What a Novel Idea....great stuff

[weegee]

Just watched on TNN news about a family in Issan, who worked how to beat the flooding through their house....

This guy has built a lightweight steel framed house on stilts (Normal)....BUT then he has gone further and put rows of Plastic 200ltr drums under the flooring, followed up by spuds(Pile anchors used in the dredging game) on the corners....and hey presto, water floods in and the house rises with the level of the water....when the water recedes, the house lowers exactly back down on the posts....The electricity cable looks long enough to raise with the house....

To imagine what he has done, just think about a floating Wharf principle,common everywhere in the world....

What a fantastic idea !!!!!!!!!!! other than building a houseboat.

[barrybankruad]

What about water pipes and sewerage. Does it have portable toilets or is there just a hole in the dunny floor?

[David48]

weegee ... can I provide some examples?

Check the concept out here ... floating-homes

After Cyclone Rita

The Buoyant Foundation Project

.

[FritsSikkink]

Smart guy but not really new

https://www.google.nl/search?q=floating+house&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=bhZJUuG9IIm14ASvm4DIDg&ved=0CDMQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=643&dpr=1

[HeijoshinCool]

weegee ... can I provide some examples?

Check the concept out here ... floating-homes

After Cyclone Rita

The Buoyant Foundation Project

.

Darn, just when I was going to offer up the guy as the first Thai to invent something for next monthly "Have Thais Ever Invented Anything" thread, and you go and ruin it!

[David48]

Smart guy but not really new

https://www.google.nl/search?q=floating+house&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=bhZJUuG9IIm14ASvm4DIDg&ved=0CDMQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=643&dpr=1

Agreed ... but this concept is much more fun ...

@ 30 secs ... could be Bangkok and the BTS ...

The Dutch and their Windmills know a thing or two about flooding ...

.

[David48]

Darn, just when I was going to offer up the guy as the first Thai to invent something for next monthly "Have Thais Ever Invented Anything" thread, and you go and ruin it!

It's all good ... but they have given us so many more things then simple inventions

... for some ... a new lease on life

... for me ... FUN in everything we do

Indeed they have almost 're-invented' me ...

.

.

[weegee]

thats....the first time I have seen such a project like that and was impressed naturally....

[weegee]

Smart guy but not really new

https://www.google.nl/search?q=floating+house&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=bhZJUuG9IIm14ASvm4DIDg&ved=0CDMQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=643&dpr=1

Yep, know all about houseboats and what the Dutch are doing in their country....BUT,....imagine how he worked out the Stability...(I hope)... This was done here, without plans or stuff.....good on him. I call it survival no matter what....

[boatguy]

Just watched on TNN news about a family in Issan, who worked how to beat the flooding through their house....

This guy has built a lightweight steel framed house on stilts (Normal)....BUT then he has gone further and put rows of Plastic 200ltr drums under the flooring, followed up by spuds(Pile anchors used in the dredging game) on the corners....and hey presto, water floods in and the house rises with the level of the water....when the water recedes, the house lowers exactly back down on the posts....The electricity cable looks long enough to raise with the house....

To imagine what he has done, just think about a floating Wharf principle,common everywhere in the world....

What a fantastic idea !!!!!!!!!!! other than building a houseboat.

I had suggested such a thing back over on this subject thread
Living on a Houseboat

But I believe the idea of a 'floatable house' that can rise and fall with the water level makes more sense than a house built on stilts...sometimes. The floating house does not necessarily mean it will float away when the water rises. Look at some of the floating docks in hi-tidal areas. Besides I would like my 'house/ cottage' down at water/lilly-pad pond level, yet capable of rising.

How about this last year's flooding in Thailand? What if your small home or cottage could float up and down with the water level ....and still stay in place. Some stud barges and floating marina docks do just that.

[boatguy]

I found this quote from that other 'archived' subject thread of interest as well.

- BUT I HAVE A MUCH BETTER "RESIDENCE IDEA FOR FARANGS IN THAILAND": Since those things are not (yet) built in Thailand = Import a double - wide MOBILE HOME from the U.S. Then put it up on your Thai Wifes (GF) Land. Have the Mobile Home registered in your name. I think can do, like you can own a car.

Positive: If your Thai-Wife decides she don't love you anymore: Let the Thai-Wife (GF) keep her precious Isaan-Land and you move YOUR property (the Mobile Home) 2 miles down the road to your new "precious-one".

This way, a lot of future financial damage to farangs could be avoided.

Negative: You would have to have Insurance that covers "ARSEN". Because at the slightest hint, that you may be pulling out shortly, your female companion may want to arrange for some fireworks arond the property, with the main victim being your Mobile Home.

I had suggested something similar for the 'floating house'

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/general-yachting-discussion/5554-bali-thai-style-houseboat-2.html

Thought about that idea recently for the inland areas of Thailand. If your 'house' was 'floating capable' it might have made out better in those really bad floods they experienced this year. I'm over here now and I see many villages that experienced really high waters as the result of the dams up north having to release waters to lessen their overwheming loads....and many facilities that were located on the lakes formed by those dams.

Also since foreigners can't own land in Thailand, many times they build a house there and have to give it up for a total lose as they don't own the land it is built on. (in Thailand foreigners can't own the land, only with majority Thai nationals...girl-friend, wife, family) Now if the 'house' was mobile...as in floatable, or sectional...or....they just might salvage part of their investment in the event of a break-up....and it happens quite often in Thailand


Besides if your house could 'float' you might have this garden/pond scene without all of the foundation problems associated with being right next to water,...and you could rise and fall with the flood water much like a spud barge, or floating docks at a marina.

[NeverSure]

weegee ... can I provide some examples?

Check the concept out here ... floating-homes

After Cyclone Rita

The Buoyant Foundation Project

.

Yep, that's a single wide mobile home. It would already be lightweight, and stiff enough to travel down the road on its wheels. It would have an engineered steel floor and frame to make it a trailer. It might be something like 12' x 60' (or 3.6m x 18m.) It would be the perfect platform for this idea.

[NeverSure]

I can't find a really good pic of a mobile home frame, but this should do. All of the steel is relatively lightweight channel iron and I beam.

[boatguy]

If you were looking for a Thai home just a bit more conventional,...say wider than a mobile home, there are what as known as double-wide mobile homes that are brought on site in two halves. This pond floating home I am speaking of could be built in the same manner. Perhaps constructed in a 'factory location', the trucked to your site and put the halves together.

How wide of a load can you put on the Thai roads? I saw a pretty big water tower (upper portion) being towed the other day.

You want light weight easy construction of the 'boxed' portion of the construction,....how about this polycore material with two different face materials (one for exterior, one for interior) glued on to either side of the polyethylene honeycomb core material??

...somewhat analogous to what I am proposing for the superstructure of this 40 trawler
http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=179504&postcount=127

PP_Honeycomb.pdf

[weegee]

Boatguy....The honeycomb material you are mentioning works great, for light weight construction. The problem with firbreglass in Thailand is the heat..

Having said that, I have a fiberglass Pool here, but I did build a roof over the top, to beat the effects of the sun....

The material you are using will work great where you are in that climate,(Washington) and it's in the water (which keeps the heat away).

For the scenario of the floating house, I would use Ferro cement and chicken wire on framing to build the floats myself (in Thailand)...This can be sealed with ordinary house paint after curing...and it's really maintenance free from then...The cost is cheap, and any shape that you want is easy obtainable. I believe the Italians came up with this idea first, many moons ago.

Thinking along those lines, and knowing how it's done (concrete Yacht construction)....the whole house and the floats can be built as one piece, and the inside of the floats can be used for domestic water storage....but stability would have to be taken into account, even with the Spuds..

Just my thoughts...I find this a very interesting subject

[NeverSure]

The video David posted in post 3 says that the flotation is Styrofoam blocks. That's standard in the US for things like floating boat docks where water levels change a lot.

Styrofoam can be purchased in blocks, but I'd prefer to buy the two chemicals that are mixed and then they foam up. I'd build a plywood form attached with screws so that I could take it apart to release the solid block after it set up, and then pour another. That way I'd get just the size(s) I needed. In the US it isn't expensive. It is a closed cell foam that can't absorb water.

There is a product called mold release which could be applied to the mold and prevent the finished block from sticking to the form. There is also a construction adhesive that would permanently glue the blocks to the floor.

[NeverSure]

Boatguy, the trouble with a double wide is that it's effectively two single wides designed to attach together on site, placing them on blocks or a foundation. They are two trailers, each strong, but the attachment points between them aren't strong. They are designed to just slide together and the bolt together on site. Everything above the frame is wood framed, even on a single wide.

I think you'd have to do a heck of a lot of reinforcing including welding in new steel frame members to hold the two trailers rigid, and to securely attach the upper halves.

They make single wides now that are 14' x 64' (4 1/4 m x 19.5 m) and that's a decent house.

[boatguy]

Boatguy....The honeycomb material you are mentioning works great, for light weight construction. The problem with firbreglass in Thailand is the heat..

Having said that, I have a fiberglass Pool here, but I did build a roof over the top, to beat the effects of the sun....

The material you are using will work great where you are in that climate,(Washington) and it's in the water (which keeps the heat away).

For the scenario of the floating house, I would use Ferro cement and chicken wire on framing to build the floats myself (in Thailand)...This can be sealed with ordinary house paint after curing...and it's really maintenance free from then...The cost is cheap, and any shape that you want is easy obtainable. I believe the Italians came up with this idea first, many moons ago.

Thinking along those lines, and knowing how it's done (concrete Yacht construction)....the whole house and the floats can be built as one piece, and the inside of the floats can be used for domestic water storage....but stability would have to be taken into account, even with the Spuds..

Just my thoughts...I find this a very interesting subject

Just to clarify, I was NOT suggesting any the honeycomb material for below water application. And I was NOT suggesting fiberglass construction. Sorry if it appeared that way.

Its been awhile since I considered this idea, as when I looked at the possibilities of building such a floating Thai styled 'house' in the USA. I sort ventured away from the idea when I ran into so much resistance possibilities with local municipalities.....just easier to do a 'boat' structure rather than a 'house' as its already an acceptable form of structure that can't be ruled against.

There are a whole lot of new building material that could be considered in the building of these 'floatable houses'. I remember seeing a very lt-weight masonry block that was being used on a local hotel construction here in Khon Kaen (I think I saved a piece of it somewhere around here). During one of my stays back in the USA, I attended an 'International Homebuilders Show' held that year in Orlando FL. It was fascinating. I need to go to another of these.

I'm going to be going down to the Kanchanaburi area this coming week, and I'm sure I will see some interesting ides there..

I am glad there are some other folks on this forum that find these ideas interesting, but I really feel as though we should be discussing them in a subject thread that was better titled to represent what material is under discussion. What do you think of this? I could see this subject thread getting quite lengthy and very informative. perhaps we could put our heads together for a better title??

Brian

[boatguy]

Boatguy, the trouble with a double wide is that it's effectively two single wides designed to attach together on site, placing them on blocks or a foundation. They are two trailers, each strong, but the attachment points between them aren't strong. They are designed to just slide together and the bolt together on site. Everything above the frame is wood framed, even on a single wide.

I think you'd have to do a heck of a lot of reinforcing including welding in new steel frame members to hold the two trailers rigid, and to securely attach the upper halves.

They make single wides now that are 14' x 64' (4 1/4 m x 19.5 m) and that's a decent house.

This dbl-wide idea is not an impossibility, and in fact might be solved easily....so don't discount it yet.

I brought it up as I thought about the possibility of construction of the housing modules in a semi-factory, off-premise location and then trucked / trailered onto location in an existing pond area, or a 'man-made' pond area.

Again I would ask if anyone knows of a very particular maximum width that can be moved of the roads of Thailand?? I saw a water tower being moved a few days ago, and it seems the top spherical portion was quite wide.

[weegee]

Shipping containers are standard size to legally carry on the road...internationally.

If you cant find out from someone here, google the size of shipping containers, that should be near the money.

[wym]

Shipping containers are designed for GREAT strength in very specific locations - the floor and lifting points.

This makes them much heavier than they should be for floating purposes, and any modifications for side openings also need to be engineered properly.

OK to use those dimensions, but purpose-built design will IMO work better.

Great for storage though, just lift them up high against flooding rather than trying to make them float.

[boatguy]

I don't think weegee was proposing that shipping containers would be utilized for accommodation, but rather that they might be used to judge the widths that could be moved over the road without special concerns.

In the USA, the std legal with without additional rules is 8 ft in most states, but now 8.5 ft in many.

Then you move up to wider loads that you need to carry signs with, then still wider loads that you need and escort with, and certain very wide and heavy loads that can only move during daylight hours I don't even know all this 'classifications, but ultimately you can move pretty wide loads. I only suspect you can move such loads in Thailand with certain permissions, and proper escorts.

At any rate I think you could create quite a nice 'floating house with two 12 ft wide units.

[boatguy]

Check the concept out here ... floating-homes

Just wanted to re-emphasize this link that David posted, as it was somewhat easy to miss in his original posting (overpowered by a photo I believe).

I'm liking the idea that in some cases it might be just as easy to place the pre-fab house onto a 'big hollow box' of concrete rather than providing the 'floatationtubes/devices' attached to the pre-fab house structure. This big hollow concrete flotation box could easily be built right on the site where the floating house is going to be placed, AND it could be big enough to support the double-wide pre-fab structure without complicating the attachment of the two sections. Plus you are not transporting this extra weight of the 'buoyant chamber(s)'

.

[boatguy]

I googled 'images' of 'floating house'. WOW, what a variety of designs world-wide. I hadn't done this before.

Tomorrow I taking a trip down to the Kanchanaburi for a few days with my wife. hope to see a lot of other ideas, styles. Likely out of touch for a little while.

Cheers. Brian

[boatguy]

I googled 'images' of 'floating house'. WOW, what a variety of designs world-wide. I hadn't done this before.

Tomorrow I taking a trip down to the Kanchanaburi for a few days with my wife. hope to see a lot of other ideas, styles. Likely out of touch for a little while.

Cheers. Brian

Made that trip, and got LOTS of photos on a number of different rafts and their tow boats.

Half-way to getting all of these photos downloaded from my camera and resized and organized into files. Will post some when I get a little more time. (had a number of 'honey-do-it' projects to get done on the land-based abode, then long trip back to USA)

Made a trip to the floating market at Amphawa as well

[wym]

If you're talking about Thailand, classiest way IMO - and plenty of room - is buying an old teak rice barge and fixing that up, live on the Chao Phraya.

Floating party rental outfit's done a decent job.

Bribing the authorities will most likely cost more than the physical project.