable
quality for yourself...
We are pleased to offer these excellent homes, not only for
their beauty and ease of assembly, but for the added measures of superior
quality and workmanship that goes into every Multi-Facetted Home package.
~ Made in
Hawaii ~
~ Celebrating 19 Years of
Excellence ~
Proud
to be a BBB Accredited Business Copyright 1989-2008, Multi-Facetted
Homes, Inc.