Concrete Blocks (Cinderblocks)

[user343434]

Hi all,

 

i have been chasing all around for 20cm Lightweight Concrete Blocks (the crumbling Thai ones cheap to fill with concrete)

Everywhere are 7.5 cm available and others "not have" and nobody is bothering even if you need 60k of them...

( I know they are available out there)

 

There is a post from years ago on Thai Visa but also he hasn't got answers. 

 

Has anyone seen the 20 cm version anywhere in Thailand and if you know the price would be much appreciated to get a notice. 

 

These ones I mean:

 

 

[simoh1490]

I just bought 40 concrete blocks that measure 20x39 but each one comprises two single blocks that are each 10 cms wide. The cost for the pair (I know this is confusing) was 12 baht  or 6 baht per single block - I'm in Chiang Mai.

[user343434]

Here my Germaninglish is at the Limit.

 

So you get two lose pieces and have to clue them together? (kind of)

 

I want to make 3m x 7m Fish tanks out of them so they should be 20cm in one piece. 

 

but thanks you brought me on an idea, if I put them 10cm a half brick length offset,

then it should be strong enough. (off cause using rebars and fill them with concrete)

 

If anyone has found real 20cm ones I will be glad to hear but this Idea seems usable as well. 

   

[simoh1490]

1 minute ago, See Will said:

Here my Germaninglish is at the Limit.

 

So you get two lose pieces and have to clue them together? (kind of)

 

I want to make 3m x 7m Fish tanks out of them so they should be 20cm in one piece. 

 

but thanks you brought me on an idea, if I put them 10cm a half brick length offset,

then it should be strong enough. (off cause using rebars and fill them with concrete)

 

If anyone has found real 20cm ones I will be glad to hear but this Idea seems usable as well. 

   

The two blocks appear to be cast as a single unit although you can see that the mold they use is capable of producing single blocks - the two blocks cannot be separated, they form a single unit rather than two units that are joined together.

[user343434]

Here we go, seems that is what I am looking for. 

Will cost twice as much in rebars but at least the thickness is as required. 

 

Cheers Simoh1490

 

 

[simoh1490]

Be careful of the mix that is used, some/most are very soft and will not take any weight load, try to find some that are already wet/soaked and then see how easily they crumble, I'm guessing the mix in most is something like 10:1.

[user343434]

The tanks will be about 1.2 m deep and therefrom 80cm in the ground. That should do the job with concrete filling and rebars.

(hopefully) 

I have still plan B in mind making them from concrete, but the price will increase significant. 

[janclaes47]

42 minutes ago, See Will said:

If anyone has found real 20cm ones I will be glad to hear but this Idea seems usable as well. 

Chonburi concrete has them in 20 cm as well as some other sizes.

 

These are real concrete load bearing cylinder blocks, not to be confused with the grey fly ash blocks most houses are build with.

 

Not sure if they deliver themselves but I think their nearest dealer is Sriracha concrete, about 50 meters from Tukcom Sriracha.

 

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=th&u=https://www.ccp.co.th/&prev=search

 

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=th&u=https://www.ccp.co.th/&prev=search

 

 

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=th&u=https://www.ccp.co.th/&prev=search

Edited October 23, 2018 by janclaes47

[user343434]

How funny is that.

30 Km from my home and CCP is the last I would think of.

 

The reason is that my colleague from work bought a house and wanted a concrete plate beside his pool.

As the CCP truck arrived he called immediately an "all stop" 

The concrete was more water than concrete mix and as he sent that driver back he came 3 hrs later with some serious stuff back. 

Sometimes its hard to gain a good reputation but its fast gone when you do something wrong. 

 

I will have a drive over there. Load bearing is a magic word for me so it might be worth it and check out what they have. I even expect factory price before farang price over there. 

 

Cheers janclaes47

[kamalabob2]

CCP aka CPS from Chonburi is a very respected supplier in Thailand. High quality concrete pipes and a brand I recommend and use. There certainly are cheaper local made versions of what the OP posted. 13.5 baht in the far right of the 2nd photo below is for the large grey block made in Buriram. There are also suppliers of these larger grey blocks in Korat and other provinces. 

[The Deerhunter]

Be very careful.  Where I live there are numerous makers and some of them just wave the cement bag near the concrete mixer and they are so fragile that I would not use them structurally at all.  Some of them are so deficient in cohesion that you only have to look at them and they crumble.   I will not even buy from my two nearest sources, they are so bad.  They actually fall in pieces as you (or your builder, of course) pick them up to lay them.  The ones in Post #8 look great!!!

Edited October 24, 2018 by The Deerhunter

[janclaes47]

17 hours ago, See Will said:

The reason is that my colleague from work bought a house and wanted a concrete plate beside his pool.

As the CCP truck arrived he called immediately an "all stop" 

The concrete was more water than concrete mix and as he sent that driver back

For swimming pools often fluid concrete is used, because it levels itself.

 

Fluid concrete is also used when the truck can not come close to the place where it has to be poured, because it can be pumped easier, and lastly it is used for narrow forms like walls, because it gets in the narrowest spaces and will give a much smoother finishing when the forms are removed.

 

 

So I think CCP knew very well what they were doing.

[janclaes47]

Just now, The Deerhunter said:

Be very careful.  Where I live there are numerous makers and some of them just wave the cement bag near the concrete mixer and they are so fragile that I would not use them structurally at all.  Some of them are so deficient in cohesion that you only have to look at them and they crumble.   I will not even buy from my two nearest sources, they are so bad.  They actually fall in pieces as you (or your builder, of course) pick them up to lay them.  The ones in Post #8 look great!!!

Those grey blocks are usually not concrete at all, but fly ash is used, because in a Thai construction columns and beams are used and the blocks don't need to be load bearing as they are only used to fill up the spaces.

 

https://www.concreteconstruction.net/how-to/materials/what-is-fly-ash_o

[user343434]

The photos were opening much later than your post due to the "fast" internet here on board.

They definitely are looking stronger and denser than the ones I have seen in 10 cm at a Pattaya Store. 

 

Problem solved thanks all.. 

[The Deerhunter]

11 minutes ago, janclaes47 said:

Those grey blocks are usually not concrete at all, but fly ash is used, because in a Thai construction columns and beams are used and the blocks don't need to be load bearing as they are only used to fill up the spaces.

 

https://www.concreteconstruction.net/how-to/materials/what-is-fly-ash_o

I always thought fly ash was a partial cement replacing ADDITIVE, never a complete replacement for cement  and some guys just over did it.  The 10cm ones commonly cost from 5 to 8 baht each. 

 

19 minutes ago, janclaes47 said:

For swimming pools often fluid concrete is used, because it levels itself.

 

Fluid concrete is also used when the truck can not come close to the place where it has to be poured, because it can be pumped easier, and lastly it is used for narrow forms like walls, because it gets in the narrowest spaces and will give a much smoother finishing when the forms are removed.

 

 

So I think CCP knew very well what they were doing.

I have seen a lot of concrete poured in different countries from concrete trucks.   Thai concrete is the thinnest I have ever seen.  Just look at that Motorway, north of Pattaya breaking up after only a year or less in places, with whole rectangular sections (obviously representing whole concrete truck loads) spalling away on the surface and cracking across, even with the 12 or 15mm rebar we saw them putting in.  Cement roads overseas last 20 to 40 years.  But overseas they are also laid on 1/2 to 1 meter of graduated base-course hard gravel, not sand or clay like here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    It is a no brainer.  Less than a km from our house is a 5km road with areas of 6" squares of reinforcing visible, where the rolls of 3mm mesh was either  "jumped-on" into, or pulled up after, the concrete was poured.  I can and do take disbelieving members of my family there and we drive along it.    When we had concrete delivered here, not only was it very watery, but it was full of coconut husks and rotten scrap timber that cannot have got in by accident.  It was only for paths so we picked out the rubbish and floated in a bit of extra cement onto the surface.  It was once only for me.  Never again.  Since then all concrete has been mixed on site.   Cant trust them.  Grand larceny on a national level; costing the country billions of baht every year in roads that crack after only 1 or 2 years.  My local Tesco Lotus car park lasted less than 6 months before the edges of all the slabs started crumbling. 

[user343434]

Soi Khao Noi was lasting about 2 years. Seems they know how to keep the road construction economy running with full order books.. ????

[eyecatcher]

You can always just lay the standard blocks flat, no need for rebar (maybe just laterally) and no concrete infills.

concrete 200mm blocks available in CM but not often used hrnce not many stockists.

[user343434]

10 hours ago, eyecatcher said:

You can always just lay the standard blocks flat, no need for rebar (maybe just laterally) and no concrete infills.

concrete 200mm blocks available in CM but not often used hrnce not many stockists.

Cheers,

 

I'll look that one up. Should be cheaper (safes concrete and rebars) and the load bearing is may be good enough to hold 55 cm water.. 

[eyecatcher]

18 minutes ago, See Will said:

Cheers,

 

I'll look that one up. Should be cheaper (safes concrete and rebars) and the load bearing is may be good enough to hold 55 cm water.. 

You dont even need anywhere loke 200thick to hold two foot of water. A 100 brick easily does the job.......but dont do what I did and forget to sika the render on the inside, before you tile it.

costly mistake for me.

[sometimewoodworker]

12 hours ago, See Will said:

Cheers,

 

I'll look that one up. Should be cheaper (safes concrete and rebars) and the load bearing is may be good enough to hold 55 cm water.. 

SWMBO's mother used the standard cinder blocks for her fish pond and the water was closer to 70cm than 30cm so you are almost certainly over engineering.

[user343434]

Cheers eyecatcher and sometimewoodworker

We are planning to make 50 meter by 15 meter deep water grow beds for aquaponics and to get it watertight we put a 0.5 mm pond liner in. (it's by now the thickest we can find in LoS)

10cm might be all right but better safe than sorry.

Beside that I expect the worker won't mind to climb on the wall if needed and it would be a disaster when you have to empty and fix a grow bed with 400 cubic meter water, about 7500 crayfish and 19000 salads on top of it. 

[grollies]

CCP is the supplier you need as jan says. The showroom is near Sri Racha but the manufacturing plant is on the 331 about 5k south of Ko Poh. Go to the plant direct and talk to the manager, you'll get a good price for a large order.

 

I used these blocks on my pool build and they were B19 each, delivered by hiab. Your builders won't like them, they weigh 15kg each.

[The Deerhunter]

On 10/24/2018 at 12:40 PM, janclaes47 said:

Those grey blocks are usually not concrete at all, but fly ash is used, because in a Thai construction columns and beams are used and the blocks don't need to be load bearing as they are only used to fill up the spaces.

 

https://www.concreteconstruction.net/how-to/materials/what-is-fly-ash_o

Correct Fly ash held together by cement with some sand sometimes

[The Deerhunter]

On 10/24/2018 at 12:40 PM, janclaes47 said:

Those grey blocks are usually not concrete at all, but fly ash is used, because in a Thai construction columns and beams are used and the blocks don't need to be load bearing as they are only used to fill up the spaces.

 

https://www.concreteconstruction.net/how-to/materials/what-is-fly-ash_o

Fly ash is a product of burning coal in the production of electricity. It has to be held together by something and it is usually a small amount of cement and sometimes a bit of sand. It is the amount of cement used in the various places that make these blocks that I was questioning. As these blocks sell for from 5 to 7 bath each, economy in the manufacturer is important and cement is the most expensive part so the manufacturers are very frugal with it. Some places more frugal than others.

Edited April 16, 2019 by The Deerhunter

[user343434]

During my last off time I have seen some of them made in private household which are almost not lift-able without crumbling apart, but the ones from CCP made are worlds apart.  

[grollies]

3 minutes ago, See Will said:

During my last off time I have seen some of them made in private household which are almost not lift-able without crumbling apart, but the ones from CCP made are worlds apart.  

I sourced CCP blocks for my pool after sitting on a damp standard block and it fell apart. The reason you don't see them used more widely though is that CCP blocks weigh 15kg apiece and most Thai builders refuse to to work with them as they're too heavy.

[user343434]

34 minutes ago, grollies said:

I sourced CCP blocks for my pool after sitting on a damp standard block and it fell apart. The reason you don't see them used more widely though is that CCP blocks weigh 15kg apiece and most Thai builders refuse to to work with them as they're too heavy.

"too Heavy" That suits the expression:

 

You crossbreed a Thai with a Cambodian and you will get a lazy thief..