Thailand's Post and Beam Structure

[Polarizing]

Hi TV, not really a DIY thingy but I want to educate myself and read more on the 'post and beam' structure that according to some of you most condos in thailand are made out of.
So did some searching on google and came across this website, http://www.understandconstruction.com/concrete-frame-structures.html 

- firstly is that the post and beam as we know it in thailand? So columns and posts are synonyms?
- Walls are never load bearing if its not connected to the foundation. Eg) i got a parking area at the first floor, I can see exactly which wall is connected to the foundation (under the ground) and which are not. If there is no wall on the parking lot floor, the wall on that same spot on a higher floor is never a load bearing wall. This is also true for exterior walls, although we have to take into account wind load and earthquake load in case we want to do something with that wall (liike shower niches).
- Is it possible that the beams are hidden? I have been looking around my building a few days ago and haven't found any beams.
- If walls are not load bearing, why would thai builders more often than not opt for a solid brick wall with plaster as a partition wall rather than a drywall lightweight partition?

Thanks a lot for taking the time to read!

[sometimewoodworker]

7 hours ago, Polarizing said:

Is it possible that the beams are hidden? I have been looking around my building a few days ago and haven't found any beams.

They very often are hidden in completed structures. Your building absolutely has them.

 

7 hours ago, Polarizing said:

beams.
- If walls are not load bearing, why would thai builders more often than not opt for a solid brick wall with plaster as a partition wall rather than a drywall lightweight partition?

You are not in Kansas any more.
 

Plasterboard and studs are sometimes used, but the skills needed are different from building with blocks (most commonly used cinder or AAC), and those skills are not in high demand for walls, only for ceilings, so the numbers of workers available is small.

 

If using AAC you have better insulation both sound & heat than plasterboard, and an AAC wall will probably go up in almost the same time as plasterboard.

[wpcoe]

Also, most plasterboard is mounted on wood studs.  Wood studs are vulnerable to termite damage.  For some reason, aluminum/steel studding is not very common.

[DrDave]

Interior and exterior walls that use the traditional small red bricks are definitely not load bearing, as the load is carried by the post and beam structure. The bricks are merely "filler" as evidenced by the usual haphazard lay-up and sloppy mortar-fill at the top beam. Even when using AAC block, the manufacturer has specified the maximum wall height before a beam must be poured. This height depends upon the thickness of the AAC block being used (7, 10 or 15cm for example).

As for using drywall for interior partition walls, I used to wonder the same thing. As mentioned above, there's a skillset issue, but I also think it may have to do with humidity and vermin. My house was built with the traditional red brick and poured beams on interior partitions, and over time, various vermin were able to get up into the ceiling areas of both floors, most probably entering through plumbing chases. Vermin would make short work of destroying the drywall sheathing a hollow core partition wall, as they sometimes do with drywall ceilings. Note that Thai-style drywall ceilings are typically installed like a suspended ceiling on a grid of interlocking steel, since there are no wooden joists, leaving lots of room for critters to call home.

[Polarizing]

20 hours ago, DrDave said:

 Even when using AAC block, the manufacturer has specified the maximum wall height before a beam must be poured.

Condo here, so even if I were to remove a partition wall from the top, I need to becareful not to damage the beam? I have no idea since I have never seen a beam im my condo haha

[sometimewoodworker]

2 hours ago, Polarizing said:

Condo here, so even if I were to remove a partition wall from the top, I need to becareful not to damage the beam? I have no idea since I have never seen a beam im my condo haha

Easy to do, just use a wood saw, start high but not at the top, first  get the render off the wall,  the wood saw will cut AAC but not the concrete beams.

[Polarizing]

5 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

Easy to do, just use a wood saw, start high but not at the top, first  get the render off the wall,  the wood saw will cut AAC but not the concrete beams.

Uhm, not the most experienced woodmaker here but I don't think my wood saw will cut out any render, Are you talking about a manual one? Really?! O__O

 

edit: btw I saw some red bricks in this wall while I was working on a socket.

Edited August 19, 2020 by Polarizing

[DrDave]

2 hours ago, Polarizing said:

Uhm, not the most experienced woodmaker here but I don't think my wood saw will cut out any render, Are you talking about a manual one? Really?! O__O

 

edit: btw I saw some red bricks in this wall while I was working on a socket.

You can chip away the render with a chisel, or hit it with an angle grinder. While a handsaw will easily cut AAC block, it won't cut red bricks.

 

The beam might be hidden above the gypsum (drywall) ceiling, so if you chip off the render up to the ceiling and still see red brick, then the beam is further up. Remember that the gypsum ceiling is usually suspended - just like a traditional suspended tile ceiling, except the drywall is screwed to the frame instead of tiles being laid into the frame.

[sometimewoodworker]

2 hours ago, Polarizing said:

Uhm, not the most experienced woodmaker here but I don't think my wood saw will cut out any render, Are you talking about a manual one? Really?! O__O

 

edit: btw I saw some red bricks in this wall while I was working on a socket.

I did not mean to use the saw on the rendering, you will need to chisel that off first.

[Polarizing]

@DrDave@sometimewoodworker i see i see, so from my understanding of this construction, the beams are supported by the columns so the chance is high that the beams are in line with the columns, is that right? the beams are always made out of concrete? Does it connect from column to column (like a big lintel).

If i cutout the render to my suspended ceiling and there are still red bricks, i destroy my ceiling and go higher and there are still red bricks. Then it's possible that that partitionwall does not have a beam at all, right? If I see a change of structure/material, i should becareful not to damage the beam and remove the bricks right under it.

[sometimewoodworker]

33 minutes ago, Polarizing said:

@DrDave@sometimewoodworker i see i see, so from my understanding of this construction, the beams are supported by the columns so the chance is high that the beams are in line with the columns, is that right? the beams are always made out of concrete? Does it connect from column to column (like a big lintel).

If i cutout the render to my suspended ceiling and there are still red bricks, i destroy my ceiling and go higher and there are still red bricks. Then it's possible that that partitionwall does not have a beam at all, right? If I see a change of structure/material, i should becareful not to damage the beam and remove the bricks right under it.

It is clear that you do not know enough to do a safe job or oversee workers doing one.
 

There are many good building threads showing the construction of houses, there are multi story buildings half built that show construction.
 

I understand construction and would not do, or supervise, what you seem to want to do.

[Polarizing]

4 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

It is clear that you do not know enough to do a safe job or oversee workers doing one.
 

There are many good building threads showing the construction of houses, there are multi story buildings half built that show construction.

I am just trying to learn more about my building. I don't have any plans yet, just wondering what if... Can you direct me to one of those good building threads?

So my building is very similar to the picture below... I can't see the beams, can anyone point me out where the beams are?

[transam]

8 minutes ago, Polarizing said:

I am just trying to learn more about my building. I don't have any plans yet, just wondering what if... Can you direct me to one of those good building threads?

So my building is very similar to the picture below... I can't see the beams, can anyone point me out where the beams are?

That looks like it's going to fall down...????

[sometimewoodworker]

18 minutes ago, Polarizing said:

I am just trying to learn more about my building. I don't have any plans yet, just wondering what if... Can you direct me to one of those good building threads?

So my building is very similar to the picture below... I can't see the beams, can anyone point me out where the beams are?

In that kind of structure the beams are incorporated into the floor slabs
a website that is devoted to building  a cool thai house has many building stores 

[DrDave]

@Polarizing To further complicate matters, your red brick partition wall may have had a cement beam poured about midway between the floor and ceiling.  I just looked through some construction photos of a small house we built some years ago, and the builders poured beams around 1.5m up from the floor on red brick interior walls. Different walls had beams of different height, and a couple of narrow walls on either side of a doorway had no beams at all. There's really no way of knowing what you have without removing a vertical strip of render from floor to ceiling.

[Polarizing]

12 minutes ago, DrDave said:

@Polarizing To further complicate matters, your red brick partition wall may have had a cement beam poured about midway between the floor and ceiling.  I just looked through some construction photos of a small house we built some years ago, and the builders poured beams around 1.5m up from the floor on red brick interior walls. Different walls had beams of different height, and a couple of narrow walls on either side of a doorway had no beams at all. There's really no way of knowing what you have without removing a vertical strip of render from floor to ceiling.

wow interesting! ????

Edited August 20, 2020 by Polarizing