Hi All..

i need to erect/build around 20 5metre pillars for somehtign i am building.

i see many builings where thye put hte metal in , surround it with wood the do a concrete pour .. and other where they buy premade pillars

my question is which is more cost effective ?

if we make ourselves it would be with self made concrete not a delivery.

i gather the pillars premade are about 900 bt each

I have seen buildings collapse with the weight of the roof with ready made sow poons

They often have only quite small re bar or just thin wire inside them, and often not even formed into the re enforced internal box structure.

I have seen buildings collapse with the weight of the roof with ready made sow poons

They often have only quite small re bar or just thin wire inside them, and often not even formed into the re enforced internal box structure.

agreed.

they can carry a steel sheet roof or asbest sheets, but not concrete tile roof. "rebars" are usually 3-5mm.

a self made post has at least 4 x 12mm rebars and proper concrete, and at least 15x15cm size. but cost much more

reread Ops post, did you say 5 meter long? no doubt you need to make them yourself and 15x15cm with 4 x12 mm rebars wont do

steel 4x4 posts can work, but lifetime isnt that great, depending on humidity and how wet they get

Agree with the above sentiments, what will these pillars be holding up and how far above ground level?

Don't forget they will need footings of some sort or are they included in the 5m length?

we just had an exstension on the roof of our car port about 6ft.we had 2roman pillars built 2.4mts.they were inserted into 2female round concrete blocks 2ft into the ground,the base of each one fitted on top,then the mould for the pillars fitted into the footings and concrete was poured in cost 1500bht each+labour.5mts.do seem a long way up.

Everything depends on what you want to do with them . A normal 1 story house with steel roof can be supported easy by the preformed columns . If you want heavy tiles on the roof or have big spaces between the columns i would prefer to build them on site . You can also look at the quality of the steel used inside as there are always piece of the rebar sticking out . They might have cut corners and did not put them all away through and bonded together but i personally never witnessed such practice ( does not mean it doesn't exist ) . 15 cm by 15cm columns can support quite a lot of weight on it , and if you not place them more then 4 m from eachother most single story homes would be strong enough .

If you need anything bigger , 2 story house or house not on floor level but raised 1/2 story or more together with heavy tile roofs , pour them on site as you will know the strength ( if they do it the correct way !!) .

Seen lots of local "cheese wedge" houses built that way around here...usually have corrugated cement sheet roofs...but as Crossy says I think they are put into footings and also joined at the bases with re-bar concrete wall footings Not sure how they are keyed together.

I used 2m prefab poles ( with bases)for a retaining wall (concrete footings)..I had to shorten 'em for aesthetics and found they were extremely well reinforced with wire ties on the re-bar...however a swift whack with a sledge cracked 'em ..!

All in all, as everyone seems to agree,..better build 'em on site..you will know what your getting atleast.Our pole house has 12 re-bars for 30mm/5m poles..boxed in with baked bricks ...belt and braces overkill maybe..lol

..don't forget to put some plastic over poles once the forms are off to ensure slower curing and strength...

we just had an exstension on the roof of our car port about 6ft.we had 2roman pillars built 2.4mts.they were inserted into 2female round concrete blocks 2ft into the ground,the base of each one fitted on top,then the mould for the pillars fitted into the footings and concrete was poured in cost 1500bht each+labour.5mts.do seem a long way up.

That sounds pretty interesting. Do you have any photos of the base socket you could post?

we just had an exstension on the roof of our car port about 6ft.we had 2roman pillars built 2.4mts.they were inserted into 2female round concrete blocks 2ft into the ground,the base of each one fitted on top,then the mould for the pillars fitted into the footings and concrete was poured in cost 1500bht each+labour.5mts.do seem a long way up.

That sounds pretty interesting. Do you have any photos of the base socket you could post?

sorry mate we are having trouble trans.photos from my gallery.it was the builder who recomended the pillars,as we have a large house[5bed 3bth] he said it would add a bit off class to the front,they done a good job,but we done the painting.if you google roman pillars you should see the style.i will try and exsplain.the actual pillar comes in 2parts,made in a mould,the base is like 3diff size round rings placed on top of each other,the pillar slots into the base and concrete poured in,the 2lengths of pillar are sealed together,the pillars have grooves all the way down,but there is so many styles,the top has 5 rings,and leveled off with concrete.if you have an e-mail add.pm me and i will send you a photo.