John's budget build

[ajarnudon]

G'day. The missus and I have a 732 sq m house block surrounded by sugar cane and paddy fields, in the village of Ban Thueam. The village is on Hwy 2021 - from Udon it's 13 kms north along the Nong Khai road, then turn west and its about 12 kms along the road to Ban Phu. The previous owner filled the block about 15 years ago, and I added another layer of fill when we bought it about 2 1/2 years ago.
Finally, we have made a start on construction. First stage is the retaining wall - along the rear and two sides, about 75 metres all up, and will retain about 1.2 metres at the lowest point, tapering off to around 45 cms on the soi frontage. The mini-excavator arrived at 8.30 am to dig holes for the 400 x 400 anchoring columns, and trenches for the footings. Turns out that the operator is my wife’s cousin. Seems like almost everyone in Ban Thueam is a relation of some kind. As soon as the 1m x 1m x 1m holes were dug, they filled up with 30 -50 cms of water (we are surrounded by paddy fields). So we now have 10 miniature swimming pools.

No more work on site now until Christmas when I have ten days off - hopefully that will be enough time to dry the place out so the wall crew can start. The excavator is owned by the local building supply company, and it can get through a lot of work in a day - THB 5,000 (AUD 200) well spent. The operator knew his stuff and did a god job. He helped me with the measuring and marking out. Jokingly I called him Mr Zero, as he always ended up on the zero end of the tape. As a bonus he has a little English (about as good as my limited Thai), and he laughed when I gave him his new nickname. I bought him a couple of Red Bulls at lunch time, and told him that I would buy him a couple of beers when we finished. Said he doesn’t drink beer, so I said I would drink them for him and my wife slung him 200 baht.
Very happy with Day 1, and hoping the good result is an omen of things to come. A pic of Mr Zero digging one of the trenches.

[ajarnudon]

I need about 80 metres of slotted PVC agricultural pipe to drain the foot of my retaining wall, as well as a geofabric sleeve to prevent the ingress of silt. Does anyone know where I can source it in Udon Thani?

[mickojak]

Hi Ajarn,
Good to see another house thread.
Always interesting to watch what others are doing.
Keep updating as you go along.

Might pay to start a new thread about the aggy pipe.
It wiil attract everyone's attention even if they don't open this thread.
Mick

[macca46]

DO Home used to have it not sure if they still do but worth a look, it was the only place that I have seen it at.

[Barney]

Interesting your water table is so high. Did you know this prior to starting excavation? Just asking to see if it will change your thoughts on footing design?


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[ajarnudon]

Thanks for the responses guys. I will check out Do Home when I get back at Xmas Macca. Barney, you are right that the water caught me by surprise - the paddy fields are still draining and evaporating. I was back in Udon last weekend, and drove up to check it out; a couple of the holes were just about dry, and the others had dropped substantially. The bottom of the wall footing trench is above the paddy field upper waterline, but the ten 1m x 1m x 1m deep holes dug for the 400 x 400 anchoring columns go about 50 cms below it. The only issue for me is that those 10 columns have the reo in the footings and below grade in the columns protected adequately. Bars will all have 75mm min concrete cover, and CPAC will be paid for a waterproofing additive, high MPa and low slump - more labour required, but I don't want shortcuts. No added water post-batching on pain of death.
Interesting that bores have to go down 54 metres to get a reliable (but I am told sweet and potable) water supply; we have town water. My wife came with me both times, and we saw that the murky water in the freshly-dug holes had become crystal clear. She told me that as a child, this was the family's drinking water.
As far as the 21 house pillars are concerned, the footings will be similar to the ten wall pillars - 1m x 1m x 1m deep - but 35 cms rather than 25 cms thick. They will be embedded within the original fill layer (which is like concrete after 15 years). They will be at least half a metre above the paddy field upper water line, but I will again specify high steng, low slump concrete for below grade pouring (cost difference of the concrete is minimal, but requires more labour as it doesn't flow easily). Split-level floor line 75 cms difference, but cathedral ceilings - two rows of centre pillars will go to 5.5 m. Block walls to 4 m, AC sheeting above on gable ends. I will post some concept plans soon.
Regards, John

[bluejets]

If using low slump, you will want to make sure they vibrate the hell out of it otherwise your additives won't be worth a cracker.

[ajarnudon]

Noted bluejets. While the low slump concrete doesn't flow easily, the final product is a lot less porous than a higher slump mix. The footings for the anchoring columns of the retaining wall (two of which will support the outside of the garage roof) will be around 50 cms below the water table for around six months of the year. The delivered concrete will be marginally dearer than standard, but I will have to allow maybe 50% more labour, which is cheap anyway.
Checked out a couple of vibrators (the concrete variety) at Global yesterday. At this stage I have only made a decision about below ground level for the retaining wall. I don't need to make a decision on the house columns until after we start digging the holes, however I don't anticipate a problem there because of the height and compaction of the fill. If a problem arises, then everything becomes an option, including piling.

[ajarnudon]

Checked on the holes we dug, and some of them still have a fair amount of water. Looks like I will have to pump them out. Going to see if I can find a professional concrete outfit today.

[ajarnudon]

SANTA found me in Thailand. I must have been a good boy this year.

[ajarnudon]

Interesting your water table is so high. Did you know this prior to starting excavation? Just asking to see if it will change your thoughts on footing design?

Hi Barney. I have just come to the realisation that the water in the holes isn't from the paddy fields - the holes that still have water in them are on the lowest side, and the 20-25 cms of water in them is at least half a metre above the surface of the paddy fields. It can only have drained out of the fill on my own land. Which doesn't pose a problem as over half of the land area will either be under roof or concrete, including all the way to the retaining wall on the southern side. I had an excavator in about a year ago to dig some of the fill up to leave a pad for the retaining wall. This disturbed spoil is piled along the edges of the fill, and this would have soaked up the rain like a sponge. I am also thinking of saving some money by dispensing with the retaining wall on the northern (lowest) side, and putting in terraces for future garden beds.

[ajarnudon]

Well, during the 11 days I had off Xmas-New Year, I didn't get far with the retaining wall. A few of the holes still had a substantial amount of water in them, and when I called on World Concrete they told me they were too busy to do a site inspection before the New Year shutdown. And when they came back, I was back at work in BKK. I made a decision to put the retaining wall on hold until mid-March when I have two months off. This will allow plenty of time for the holes to dry out, and will give me time to talk to people about building the retaining wall.
So I headed down another track and loked at bringing services onto the property. We dug a 13 metre trench using family labour, and laid ¾” blue water pipe from the meter onto the block.

Trench with water pipe laid

Next day the leccie came to run power from the meter to a temporary builder's pole. I had already bought cable, conduit and fittings, incl. comms cables - phone line and coax. I had spotted him installing a new meter in the village (works for the Amphur), and arranged for him to do it on one of his 'days off'.

Yellow, blue and white PVC pipes - power, water and comms. The plastic bag has 30 m coils of phone line and coax inside.

From where the power cable exits the conduit, I have about 12 metres of cable to play with. I have connected it to a distribution box with a powerboard attached, all mounted on a moveable three-pole bamboo structure (the teepee frame in the picture). This lets me move it around the site if access is needed for a concrete truck or whatever. Does anyone know where the Thai Patent Office is?

Patent pending

I will attend to the waterproofing when I go back

And finally a pic of the pay cheque for the family members who had dug the trench by hand (through a lot of roadbase) - together with a heap of food for the whole family consumed around an outside fire. I helped them on a shovel, so I felt entitled to share the pay cheque.

Pay cheque

Oh, and after a little clay backfill, a cube of aggregate on top.

Aggregate fill

[bluejets]

I see one safety cut in there. Hope the object will be to join this to feed the other breakers.
Good boy.
How about an earth wire too please.

I REALLY like your pay cheque way of thinking. =D>

[ajarnudon]

How about an earth wire too please.

The revised thinking about the retaining wall is to proceed with it along the southern and western boundaries (left and rear when viewed from the soi), and to terrace the northern (right) side with garden beds. The 4m x 10.2m garage/workshop/laundry) will share part of the southern wall (retaining 1-1.2 m, plus 2.5m outer garage height). This will be Stage 1 - providing a securable area initially for tools, materials, and temp. worker accommodation, propane stove, fridge etc - including me when I choose to stay overnight from Udon (or when I think that driving back would be inadvisable .
As soon as this is roofed, the power dist box will move permanently into the garage, complete with earthing.

[ajarnudon]

I came back again last weekend and put a lockable tap onto the blue pipe and was pleasantly surprised by the strong flow from the town supply thru the 3/4" pipe. This will probably mean that I can save on power costs by bypassing the tank and pump except in case of need. I had been scratching my head about waterproofing the temporary power distribution setup but inspiration arrived on time. Had a chat with the missus and she she sourced the perfect solution - a heavy duty, button-up poncho. Installed it as well as a fluoro light - so we now have flowing water, light and power. All ready for the first evening barbie in about 10 days. Plan to invite all residents in the deadend soi (five houses in 200 something metres) as well as a few rellies - lots of local eyes with phones are always a bonus.

Waterproofing

[bluejets]

mmmm...IP2....

[aussie1.1950]

Looks great.
I am studying concreting now as the in=laws want to concrete a slab for the carport.
they said thy didn't need steel or plastic.
I read up and googled concreting for a few hours and then went and sourced plastic for waterproofing under the slab (3.8M x 6.6M) and steel mesh.
But I don't know about specifying concrete yet. I am searching for info now.
I am in Namsom.

[ajarnudon]

Hi. Sorry I have been absent as work has taken over my life for a while. Steel is a must, and plastic depending on circumstance. If you are pouring onto sand fill, then plastic is needed to retain water for the curing process of the concrete. If you are pouring onto compacted clay, then a few days of pre-watering will probably suffice to retain the moisture content of the concrete. The other, and most important, consideration for plastic sheeting is for dampproof coursing of walls. For an external carport I wouldn't be too concerned with plastic under the slab if loss of moisture during slab curing wasn't a major issue. What you are going to park in the carport needs to be taken into account in respect of mesh guage and concrete thickness. I would suggest 100mm for lightweight loads, going up to 125mm for medium loads, and 150 mm for 3+ tonne trucks. Above ground slabs shouldn't need any real spec criteria (as distinct from foundations below a water table for example) and 20/25 MPA medium slump concrete should do fine.
You may already have completed your job by now - plse give us an update in due course.

[ajarnudon]

ps.. THere is a dedicated concrete forum on coolthaihouse.com which might give you answers to a lot of your questions.

[bluejets]

Hi. Sorry I have been absent as work has taken over my life for a while. Steel is a must, and plastic depending on circumstance. If you are pouring onto sand fill, then plastic is needed to retain water for the curing process of the concrete. If you are pouring onto compacted clay, then a few days of pre-watering will probably suffice to retain the moisture content of the concrete. The other, and most important, consideration for plastic sheeting is for dampproof coursing of walls. For an external carport I wouldn't be too concerned with plastic under the slab if loss of moisture during slab curing wasn't a major issue. What you are going to park in the carport needs to be taken into account in respect of mesh guage and concrete thickness. I would suggest 100mm for lightweight loads, going up to 125mm for medium loads, and 150 mm for 3+ tonne trucks. Above ground slabs shouldn't need any real spec criteria (as distinct from foundations below a water table for example) and 20/25 MPA medium slump concrete should do fine.
You may already have completed your job by now - plse give us an update in due course.

Might be advisable to look up the required mesh size for given loads as well.

That chicken wire most use is next to useless. Having 20 or 25mpa won't matter a cuss if the reo is inadequate.