Superblock Notes from Mike C
from reader Mike C
This is a great site with some really useful info. My wife and will be retiring in Thailand in the next few months. We will be building our home in Udon Thani and would like to use Superblock in the construction. I would like to hear from anyone who has gone this route to get their general impressions and ideas. I have spoken with one other individual who has used Superblock and he told me to be certain to use ONLY Superblock plaster on the block. His builder used standard plaster which developed many cracks. The Superblock representative told him the builder used the wrong kind of plaster.
editor – Superblocks are basically aerated blocks. They are porous and lighter weight than you might think. The idea being that they have good insulating qualities and will help keep your house cool. They come in various sizes. Check out this link for more info on basic materials
editor – photos added
Superblocks of two different sizes with 1.5 liter bottle for reference.
Various shots of superblock construction.
Superblock construction close up.
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The pictures showing superblocks give a wrong idea because they are fixed with normal plaster. One should use special plaster and the special tool to use the right quantity of plaster. Only the first layer may be placed upon a layer of normal plaster in order to start at a relly horizontal level.
The house being built the next property over from us is using superblock at 30 to 50 baht per block, depending on the size. A little to pricey for me.
Hello, i plan to build my house, one floor 160sqm2, the workers want to build the wall with only Q-con with thickness 7,5cm do you think is enough ? Strong and insulation enough ?
Thanks a lot for your advice
It really depends on what you are after. The 7 cm or 7.5 cm thickness is roughly comparable in thickness to the normal concrete blocks widely used, although it has better insulation capabilities. Some prefer to use double layer 7.5 cm thickness with a cavity in between for electrical and plumbing, but that is certainly not the norm. As far as strength, since most houses are supported by the columns the walls are not required to be ‘load bearing’. That means the walls don’t actually need to hold up or support the roof, all that is done by the columns and beams. If you were building a house without columns and the walls were to be required to be load bearing you would require 20 cm thick aerated (Q-CON) blocks.
Put another way 7.5 cm thickness is common and additional thickness would normally be considered an upgrade, ie. 7.5 cm would not be looked at a ‘sub-standard’.
I used Q-Con blocks in my house near Khon Kaen. 75m.m. at first as they were hard to get and I had limited time on my 6 monthly visit. Then I got a load of 100m.m. blocks at only a bit more per block. So I used them in the interior walls where most of the chasing was going to be carried out for water and electric conduits, also around big windows and sliding doors. As all walls had lots of concrete beams around openings, half way up and at the tops, the 75m.m. ones are quite sufficient as long as they have good ties to the columns. Get the Q-Con rep to give you a visit, ask him for the technical brochure ,which is in Thai for your workers, very easy to follow. Use the glue they specify, also the render. The kit of tools that they sell are worth getting although the saw is an over kill as any old wood saw will do the trick. With a lot of cutting I ended up using a power saw in the end though.
Hi can anyone tell me the current approximate price per 100 of what appear to be
400mm x 200mm x 50mm bloc and
400mm x 150mm x 100mm bloc
Have I go the sizes correct from the photos
Regards
Pipoz
email pipoz4444@gmail.com