When to build walls?

[Galee]

Good points geordie. Unfortunately the photo is a bit of an illusion as the plot is only about 6 inches above the road level. There is a ditch between the road and plot which filled up with water during the rainy season, but didn't get anywhere near high enough to flood the plot. The in-fill has been provided so that the plot is level, but re-leveling to get a slight slope and lessen the difference in height might be an idea..
A friend of mine had L-shaped footings put in his concrete posts to get over this problem. The foot of the L pointing inwards to give the pillar extra support. I think I'll also provide drains in each section so that any surface water doesn't collect and saturate the in-fill.

[Galee]

Might have just had an "eureka" moment.
If back in the UK I wouldn't back-fill with soil, I'd use beach/shingle. Not checked, but unlikely to get that here, but I do know you can get some grey chippings for a loose road surface. If I use that for in-fill I'd solve the weight and drainage problem in one stroke. If expensive could provide a sub-base of chippings and then top-up with in-fill, say a 50-50 ratio. With plenty of drainage holes through the the base of the wall I hope I wouldn't have any further problems.

[thaifly]

The wife wants the land filled right to the edge of our property. Her reasoning is that someone will steal our land if we don't.

ITS A GIDDAY TO GALEE..its the thai fly from mae rim..turn your lights on ...your shelia is bang on..what streetwise and great native advice she has given you ..then build your wall ..right on the boundary line..refer to MGV 12 post this thread ..further 5 star advice...ITS A COME IN SPINNER .. GIDDAY TO ALL..ITS THE THAI FLY FROM MAE RIM

[geordie]

hooray for eureka ??

Might have just had an "eureka" moment.
If back in the UK I wouldn't back-fill with soil, I'd use beach/shingle. Not checked, but unlikely to get that here, but I do know you can get some grey chippings for a loose road surface. If I use that for in-fill I'd solve the weight and drainage problem in one stroke. If expensive could provide a sub-base of chippings and then top-up with in-fill, say a 50-50 ratio. With plenty of drainage holes through the the base of the wall I hope I wouldn't have any further problems.

following this theme should keep you out of trouble later you could look at drainage pipe front to back into the drainage ditch as well as every section or a trench with stone as the stone is a lot heavier against the wall and an expensive way to fill at least you are on the right track so good luck with it by the way re read mg12 post Thaifly was right bl..dy good

[geordie]

yep fate was tempted its not a one answer fits all situation
several questions have been asked several sugestions given
the cost was only a minor part of the issue and costs suggested are not for a retaining wall which is obviously going to be higher
Not having a finger on the pulse i will comment on a price only to say high low in my opinion based on the vast experience of one build????
More often based on what i have read on the forum as being reasonable most people resent being told you will do this you will do that and do it now?? this way ????
experience tells you when certain things HAVE to be done and HOW to do them
some members are just starting out in that experience and will always ask for specific guidance for Their project rather than a generic answer that may not fit their situation
if this was not true you could start selling spreadsheets for costings and an idiots guide to housebuilding acompanied by a couple of dvd,s for reference but that would take the fun out of the forum

[developer3d]

Like so many things "Thai" there is usually some method to most Thai concepts ie they have their origins somewhere - usually in something profoundly logical and practical as is the case of predominately rural people everywhere - the challenge for foreigners is that the Thais themselves have often forgotten the "why" - somewhere lost to history and so the logic seems horribly flawed to us.

As a side note to this thread - I propose that one of the reasons that Thais are such bad builders is that at a subconscious level they just don't equate any construction as being permanent I mean think about it just a single generation ago you built something and next year you built it again and again and again where we we come from a culture that has built in stone even for residential houses for 100's or even 1000's of years to our subconscious a building is permanent- its a profound concept if you get your head around it.

Anyway the practice of building the fence last is a Feng Shui principal.

There are many rules about fence design and construction in feng shui but how it relates here is the fact that according to Feng Shui you build the fence last is because it is often here in the construction of the fence that you can "fix" Feng Shui issues with the building.

It doesnt matter if you believe in Feng Shui or not the important thing is that once you understand why they like to build the fence last it makes it easier to "respect" what seems like flawed logic.

[geordie]

I have to agree with the fist statement 100%

Like so many things "Thai" there is usually some method to most Thai concepts ie they have their origins somewhere - usually in something profoundly logical and practical as is the case of predominately rural people everywhere - the challenge for foreigners is that the Thais themselves have often forgotten the "why" - somewhere lost to history and so the logic seems horribly flawed to us.

The rest of what you said also make sense but if you listen to a thai Bhudist their belief is to be happy with whatever bhudda gives them so why do farrang wives have to have bigger better houses newer cars nicer wardrobes is it because Bhudda gave them a farrang husband and he would expect them to use it to maximum advantage feng shui added a bathroom to my build because i carefully aimed the toilet in the same direction as the old only to be told it had been wrong since THEY built the first house even though the neighbours face different again ??
i think some of their beleifs are used against us as a wall
its a case of you have to do it or anger the ghost

[thaifly]

As a side note to this thread - I propose that one of the reasons that Thais are such bad builders is that at a subconscious level they just don't equate any construction as being permanent .

its a gidday to the developer 3d...its the thai fly from mae rim..why take it out on the thais suggest you take a bow peep at the members gallery builds..and visit a few wats etc etc..there are good and bad builders all over the world is nt there its a straight shooting GIDDAY TO ALL..its the thai fly from mae rim

[developer3d]

Thai fly in my opinion the reason that this forum exists is to guide expats through the sometime challenging maze of building a house in Thailand.

The greatest percentage of threads on here are "cautionary" providing practical guidance and advice on how not to get ripped off and to make certain that the build quality is of a suitable, safe and durable standard.

If you stop and take a moment to reread my thread you will see that I am actually very respectful of Thai culture and beliefs however I do believe that the standards of residential house construction and for this forum to me that means "building" are poor.

Are the Thai's capable of fine craftsmanship ? - absolutely a visit to a custom motorbike show here in Thailand will provide abundant example of fine precision craftsmanship equal to any in the world, beautiful work but in general I believe that Thai residential building standards are poor given the position of the country economically.

<I removed a post above this because it was a flame, therefore some of the comments in this post which no longer apply have been removed -- Dozer>

[geordie]

some statements can be taken too literally there are in thailand some exeptional builders there are some cowboys
Its no different in the uk and i suspect elswhere however a builder is only as good as your last experience the thais are working on a tighter budget and so they will acssept lower standards than us widely seen in their houses
they require a damm site more supervision than you would have to give a builder in europe that is for certain but once you have showed or explained the standards you want they will try and do it
given that there are no formal aprentiships its a learn on the job experience somtimes they learn quickly and with supervision you get what you want sometimes you are flogging a dead horse and the guy can not do what you want to a standard you want
somtimes the quality is low because it put 5 baht extra in the builders pocket by using crap to do the job
The 5 baht man is the bad builder because self interest is creating the bad job unfortunately there are more of them about than you need everywhere ???

[BKKBILL]

geordie you are right on the money. Having done a house, a duplex and numerous renovations here I know supervision is the key along with letting all know you have high expectations. By cutting the bad ones quickly success for the most part can be achieved.

[developer3d]

Fair enough I guess I can only comment on my personal observations, it just seems to me that the overwhelming skillset here in the building trades is poor.

I totally totally understand that the budget that Thais have to build a house on is vastly different to anywhere like the UK or Australia or Europe I am more talking about real world skills, like welding or painting or tiling or plumbing or bricklaying or electrical cabling.

Right now I am building steel roof trusses on the ground and lifting them into place I prefer this because I can control quality and precision of the construction so I went looking for a shop to subcontract this to ( ie weld up the trusses to plans ) and gave them a sample of what I want the weld to look like below,

Not one shop from 6 I tried could weld to my requirement and I am not a welder

To me this doesnt come down to what budget they have it comes down to understanding how to weld actually its even simpler than that as I said I am not a welder but I know this good welding begins and ends with the selection of the right electrode for the job - choose the right electrode and your 70% there.

Too low and your weld will look like bird poop too high and your blow through lighter gauge like swiss cheese.

According to most Thai builders I have spoken too there are simply one size for all electrodes but I found exactly what I needed at Global House I purchased 6 small boxes of the different electrodes I will need on my welding rather than the cheapest biggest box I could find - a difference of maybe 300 baht on the whole job.

As I said I can only comment on my personal observations and I just don't see good welding anywhere.

Haven't found the answer yet except to do it yourself and micromanage day labour.

[geordie]

i will make this reply shorter bloody machine ate the last one
Having been given an inverter welder i wish i could do pictures i decided to have a play with it this week?? coinsidence or what???
My mate gave me some instructions
Turn the amperage up untill it blows through the metal then back off a bit
When moving the electrode along keep it in a pool of liquid metal too mutch you have a hole too quickyou get no penitration
when you finish turn it over and look at the back of the weld that where you will see penitration
Following these extensive instructions i have had a great time playing amazing how easy it is to actually get a strong weld not pretty but that will come with practice
one thing for sure it beats the crap out of some of the welds i have seen where the electrode has been used as a mastic gun to fill a corner with little or no penitration

Regarding supervision it can end up as a time consuming nightmare and there comes a point when you think why the hell am i paying for this ???time to sack the offender and usually it will liven up the rest of them

Regard to your trusses have a go see if you can show them its not that dificult to do make sure they wear a proper mask not 5 baht shades and squint

[Galee]

Well, it looks as though all my concerns about building a retaining wall were in vain. Visited land recently and the adjacent rice field has been in-filled, although not leveled. I intend to remove the tin fence, see previous pics, and add in-fill to my plot with maybe up to 1mtr of soil extending into the adjacent land. This way, after soil has settled no retaining wall be required.
Ideally I'd like to talk over with other land owner but he is not local and none of the villagers know where he lives or has a contact number.
My other worry now is, what does the adjacent land owner intend to do with his land.