I saw this video some time ago. It might be interesting for some people here.

I have no personal experience with this and I don't know if they do it in Thailand in the same way.

 

2 hours ago, Isaanlife said:

From your rebar photo, one side is not even connected, the pad is cracked and the cement is uneven.

 

The rebar does not carry through the post to the bottom of the footer as you can see in your photo. 

 

That method is never used in the 1st world.

 

Thank God Thailand never has any earthquakes because you would find out quite quickly why no one in the 1st world builds this way.

 

The roof load in your photo is spread across a couple of 6" wide concrete posts ONLY!

 

Structural roof  load is always spread across the width of the entire house 20m+, with the roof tresses every 24", not the length as shown.

You shouldn't make assumptions from a photo, of a work in progress.

 

Have a nice day.

2 hours ago, KhunLA said:

You shouldn't make assumptions from a photo, of a work in progress.

 

Have a nice day.

That method will never be correct, no assumptions, all education and experience

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I saw this video some time ago. It might be interesting for some people here.

I have no personal experience with this and I don't know if they do it in Thailand in the same way.

 

Someone already posted a link to a Thai company that does this

12 hours ago, Isaanlife said:

There is no building in the world supported by 6" columns.

Humm…. I must be imagining all the buildings round hear then.

11 hours ago, sezze said:

I not gonna argue with your building experience . But as far as i know/heard most stones used in Thailand are not for load bearing walls . I mean the cinder block types and the red bricks . I am not sure about the big white cellular blocks .

100% correct, there are a vanishingly small number of foreigners who build with load bearing walls of any material, including the white (AAC) blocks, for the big white cellular blocks you must have a thickness that is unusual (200mm+) the vast majority usage is for infill walls that are non load bearing using the 75mm blocks.

 

11 hours ago, sezze said:

Most places in Thailand got span of 3-4m between columns which is plenty to hold the roof structure in its place , resting 100% on the columns .

The most common domestic span is 4m and they are very often linked with steel or reinforced concrete beams.

 

You can get larger open areas but then you need correctly designed trusses. My house has 2 rooms where the clear spaces are about 8m X 8m and 7.5m X 11.5 meters. The 2 building trusses are 18m long and have 3 supporting points

 

11 hours ago, sezze said:

Thai builders got their techniques , trying to explain something which they do not know is very difficult and requires even a lot more supervision .

Absolutely correct, it is rather like teaching chickens to fly, possible to do but only for very short distances and never high. ???? 

I'm no builder so just  a straight answer please.   As nowadays there is no lime used in mortar or render is a mastic filled expansion gap necessary anywhere. It's just that SIL's house is 10 years old and badly cracked.

14 minutes ago, nanglong218 said:

It's just that SIL's house is 10 years old and badly cracked.

Almost certainly due to poorly constructed foundations.

May I suggest that the OP or any expat who is considering any "special" or "different" home construction methods to attend the annual Architect Expo. If they plan a full two days, and start at one side of the exhibition hall and walk isles by isle, they can see, feel and touch all manner of innovative building materials that are "on the ground" in Thailand. No one will try hard to "sell" them any products, but rather the visitor can find out the local distributor in their area for building materials. I have attended this expo most every year since 2007. It is a great way to see actual building materials that ARE REALLY AVAILABLE in Thailand. The EXPO is free to attend. You can pick up the business cards and brochures that will help you research the materials. Some firms might sell direct to the consumer, some might point you to the distributors in your area. Frankly, I have met more than one expat who ended up building a home "solo" since the Thai workers they had found would not work the way the expat wanted them to work. Thai workers have no problem in walking off a job in my observation. I certainly know the value of hiring experienced contractors and sub contractors for various aspects of a job. SCG has really expanded "services" over the years from only doing excellent roof installations. However in Isaan, there are limitations to which firms will really want to come for special installations. Every expat cares about the quality of what they spend their money on. Unfortunately not every supplier really cares about the products they sell or the sub contractor they send out. https://architectexpo.com/2022/en/    The architect expo is far different than a HomePro expo or "Home show" held in the same venue. 

Have not seen any mention of flooding.  With cement you mop up - with gypsum you rebuild.  And almost all homes are subject to flooding here.   One month after leaving USA had to return to rebuild house in Homestead after Andrew hit (1992) and have ever since been more than glad to have solid brick/cement construction of Thailand.

3 hours ago, kamalabob2 said:

May I suggest that the OP or any expat who is considering any "special" or "different" home construction methods to attend the annual Architect Expo. If they plan a full two days, and start at one side of the exhibition hall and walk isles by isle, they can see, feel and touch all manner of innovative building materials that are "on the ground" in Thailand. No one will try hard to "sell" them any products, but rather the visitor can find out the local distributor in their area for building materials. I have attended this expo most every year since 2007. It is a great way to see actual building materials that ARE REALLY AVAILABLE in Thailand. The EXPO is free to attend. You can pick up the business cards and brochures that will help you research the materials. Some firms might sell direct to the consumer, some might point you to the distributors in your area. Frankly, I have met more than one expat who ended up building a home "solo" since the Thai workers they had found would not work the way the expat wanted them to work. Thai workers have no problem in walking off a job in my observation. I certainly know the value of hiring experienced contractors and sub contractors for various aspects of a job. SCG has really expanded "services" over the years from only doing excellent roof installations. However in Isaan, there are limitations to which firms will really want to come for special installations. Every expat cares about the quality of what they spend their money on. Unfortunately not every supplier really cares about the products they sell or the sub contractor they send out. https://architectexpo.com/2022/en/    The architect expo is far different than a HomePro expo or "Home show" held in the same venue. 

Thanks! Following the link it seems the next show will open on the 25th April - or at least that seems to be the current plan.

On that website are also lots of links. I am sure following those links will also bring up interesting information. 

have yet to find treated wood in Thailand, its all I used in Australia, treated pine is termite proof and easy to use, a friend over here built his own house and used gal steel studs, roof tresses etc and gyprock right through his house and it came up pretty good. In our other house all the downstairs ceilings had to be replaced after termites hollowed them out though, unfortunately Thailand has that many termites it isnt funny, they get into everything just like the ants do, even brick & rendered walls or even cement slabs cant stop them.  In our new house we made sure they treated all the area under the slab and around it were treated for termites before they poured, its really all you can do but I would much rather have used treated wood or steel in it myself.

Pretty sure bluesteel have outlets in Thailand these days for complete steel frames and trusses.

In the early days in Thailand these were produced by some offbeat company and the results were shocking to say the least.

However, bluesteel know their stuff so no more problem there.

Has anyone had any experience with the SCG Smartboard interior wall system?

 

On 1/18/2022 at 2:04 AM, The Hammer2021 said:

I was more concerned about termites.

I asked why is everything steel in our house.....doh!

 

'Architect' explained unless you are using teak the termites will destroy everything within 10 years.

14 hours ago, Encid said:

Has anyone had any experience with the SCG Smartboard interior wall system?

 

Yes

3 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

Yes

And...?

 

Was it positive or negative?

 

Any traps to avoid?

18 hours ago, Will B Good said:

I asked why is everything steel in our house.....doh!

 

'Architect' explained unless you are using teak the termites will destroy everything within 10 years.

Not true if treated correctly we have 20 year old ucaliptus wood in places on our house.

2 hours ago, Encid said:

And...?

 

Was it positive or negative?

Positive

 

2 hours ago, Encid said:

Any traps to avoid?

Not that I can think of. 

 

If you have any specific questions I'll try to answer them. It's much like gyp-board, but you do not have to worry about water & termite damage. 

 

On 1/19/2022 at 9:48 PM, OneMoreFarang said:

It might be interesting for some people here.

You can't beat a concrete block or breeze block internal walls with a final render IMHO.

10 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

You can't beat a concrete block or breeze block internal walls with a final render IMHO.

Unless you care about heat or noise or pipes or conduit or wires....

10 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Unless you care about heat or noise or pipes or conduit or wires....

All above can be accommodated as they have done for numerous decades.

42 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

You can't beat a concrete block or breeze block internal walls with a final render IMHO.

Do you have any rule/advice when to use concrete blocks and when breeze blocks (and which once)?

I read somewhere (I think in this forum) that breeze blocks can be are problematic in/near wet rooms because they soak up water. True?

 

I thought about different wall types and I think one advantage of any kind of bricks and blocks is that we can easily screw (heavy) things to such a wall. With drywall a picture frame is no problem but fixing a big cabinet can be a problem.

38 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

read somewhere (I think in this forum) that breeze blocks can be are problematic in/near wet rooms because they soak up water. True?

Yes when the the build is not constructed correctly.

1 hour ago, Kwasaki said:

You can't beat a concrete block or breeze block internal walls with a final render IMHO.

Or AAC 

41 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

With drywall a picture frame is no problem but fixing a big cabinet can be a problem.

Yeah thats where you're furniture type and choices are affected.

41 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I thought about different wall types and I think one advantage of any kind of bricks and blocks is that we can easily screw (heavy) things to such a wall. With drywall a picture frame is no problem but fixing a big cabinet can be a problem.

My experience of the cheap concrete blocks is that fixing things to them was very variable depending on where you hit when drilling. My experience with AAC blocks is that if using the correct anchors I can fit anything anywhere.

1 hour ago, sometimewoodworker said:

....is that if using the correct anchors I can fit anything anywhere.

Which you can say about gyp-board & smart board as well. 

2 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

All above can be accommodated as they have done for numerous decades.

How?

2 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

Which you can say about gyp-board & smart board as well. 

You can certainly say it, but it will be untrue with the thicknesses being discussed here.

 

With AAC blocks (probably bricks and other solid block walls) I can put a single anchor anywhere, the weight limit is near, possibly at, the shear strength of the screw going into that point.  
 

Put your choice of fitting into your board midway between attachment points, I would bet that the weight supporting value is considerably less than a similar single point into AAC/solid wall. Then if you hit the supporting structure you again have a different anchor required 

19 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

Put your choice of fitting into your board midway between attachment points, I would bet that the weight supporting value is considerably less than a similar single point into AAC/solid wall. Then if you hit the supporting structure you again have a different anchor required 

This video has lots of samples about the weight and strength limitations.

 

https://youtu.be/DQx5SVj0biA