Construction method

[Seastallion]

An apartment block/hotel has just been (poorly (loooong story)) constructed next door to my house. They are now laying the carpark.

About 5 hong of land has been leveled with a bulldozer. They then covered the area with about an inch of sand, and stuck wooden pegs in about every meter....not particularly straight lines but forms a rough grid. Now they have covered the entire sanded area in nylon cargo net.

That's my question; Nylon cargo net instead of iron/steel mesh. The netting has about 8 inch mesh (4 inch sides) and actually looks to be second hand, with holes and knotted patches.

Is this normal in Thailand (or anywhere)? Will it do the job of reinforcing?

[gerry123]

maybe the netting is being used as a weed barrier are they going to asphelt or concrete if its on the cheap it will be the black stuff

[eyecatcher]

Very unusual here but yes its called nycon multimesh and is specifically used in connie to prevent plastic shrinkage and cracking.

As a tensile reinforcement its useless so the base needs to be top notch

[gerry123]

Very unusual here but yes its called nycon multimesh and is specifically used in connie to prevent plastic shrinkage and cracking.

As a tensile reinforcement its useless so the base needs to be top notch

connie ???? oz terminolgy i guess

[eyecatcher]

Thats English slang but if the Aussies want to borrow it thats ok......they need the handouts at the moment.

[cooked]

Guessing, but I think this is going to be the base of a bed of weak concrete, more or less levelled out, permitting subsequent work to be done in a clean environment. Worry about what happens next.

[Seastallion]

Guessing, but I think this is going to be the base of a bed of weak concrete, more or less levelled out, permitting subsequent work to be done in a clean environment. Worry about what happens next.

Thanks to eyecatcher...though I have reservations that it is actually what you say because this is really really exactly the same as cargo net off trucks (not the heavy-duty stuff of ships), I expect they are mimicing what you are talking about. Nylon cord stretches, so would hardly be good for plastic expansion prevention. Honestly, this stuff looks like it could be used for fishing big fish.

Cooked...I hope you're right, but my worries about the carpark pale against the building of the apartment. So much so, that when my landlord offered to sell the house we are in, I turned him down on the fact of the building next door alone. First earthquake, and it will topple.

For example.....the entire fifth (top) floor is constructed without steel, and the bricks are all those very light-weight white blocks used for fences. No key-ways for the mortar, no reinforcing, nothing but soft blocks (that I can break on my knee) and mortar. The first drunken brawl and someone will be pushed through an interior or exterior wall.

I'll keep you posted on what and how they pour.

[Seastallion]

Here's another example....the design has large windows with the sill about 500 mm off the floor. After the aluminium joinery and glass was installed, I eye-witnessed a light-weight burmese labourer sit on a thrid floor window sill (as you would). The joinery collapsed, and the windows fell out, missing people on the ground by only a metre.

Instead of replacing the substandard joinery, they installed a stainless bar in front of all the windows (inside) to prevent any sitting on the window sills.

Edited August 8, 2015 by Seastallion

[cooked]

Soft blocks that are used for fencing? I don't know what that is. I built my house with AAC concrete blocks, they are white and from a width of 20 cm are load bearing. Very strong. 10 cm blocks are sufficient if there are supporting pillars. You won't see any noticeable joints. However they should be cross bonded.

[Seastallion]

Soft blocks that are used for fencing? I don't know what that is. I built my house with AAC concrete blocks, they are white and from a width of 20 cm are load bearing. Very strong. 10 cm blocks are sufficient if there are supporting pillars. You won't see any noticeable joints. However they should be cross bonded.

These are not concrete....they are about 30 x 20 x 100, very light weight and very brittle. As I said, I can break one over my knee. I was told they are usually for fencing, and that because they are porous, they need no key-way for the mortar.

The broken bits remind me of pummice. Very light and porous

Edited August 8, 2015 by Seastallion

[Seastallion]

Guessing, but I think this is going to be the base of a bed of weak concrete, more or less levelled out, permitting subsequent work to be done in a clean environment. Worry about what happens next.

You could be right...the boxing looks like it was put up by a drunk man with one eye at midnight...they have not tried at all to be straight, and they have used thin, warped ply.

You must be right.

[cooked]

Please google aac blocks. Aac = autoclaved aerated concrete.

[kamalabob2]

White AAC blocks 20 wide by 20 high by 60 long would be commonly known as Q Con Blocks or Super Blocks or Diamond Blocks in Thailand. Certainly other less thick sizes of this Hebel light weight wall block are on sale at most any builders merchant store in Buriram or all other Provinces which include 7 cm, 7.5 cm, 10 cm, 12.5 cm, 15 cm, 20 cm or 25cm. Some builders merchants also display the Q Con steel reinforced window lintels or actual wall panel sections that have steel reinforcement built in at the Q Con plant in central Thailand. The GREY colored inexpensive blocks are often 5.5 cm 6 cm, 6.5 cm or 7 cm wide. They are 17 cm high and 36 long. Not strong in my observation.

[weegee]

Those ones on the Truck(pic above) and very good mate....dont worry about that....light but strong.

The Netting you are talking about will be probably for settling the ground firmer when they roll it before the bitumen...

That stuff is usually put down on roads that run through swamps to help hold the base together longer....HERE? not sure....

[zyphodb]

Here in Isaan they commonly use 1/2 inch wide strips of Bamboo wired together into a mesh instead of rebar steel for concrete.. TIT

[kamalabob2]

I must miss the interesting home building in the Buriram province village I live. I have yet to see bamboo used for an alternative to rebar. Bamboo sure makes a great scaffolding for house painters in Buriram as I experienced in 2008 and 2013. I've noted undersized rebar and undersized steel on many village built homes in Buriram. However this month and last month I took photos of a garage floor which will have two bedrooms and bathroom on the 2nd floor in Buriram. It was not quite the quaint rebar or structural steel for horizontal beams or upright columns as other forum members see. There was an architect house building set of plans to guide the local Buriram Province house builder in the village home I have taken photos in July and August 2015.