Advice needed for rebuilding interior walls

[JGA]

I need recommendations for construction materials for rebuilding the interior walls of my condo in Bangkok...

 

I completed gutted the interior of my 25 year old condo to do a full renovation. All of the interior brick walls were torn down (all non-load bearing) and will be replaced with 7.5cm QCon blocks (with 1cm of render on each side). All of the floors are about 20cm thick reinforced concrete, but there was about 7cm of additional mortar or soft concrete poured on top to raise the floors up to the level of the hallway outside of the unit. I had all of this concrete removed and then the floors were sanded down clean with a 7" diamond cup grinder. I will post photos of what the floors looked like originally and you will understand why all of this crap was removed. I already have the QCon blocks and I'll be using QCon lintels for the doors.

 

1) The original support columns for the brick walls were the standard re-bar reinforced stuff poured on site. I wanted to replace them with precast 75x75x3000mm concrete posts bolted to the floor and ceiling, but I think that it's probably impossible to find this size and length. Does anybody near Bangkok make precast posts like this? So, I decided that 75mm square steel posts would be much easier to deal with. I would like to get galvanized posts, but most vendors only seem to sell regular carbon steel. I also want the steel thick enough to be able to either weld re-bar or screw QCon angle brackets to it. Is 2mm steel thick enough for these purposes or should I go thicker? Also looking for post holders to bolt them to the existing floor/ceiling. Since render is not going to properly stick to the steel posts, I will attach galvanized lathing across the posts and QCon blocks to provide a proper base for the render.

 

2) After the support columns are bolted into place, I want to pour 75mm wide by 100mm high reinforced concrete curbs between the posts to build the QCon walls on. Since I can't get a pile of sand dropped off in the middle of my condo, I will have to use bags of premixed cement/sand. What is the best brand for this purpose and what is it called in Thai language (compared to bags of cement only)? Where can I buy small pea-size aggregate to put into the mix?

 

3) What type of concrete will I need to re-pour the 7cm secondary floors on top of the building's reinforced floors? The original stuff was very soft compared to reinforced concrete and sandy beige in color (lightweight concrete?). That's all I really need for the replacement floors since they will just be serving as a foundation for ceramic tile or laminated wood installation. The total amount of concrete needed is about 14 cubic meters!!

 

JGA

 

[Anythingleft?]

Have you thought of just using partition stud and track with good quality insulation for the internal wall replacements
A far cleaner finished product and the fit out process is also cleaner and easier than blocks/render etc, its also far easier to run and hide any lighting and electricals
Only a suggestion

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

[JGA]

I just didn't want to deviate from the solid all concrete construction (especially in the bathrooms). The QCon blocks will provide a very good sound and heat barrier. I also didn't want to change how all of the EMT conduit, electrical boxes, and plumbing are chased into the walls. Not to mention that I already have all of the QCon blocks stacked up inside the condo.

 

JGA

 

[JGA]

 

Here are the mortar blocks that were under about 50 sq meters of marble tile. Also found some concrete spalling under the blocks that needs to be repaired. Another photo shows floors after being sanded down clean to the original reinforced concrete. At least the mortar blocks were easy to remove since they just peeled off of the floor. A team of three people removed the blocks in 3 hours with a demolition hammer and chisel. There was no reason to save anything in the condo... too much termite and water damage over the years (termites have been gone for 10+ years, but the damage was already done).