Building House in Udon

[setaputra]

Building in Thailand is all about understanding what is happening and being in control. In my Sarapii thread there are a few posts where I comment on the checking done by the site engineers, manager and foreman. They keep a very good control file showing the invoice from the supplier giving the quality spec, in the case of the concrete they took three random samples for analysis, they checked the three different stress levels of the prestressed slabs before signing the delivery note. They checked and photographed the bonding of the slabs. They have a good relationship with the suppliers and it is fair to both sides - no unhappy surprises later.

[MrRee]

Update 5c



So, the above video shows the French drain experiment as mentioned previously. There is another thread discussion about French drains. The title is "French Drains". I'm posting the same video there for discussion there.

[MrRee]

Update 6a

Ah, bliss! Things continue to progress well. The workers are now putting up the framework for the roof beams after wrapping the support columns. We also framed the septic tanks for a cement pour. I think I explained previously that one tank is for grey water (showers, bathroom sinks, washing machine). The grey water will be recycled and used for flushing the toilet and watering the lawn at night. There will be a pump on a timer which will switch on automagically and water the lawn from 2100-0000. That will be after the air and ground has cooled which will reduce evaporation which means more water actually gets absorbed by the roots. More on that later.

The video below shows progress to date.



Note that the formwork we've been using is all wood. This is because rented formwork is available in only limited lengths and you can't exactly cut steel formwork to fit your beam or column length. Additionally, workers would need to grease steel formwork with motor oil (most common) so that it comes off when the concrete has cured. This adds a layer of additional time and expense. The steel results in a truer pour, but the right wood - when braced properly - yields the same results and is much easier to cut or add to get the right custom lengths. Beware or be aware that mixing steel and wood formwork may yield lengths that are straight, then bowed if the wood length is not braced properly or if a substandard wood is used. I think most workers are adept at smoothing out such imperfections, but try to avoid mixing steel and wood formwork in the same length if possible. Another advantage of using wood is that if it is removed carefully, it can be reused later versus having to rent steel formwork longer/again. A con to using wood is that it is significantly more expensive than what you might pay back in your home country. I can tell you that plopping down THB 10k and seeing the few lengths that are delivered leaves a somewhat empty feeling in the gut. Sort of like ordering Imperial Crab at a fancy restaurant and getting one or two half-shells.

Hey, my brother just came from a "secret mission" to check on some other houses and brought back some ngoh and mancoot! My favorite fruits! Gotta go...

Take-away lesson: Today is another one of those days that you recall you dreamed about way back then...

[MrRee]

Update 6b

CPAC pre-stressed concrete floors have arrived! Errr...earlier than they were supposed to arrive. Better early than late, though. We hoisted them up and will lay them properly later.



Take-away lesson: TIT. It comes when it comes.

[MrRee]

Update 6c

So, I'm walking around and can't help but wonder: When are they going to take those support poles out from under the beams? They have literally been there forever and the beams appear to be cured well past the stage where they would be necessary. So I asked my Uncle (the co-foreman in the red-white jacket). I would love to share his rather frank and funny reply exactly as he put it, but I am sure the nuance would be lost in translation and delivery. But to paraphrase, he says one would be absolutely batty to remove the support poles from beams earlier than 15 days; and if there is no immediate reason to remove them after that, then let them stay put.

The reason being is that concrete cures for years, not just until it looks dry (there is a good discussion about this in the concrete section of the site). If the beams are removed, it increases the opportunity for the beams to sag. Sagging beams (at times not so visible just looking at them), are not good and may cause other structural problems.

The video below shows the 3 or so poles left behind to brace these "done" beams.



The pre-stressed floors are overhead, but will be moved later.

[MrRee]

Update 6d

Hurray! Today marked a milestone. The completion of the building structure! Everyone celebrated with a well-deserved full day pay for a half day's work, a prayer ceremony (lol...I hope that is a good thing) , and some "refreshments".



They all worked their butts off through a driving rain and into the early evening to finish the top beam pour 2 days ago. The last roof column was poured today which marks the time for the roofers to come and inspect - which they did today. Everything was satisfactory and we are awaiting the final list of things to order in advance of them starting in a couple of weeks.

This also marks the time to order the windows, doors, and wall blocks. More about that later, but it's gonna be $weet!

[MrRee]

Update 7a

The pre-stressed concrete floors have been laid and a generous 10 cm layer of concrete poured on top of that for added floor strength. We also poured the walkway around the house perimeter and poured the last room on the first floor after digging it out, compacting, and filling as we had to do with the other rooms. We also poured the covering for the grey and black water tanks. Only the black cover (and blue exhaust pipe) will show after it is topped with dirt and grass planted.

The steel for the roof has arrived. The roofer said they could start a week early (Monday), but then something came up. Looks like they may start tomorrow, instead. Ordering the blocks for the walls has been challenging. Encountered a lot of false assurances and a little padding of the quoted prices for Qcon, Thaicon, and [?] before ordering Smart Block. THB 52 per 20 x 20 x 60 block. Yep, it's all going to be 20 cm block inside and out for all walls where there is a 20 cm column. This is so that the columns do not show for a really nice finished look later. It is also to provide the overcompensating additional support. Also, the beams are 15 cm, so going with a double 7.5 cm wall would not be ideal. More on the walls when they go in. Two full trailers should be arriving this weekend with the blocks. If we end up with extra, we'll make a shed to keep the formwork and other materials for the next build.




Today is another slow day. Most workers have the day off and a few are doing "busy work" like reinspecting, detailing, tidying up, etc. It's also payday, so my brother is busy with taking care of that. He gives me a number, the wife confirms it, and I release the funds. I do not get involved with keeping track of advances, deductions, OT, etc. It would hurt my head.

I suppose he next update will be posted after the roofers start. Stay tuned!

Take-away lesson: It sure is hot today...




The roof steel has arrived

[MGV12]

Update 7a

Ordering the blocks for the walls has been challenging. Encountered a lot of false assurances and a little padding of the quoted prices for Qcon, Thaicon, and [?] before ordering Smart Block. THB 52 per 20 x 20 x 60 block. Yep, it's all going to be 20 cm block inside and out for all walls where there is a 20 cm column. This is so that the columns do not show for a really nice finished look later. It is also to provide the overcompensating additional support. Also, the beams are 15 cm, so going with a double 7.5 cm wall would not be ideal. More on the walls when they go in. Two full trailers should be arriving this weekend with the blocks. If we end up with extra, we'll make a shed to keep the formwork and other materials for the next build.

Your modified style of posting is appreciated by me and [don't speak for them] possibly many other members. Personally I appreciate everyone who takes the time to post; as every experience is valuable to those [at least] who have limited experience of building in Thailand; it's a constantly fluctuating platform. Your price for 20x20x60 blocks is fair at 52 Baht, as you have found QCon and the increasing number of alternative AAC blocks can vary significantly in price. I recently used PCC [Piboon Concrete Company Ltd] blocks of the same size for load bearing walls, they also make blocks for sale under the CPAC name and manufacture well-priced pre-stressed slabs as well, these were 47 Baht per block ........... maybe they are only currently available in northern provinces direct from PCC but maybe other provinces [no idea of the price] from CPAC outlets.

[MrRee]

Thank you for the kind words and helpful info. Both are welcome and appreciated.

Correction: The concrete pour on the 2nd floor was ~6-7 cm, not 10 cm. The depth of the floor is 10 cm and I forgot to allow for the thickness of the pre-stressed concrete slabs. All concrete pours are reinforced with appropriate steel. By depth, I mean there may be a beam of 40 cm height which connects to a perpendicular beam of 50 cm height. The slabs are laid side-by-side across the 40 cm beams and attached at the protruding rebar at the ends to the protruding rebar (that one should have) at the mid-line of the 40 cm beam. When laid and attached, the floor will be about 6-7 cm below the perpendicular 50 cm beam height. One needs to pour concrete to that 50 cm beam height and level the floors.

I have a video of the slabs being installed which I did not post, but it is just a matter of lining them up and checking or cutting them to length. Nothing to it, really. I was not onsite during the latest concrete pour, so I do not have a video of that.

[MrRee]

Update 7b

The roofers have arrived! They sent 3 guys to basically just check everything is ok and spray the steel with rustproofing. The rustproofing is the red stuff that looks like rust in the video .

Yesterday was a day off since there is not much work to be done while we await the blocks to arrive and becauseit was the day after payday; and the workers need to rush home and take care of bills or whatever. We have a skeleton crew of just a few people going over things meticulously and finding "busy work" to do.

The video shows a view from the 2nd floor looking down and around. Note the standing rainwater in the sunken den/entertainment room. It is proof positive that if moisture can't get out because of the plastic sheeting underneath, it sure as heck can't get in. No, it doesn't harm the concrete.

The 2nd floor flooring is complete. The "holes" are not rooms and will be covered by the roof. Yea, yea, yea...I haven't posted the floor plan yet because (pick one):
A. I am too lazy.
B. I do not have access to a large enough scanner.
C. I am waiting for Dozer to revise his website JUST to make it easier for me to upload directly from my iPhone.
D. All of the above.

The other video shows the "leftover" steel rebar. Nope, not tossing it out. All that will be put to use when we pour the driveway. It should be strong enough without all of that stuff, but we have it and therefore we shall use it.






So with not much to do this week, I'm rethinking some choices I made previously. Things like vinyl or aluminum windows; custom or standard sizes? There are a least 3 good threads already on the topic, and every question I had was answered there. Rather than order now, I am going to wait until after the walls are up and painted, then order when we start laying the floor tiles. The windows and doors should arrive just near the end of the project. Perfect.

Something I am very happy with about doing this myself versus a "company build" is that I can change whatever I want whenever I want. No muss, no fuss, no re-drawing anything. "Eh, let's put a window over there. Let's not build a closet here." Etc., etc. Bam! Done.

Truth be told, this B house plan I am building did not go through the virtual walk-though mock up and all the other hi-tech preparation that I did with my A plan. We're building a house I rented a few years ago and LOVED. The plans are so old they were printed on onion paper! The house is just as old (over 40 years?), but damn if it isn't the most stucturally sound house I have ever seen in Thailand with an original CPAC roof one could easily mistake as new. The windows on the house plan are waaaay out of date and we are making some improvements there and other places (optional stuff I mentioned previously) as we go along. I am loving it!

Take-away lesson: Nothing beats freedom!

[MrRee]

Whoops. Linked the wrong video. The first video above shows the roofers. Here is the video described in the post:

[MrRee]

Update 8a

The Smart Blocks have arrived!  Most of the day was spent unloading two trailers.   BTW, 18 pallets fit on one trailer and there are 80 blocks (60x20x20) per pallet.

What we have is more than we need, but I allowed for spoilage.  I get refunded for the spoiled blocks and still get to keep them - or at least that's the agreement.  ;). The extras will be used to make an aesthetically pleasing storage shed for the formwork and extra blocks.  The shed will also be the temporary housing during the next build after the current shacks are razed to make way for the private road.

The roofers are back on the job after having to wait out a day of torrential rain.  I thought the rainy season had begun already...until it rained Friday.  Then, I was like...OK...NOW it has begun.  My brother hadn't gotten around to reopening the old clogged drain pipe under the dirt road which would allow the water to go off our property and the whole drain filled up.  Luckily, the neighbors down the road are starving for water and brought their water pump contraption (which also doubles as the family car) to pump the water from our swollen drain, over the road, and into the ditch that carried it down the road past the first neighbor who said they wanted the water, and on to their land.  I'll let them argue amongst each other over who gets the water in the future.

I also spent some time yesterday at the air conditioner dealer.  More on that later, but suffice for now to say that you should not rely solely on them to lay out the best whole house  air flow.  They seem to be stuck in one gear:  one room, one unit.  Have your own plan in advance.  A good air flow plan should be part of the design you choose or create.  Again more on my air flow plan later after the layout of the rooms and thermal insulation measures are made clearer.  I just don't feel like typing all that today.

The first video shows the first truck being unloaded.   More people from the local village came to help unload.  The first truck was finished @1800, but they worked for two more hours unloading the second truck.  I've got a piece of heavy equipment coming tomorrow for something.  I may tell them to slap on a forklift attachment and finish unloading the second truck.





The second video shows the first truck near the end of the day and the roof progress.  Now, you can begin to visualize where the upper rooms will be.  The master bedroom is to the right, then a wall at the columns.  The younger kid's/nursery/home office is to the left of that wall.  The older kid's room is at the left rear.  The two bathrooms are at the right rear.  You might be able to spot those in earlier videos.

The wooden bracers are in the carport.  The blocks are in the reception room. I previously used it as the dining room and never opened the decorative front double doors because there is a simple door which opens from the carport which ends up being the defacto front door.  The sunken den or entertainment room is front-left. 

Take-away lesson:  When it rains, it pours... 

[MrRee]

Blocks unloaded. Spoilage was 2%. Not bad. No problem with the "refund" since I was able to put 1/3 down and pay the balance AFTER all were unloaded and checked. Smart Blocks were ordered from Kayong in Pattaya (on the right just before the last light? on the way to the floating market). Price THB 52 included shipping to Udon. I recommend without reservation based on this purchase and delivery.

Roof is coming along nicely.

[rucus7]

Sorry if I missed it in your post. What is the approximate cost per sq meter including rendering? Soon we will be at the same phase as you , and I have not decided on what block to use.

[MrRee]

Sorry if I missed it in your post. What is the approximate cost per sq meter including rendering? Soon we will be at the same phase as you , and I have not decided on what block to use.

Thanks for the good question. My brother ordered some rendering material Sunday. I will have him pull the receipt and get back to you with the cost.

Unfortunately, I am not tracking the details of costs so much for this first build. I am using the best materials I can get (and which make practical sense) without much regard to cost - certainly not by task or coverage area. I have 17+ workers at different day rates doing different tasks on different days, so I can't provide an accurate labor cost and time applied to that task - and I would not want to hazard an inaccurate guesstimate.

When it is all done, the wife is supposed to gather all the receipts my brother is keeping, translate them (I speak, but cannot read Thai ) and enter them into a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet will be imported into software (haven't decided which, yet) where I can figure out that sort of detail and more. I know we are well within the overall budget and the budget for "Walls".