Why Using Concrete Columns For Build House?

[Kwasaki]

Trusses and walls? Your statement evades me ? There are thousands of homes in Florida that have stood through decades of massive storms and are still standing..

I was just pointing out you wouldn't or shouldn't put roof trusses dirrectly on top of blockwork walls.

On top of the walls there is alway a beam, which acts the same as a column whether it's in timber or other material, beam tied to wall, trusses tied to beam.

Sitting a concrete padstone on top of a blockwork column for the truss to sit on is an alternative.

Quite right what you said before " simple really ".

Yes of course there is a "beam" on top of the block wall but as I understand it he's not referring to THAT type of beam, I read it that he's referring to vertical columns yes?

Yes but the original OP was asking about using superblock and even in that kind of installation, sometimes columns are required, whether they are in brick, blocks, rein-concrete or steel there is always a question of the way a building is tied within the construction, also opinions went the way of costs etc.

You can build a house out of mud & straw if you want, woosah.

Edited January 16, 2012 by Kwasaki

[Naam]

Plywood and asphalt shingles indeed........ Further proof of very limited knowledge of Florida construction on your part and the purpose of those as well.

your yada yada diversion is futile WarpSpeed. are you denying the fact that 99% of Florida homes are roofed using plywood and asphalt shingles nailed to a wooden roof structure consisting mainly of "two by fours"?

come down from your technical cloud nine or i'll slap the "gravity defying toilet flush water" from another thread in your face. you have to realise and admit that once in a while you overshoot the target and if challenged you try to cover up with paragraphs of nothing but yakety-yak interpunctuated with your "centuries of experience". the latter is no substitute for using simple laws of applied physics and basic knowledge of building materials.

Edited January 16, 2012 by Naam

[WarpSpeed]

Trusses and walls? Your statement evades me ? There are thousands of homes in Florida that have stood through decades of massive storms and are still standing..

I was just pointing out you wouldn't or shouldn't put roof trusses dirrectly on top of blockwork walls.

On top of the walls there is alway a beam, which acts the same as a column whether it's in timber or other material, beam tied to wall, trusses tied to beam.

Sitting a concrete padstone on top of a blockwork column for the truss to sit on is an alternative.

Quite right what you said before " simple really ".

Yes of course there is a "beam" on top of the block wall but as I understand it he's not referring to THAT type of beam, I read it that he's referring to vertical columns yes?

Yes but the original OP was asking about using superblock and even in that kind of installation, sometimes columns are required, whether they are in brick, blocks, rein-concrete or steel there is always a question of the way a building is tied within the construction, also opinions went the way of costs etc.

You can build a house out of mud & straw if you want, woosah.

No one argued that point, my original post you responded to was about concrete cinder blocks as wall structures not super block at all..Different process and animal which requires no vertical pillars or columns only a topping beam which is not either of those as it's horizontal and in most cases not even visible in the roof crawl space...

Super block is glued and cinder blocks are cemented together with a much larger joint which provides the needed support along with overlapping seams..

[WarpSpeed]

Plywood and asphalt shingles indeed........ Further proof of very limited knowledge of Florida construction on your part and the purpose of those as well.

your yada yada diversion is futile WarpSpeed. are you denying the fact that 99% of Florida homes are roofed using plywood and asphalt shingles nailed to a wooden roof structure consisting mainly of "two by fours"?

come down from your technical cloud nine or i'll slap the "gravity defying toilet flush water" from another thread in your face. you have to realise and admit that once in a while you overshoot the target and if challenged you try to cover up with paragraphs of nothing but yakety-yak interpunctuated with your "centuries of experience". the latter is no substitute for using simple laws of applied physics and basic knowledge of building materials.

To you it's futile because it's based on too much knowledge for you to form a cogent counter point and JFYI off topic anyways..

Your wrong on the toilet topic too just too poorly informed and hardheaded to understand it.. You just think your right but in reality your being obtuse and don't even know it.. Like now I just got tired of arguing with the equivalent of a concrete wall (hold up really well against 150 mph winds I might add) and have to let you think you're right in order to continue on with the topic at large... For future reference, just because someone leaves you to argue your point to yourself doesn't mean you're correct...

Edited January 16, 2012 by WarpSpeed

[sirineou]

in Florida where I build a house a few years ago, cement block with out columns is used most of the time. as the block goes up reed bar is placed inside of some of the cement block cavities and what in essence is a small column is poured inside the vertically aligned cement block cavities. The inside of the wall is finished with metal or wood furring strips attached to the block wall , and drywall, attached to the furring strips . The space between the furring strips and the block wall is used to run the electrical and plumbing utilities and to install insulation.

I dont see why the same can not be done here.

[Kwasaki]

in Florida where I build a house a few years ago, cement block with out columns is used most of the time. as the block goes up reed bar is placed inside of some of the cement block cavities and what in essence is a small column is poured inside the vertically aligned cement block cavities. The inside of the wall is finished with metal or wood furring strips attached to the block wall , and drywall, attached to the furring strips . The space between the furring strips and the block wall is used to run the electrical and plumbing utilities and to install insulation.

I dont see why the same can not be done here.

You could do it here if you could get the same blocks that are used in Florida, or use double tied Thai concrete blocks interlapped at corners and wall junctions.

Columns are just a way of making a building even stronger.

As I said before " You can build a house out of mud & straw if you want ".

Edited January 17, 2012 by Kwasaki

[crazykopite]

Super block is a great material and is available in Thailand ,however when using this product there is a special mixture that you buy in the bucket to replace the traditional cement/mortor ,on saying that I have seen thai builders using cement and that does worry me. Most homes in Thailand are built on concrete columns for severel reasons Flooding and Ventilation are what comes to mind . I see no reason once you have your foundations and floor in place why you can not complete the project in super block I for one would only use the block on the inner wall ensuring that the outer walls have been well skimmed with waterproof rendering it is great for cutting , a great insulater and an electricians dream as it is so easy to channel through. the other advantage is that with breeze block you can only build up 5 courses at a time but with super bloc you can go as high as you want it is very quick drying providing you use the correct bonding.

[crazykopite]

Thai builders are excellent at building columns and floors of all shapes what they are not good at is removing all the wooden frames to build those supports . through out your build ensure that all these wooden supports are removed by your workers and taken off site. The reason why I say this is that when my property was built due to the location it involved 3 meter deep cellars and as one does not often go into the cellar the workers just left all the wooden shutters on the floors or still on the concrete joists , within a few months the amount of termite that was attracted to all this useless wood came at a great expense and took many moths to eradicate You need to ensure that you tell your foreman that all woods used for supports/shutters need to be removed. It was an expensive lesson so please take note.

[jinjinswing]

Superblock is not new and there are many brand names around the world, in Australia "hebel" is a trade name for an areated block that is light weight and strong, popular with the owner builder in the 80s as simple brick laying skill would allow them to build there own house, there glued together.

One of the main reasons why you would want to use them is that they dont radiate heat, there light to lift, the downside was there cost, i have noticed while doing google search that a smilar product is available in Thailand, if affordable then you should look at it closley.

They didnt take off in AU but i notced in the late 90s that a "superblock" sheet panel was avalibale, some of the up market builders used it, they were around 100mm think and may have come in sizes something like 2.4m by 600mm but dont quote me on that, they would be best used as cladding on second story as to keep it light weight, these sheets were screwed onto exsisting timber studs and i assum glued to each other as well, all "hebel" walls were rendered.

Since those days Foam has really taken off as a cladding especialy for second story , light, cheap, easy to install and they give you a great insulation rating, i used it on my second story wall cladding again the walls are rendered.

If your looking for alternatives look around for Foam cladding, if you cant find any in building suppliers try the motor industry, they use them for cool van/tuck bodies, cool rooms in supermarkets etc, often with sheetmetal faces, in AU we can get raw or already primed with reinfore mesh the second will save you on rendering costs as the base coat and mesh is already done.

[jinjinswing]

ps....."hebel" built homes in AU did not require posts for suport, one of the companys selling pont was that the material was structural, they could supply "lintels" of various sizes that could be easily shortened for window and door openings, we had a rep come out to show us what it was all about for a project we were planning at the time, as i said earlier the costs didnt add up for us.

[thaibeachlovers]

Was curious about what you were talking about - for the rest of you without a clue look here http://www.superblockusa.com/

Looks pretty interesting but where would you get it in Thailand?

Don't know if it's the same thing, but years ago they were advertising something similar on Pattaya tv. Might not have caught on, as haven't seen any ads in recent years.

[sirineou]

The Op was " Why Use Concrete Columns to Build a house" an interesting question, and one that I am sure is in a lot of peoples minds. In an other reply I mentioned how , we build houses in Florida, an climate similar to Thailand but different in labor availability, and cost, and Material availability and cost.

I say, when in Rome do as the Romans do, no reason to re-invent the wheel, Thai people have being building with columns for a long time,the labor force is comfortable working with them, and the material and systems are easily , readily,and inexpensively available . Can you build differently? Sure, but would it be cheaper, and better? I am not sure.

One also has to consider,that at some point, you might have to sell the house, How easy would it be to sell a house that the local market is not comfortable with? I am a construction professional currently working on the erection of the tallest hotel in New York City , and intimately familiar with many different types of construction,As soon as my involvement in this project is finished, about July, I will be returning to Thailand and starting the construction of our new Home, and even though I have considered many different options, I will be building with concrete columns, filled in with super block, for exterior walls, and will use red brick for some interior walls, and metal studs and drywall for some other interior walls, .

Edited March 4, 2012 by sirineou