Common building mistakes in Asia and Thailand

[Allen Ginsing]

1. Slab foundation. A high number of buildings have mold on the ground floor because without a basement where will the water go? This can cause the glue of the tiles to never cure and mold growth there too.

This is why traditional houses where build on stilts or raised foundations.

 

2. Septic tanks.  Septic tanks should never be under a living space, they should be 4m away from any building.  Septic tanks should be vented. Sewage gas is an irritating and even toxic. TP should never be flushed down to the septic tanks.

 

3. Plumbing and sewage vents.  You'll notice the shower does not drain, this is because vent leading to day light. It is amazing how they can not do this. Same with sewage vents, gas often ends up on the top floor shower.

 

4. Shower water proof. Tiles should have a plastic barrier under the shower not just adhesive attaching the showers. It will fail eventually and you will have mold and rot underneath the tiles.

 

5. Shower and kitchen vents. Amazing they don't include vents in the new builds. With out vents you will eventually get mold in the ceiling.

 

6. Sealing concrete. Painting the interior walls with water proof paints seems like a good idea but you trap moisture in the concrete. Ideally there should be a gap and layer of drywall on the interior. Against you will see mold growing inside the concrete.

 

Well, i am sure there are more... will add later. Let me know what you've noticed too. This list will come in handy in case you decided to buy or build a house or apartment.

 

Edited January 23, 2018 by Allen Ginsing

[bankruatsteve]

I wonder where you are getting your information to say slab construction (your #1) is a mistake in Thailand?  The only time I have seen mold on a slab is when it is not tiled or protected otherwise.  I have never seen tiles laid with "glue" here.  And, I have never seen a basement here (outside of the "mountains").  What I have seen is most all new construction being built on a slab.

[Allen Ginsing]

46 minutes ago, bankruatsteve said:

I wonder where you are getting your information to say slab construction (your #1) is a mistake in Thailand?  The only time I have seen mold on a slab is when it is not tiled or protected otherwise.  I have never seen tiles laid with "glue" here.  And, I have never seen a basement here (outside of the "mountains").  What I have seen is most all new construction being built on a slab.

No houses are built like that in the west, always with a basement. The basement gives a place for the water to go in case of a flood. Or a raised structure with a crawl space.

 

What happens is the concrete never dries out, the concrete absorbs moisture. Google wick effect. The moisture will rise up into the rest of the building too, the monsoon is a disaster, flooding is typical.

 

In fact, the brand new guesthouse i just moved to the first floor room they showed me smells badly of mold. It is all too common. You can be sure those row bungalows will have it. Keep in mind i am very allergic to mold while others are not...

 

You can see they knew more about building houses 100 years ago.

Edited January 23, 2018 by Allen Ginsing

[manarak]

these aren't mistakes.

they just want to build quick & cheap.

[Artisi]

21 minutes ago, Allen Ginsing said:

No houses are built like that in the west, always with a basement. The basement gives a place for the water to go in case of a flood. Or a raised structure with a crawl space.

 

What happens is the concrete never dries out, the concrete absorbs moisture. Google wick effect. The moisture will rise up into the rest of the building too, the monsoon is a disaster, flooding is typical.

 

In fact, the brand new guesthouse i just moved to the first floor room they showed me smells badly of mold. It is all too common. You can be sure those row bungalows will have it. Keep in mind i am very allergic to mold while others are not...

 

You can see they knew more about building houses 100 years ago.

Fact check needed re no house built like that in the west - total BS. Yes, they might have been built on stilts in some flood areas, or to house the buffalo underneath, to keep the wild life out and for cooling. 

[simoh1490]

Older houses in Thailand were raised up for the same reasons many are today, to avoid flooding and ingress by animals, nothing to do with mold whatsoever! Raised houses were around long before concrete slabs were introduced as a floor beneath them.

Edited January 23, 2018 by simoh1490

[bankruatsteve]

1 hour ago, Allen Ginsing said:

No houses are built like that in the west, always with a basement. The basement gives a place for the water to go in case of a flood. Or a raised structure with a crawl space.

First, your topic refers to Thailand - not the "west".  Second, if you are talking about the states, you must be from the northern mid-west and don't travel.  Look for a basement in CA, FL, OK, TX, ... Yes, there are some but most are, guess what?

[wayned]

1 hour ago, Allen Ginsing said:

No houses are built like that in the west, always with a basement

Obviously a statement from a licensed and experienced  contractor.  I built a house just north of New Orleans in the USA, do you think it had a basement when New Orleans  is 13-18 feet below sea level.  At times you could go out in the pasture and jump up and down and watch the waves of earth ripple before you due to the low water table. Many of the septic tanks are below the living space because the living space occupies the entire plot of land, there's no way you can put it 4 meters away.What is the point of your post as you obviously don't have a clue?

[bankruatsteve]

59 minutes ago, wayned said:

Many of the septic tanks are below the living space because the living space occupies the entire plot of land, there's no way you can put it 4 meters away.What is the point of your post as you obviously don't have a clue?

While I agree with your assessment, I cannot imagine a plat that has homes occupying the entire plot without sewage lines versus individual septic systems.  Just to say.

 

As for venting, it is best to do so but certainly not necessary to a functioning system.  Traps are - but that wasn't mentioned.

 

Maybe the OP is just not a happy camper in his current accommodation?  BTW:  mold has everything to do with humidity and lack of AC and/or good ventilation.  It has almost nothing to do with a properly laid slab.

 

I vote that this thread be deleted for the reason that it has no value to DIY in Thailand.

 

[wayned]

9 hours ago, bankruatsteve said:

While I agree with your assessment, I cannot imagine a plat that has homes occupying the entire plot without sewage lines versus individual septic systems.  Just to say.

I have a townhouse in Bangkok in a very large estate that has no yard.  The septic tank is under the slab in the downstairs bathroom and the over flow goes into a drain along the wall of the back patio/washing area and flows into the khlong about 3/4 kilometer away. It is not vented.  I have had the place fro 19 years and have had no drainage problems, knock on wood, and the tank has never been pumped!

[lockyv7]

i have never seen a basement in Australia and most of the houses are built on a slab base.

[DoctorG]

A basement in an Australian house would be a rarity. My place in hot/humid Queensland is on a concrete slab, with no mould problems. Wooden houses here used to be built on stilts for the cooling effect.

 

Locky and I seem to have posted at the same time.

Edited January 24, 2018 by DoctorG
add

[dotpoom]

 

"And, I have never seen a basement here (outside of the "mountains").  What I have seen is most all new construction being built on a slab."

   Isn't that the point the OP was making?

[bankruatsteve]

1 minute ago, dotpoom said:

 

"And, I have never seen a basement here (outside of the "mountains").  What I have seen is most all new construction being built on a slab."

   Isn't that the point the OP was making?

I think it is clear that the OP is claiming slab construction yields mold and therefore a mistake.  My inference is that if it is such a mistake, why would everyone do it.

[simoh1490]

The concrete slab that exists under (non-wood) raised houses in Thailand is nothing more than a means of securing the concrete posts, the slab is almost an afterthought and it is incorrect to think the house is built on the slab, it isn't.

 

The concrete (or potentially even wood) posts are sunk into the ground and concreted, the house in then constructed atop the concrete posts. At an early stage of the build, the concrete posts are drilled at the base and steel rod is used to connect all the posts. The steel is then shuttered and filled with concrete creating concrete beams between each post. Steel mat is then laid in the squares between each steel reinforced beam and concrete is laid over the top, creating the appearance of a single slab. As said, the purpose is to secure the posts at ground level and prevent lateral movement, it also avoids flooding, prevents animal ingress and also provides a shaded outside living space underneath.

 

 

[samuibruno]

toilet paper is perfectly fine into a septic tank

 

maybe you are referring to a soak away or seepage tank where the waste goes directly into the ground 

there is a very big difference 

[hansnl]

I come from a town in the Netherlands situated rather far below sea level and with a high water table.

All houses, new and old, have crawl spaces.

Must be for blocking humidity from the high water table.

Guess having a crawl space is not such a bad idea.

[cooked]

Concrete slabs can be sealed against rising damp through various methods.

It RAINS in the UK yet basements are hardly ever used in new houses. 

Please DO tell us when you find something good about Thai construction.

[Artisi]

18 minutes ago, cooked said:

Concrete slabs can be sealed against rising damp through various methods.

It RAINS in the UK yet basements are hardly ever used in new houses. 

Please DO tell us when you find something good about Thai construction.

Good, how about cheap?

[simoh1490]

Rising damp is not common in Thailand, the climate is too hot.

[cooked]

2 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

Rising damp is not common in Thailand, the climate is too hot.

Oh I see. I thought that the fact that the water table is sometimes a few centimetres below the ground and that it rains a LOT in season might have something to do with the fact that all the houses in our village have rising damp problems. I must be wrong

[bankruatsteve]

7 minutes ago, cooked said:

Oh I see. I thought that the fact that the water table is sometimes a few centimetres below the ground and that it rains a LOT in season might have something to do with the fact that all the houses in our village have rising damp problems. I must be wrong

What do you view as "rising damp" and what is the problem?

[simoh1490]

7 minutes ago, cooked said:

Oh I see. I thought that the fact that the water table is sometimes a few centimetres below the ground and that it rains a LOT in season might have something to do with the fact that all the houses in our village have rising damp problems. I must be wrong

I'm sure that there is rising damp in Thailand but what I wrote is that it's not common, I have certainly never seen it but there again I have never gone looking for it either! But I do know for sure that the water table in your village is not a few centimetres below the ground, a couple of metres perhaps but not a couple of centimetres, if it were you'd be standing in mud! Where I live the water table is three and a half metres down, I know that because I dip my well pump a couple of times a year.

 

Also, what is perceived to be rising damp is often not that, instead it is mildew caused by poor ventilation, black stains that spread along the walls near the floor. Another aspect is poor outside drainage from water taps etc where the waste water drains against the house and creeps up the walls over time.

[builder]

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[gillap]

To me the biggest blunder is not installing P traps in shower drains!

All showers I've had the pleasure of using in condos or houses had foul gases smells occuring at odd times due to no P traps! Another biggy is the lack of a ground wire system throughout the residential buildings… there's no law requiring this safety feature and there are many electrocutions throughout Thailand!

[samsensam]

 

haha! steps get me, some have a very steep gradient - the ones on the pedestrian overpass outside pantip come to mind - and the height of steps can be unergonomic at times, not to mention the top or bottom step being of a different height to the other steps... imaybe it's a cunning plan to make people pay attention!

[tryasimight]

18 hours ago, Allen Ginsing said:

No houses are built like that in the west, always with a basement. The basement gives a place for the water to go in case of a flood. Or a raised structure with a crawl space.

 

What happens is the concrete never dries out, the concrete absorbs moisture. Google wick effect. The moisture will rise up into the rest of the building too, the monsoon is a disaster, flooding is typical.

 

In fact, the brand new guesthouse i just moved to the first floor room they showed me smells badly of mold. It is all too common. You can be sure those row bungalows will have it. Keep in mind i am very allergic to mold while others are not...

 

You can see they knew more about building houses 100 years ago.

Never seen a basement in oz, cement slab on natural ground no problem and toilet paper gets flushed to the septic.  Lot of misinformation you have posted. 

[builder]

Slab foundation should have a membrane under slab same for concrete blocks should have damp course installed
Septic tank will vent through plumbing vents extra vent will do no harm


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[builder]

Shower pan should have membrane
Concrete walls can be painted when dry check with moisture meter if no sure


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[samsensam]

2 hours ago, samuibruno said:

toilet paper is perfectly fine into a septic tank

 

maybe you are referring to a soak away or seepage tank where the waste goes directly into the ground 

there is a very big difference 

 

it's the 'wipes' with detergent or other chemicals on them that cause problems adversely effecting the bacteria colonies breaking down biodegradable matter