After a few days of preparations, the concrete has been poured for the roof beams.
Also, today we took delivery of the first load of construction blocks. It is common, in Thailand, to use traditional small red bricks when constructing house walls. However, these are heavy, have poor insulation properties and are labor intensive to lay. Another common alternative to the red bricks is standard breeze-blocks and whilst these may be quicker to lay, they also offer relatively poor insulation and fire resistance properties. We are using a new type of block that is less than half the weight of standard bricks whilst offering over ten times the thermal insulation and eight times the fire resistance of standard bricks. Coupled with their already outstanding thermal properties, we will be using two courses of bricks with a gap between the two layers providing yet further cavity insulation which will be so beneficial in such a warm climate in keeping the house cool inside. The dimensions of these block, being 60cm x 30cm, lead to unmatched construction time when compared to any other type of brick.
Back at work and well rested from their days off, the workers made great progress today in preparing the supports for the roof beam shuttering. Tomorrow, they will begin to assemble the shuttering itself.
Roof beam shuttering supports
I have created a somewhat unique roof design, part of which involves completely concealed guttering and down pipes. In order to achieve this, the roof beams I have designed are also somewhat unique. I anticipate progress to appear slow over the next few days, as a lot of preparation will be needed in order to realise the design of the complex roof beam reinforcement structure, before the beams can be poured.
I had a nice surprise this morning to find that our foreman, Kan, had managed to get the shuttering in place more quickly than planned and so had already poured the first batch of columns. By the end of the day, the rest had been poured.
All final stage columns cast
It is important that freshly poured concrete is kept from drying out too quickly during the ‘curing’ period This is because the full bond between all of the ingredients will not be achieved if it is left to dry out of its own accord, leading to a weaker structure with a greater tendency to crack. With the columns, this is achieved by wrapping them in plastic, thus preventing evaporation of moisture. With the beams and slabs, it is done my periodically spraying them with water to ensure they stay wet. Now that the columns have been cast, another method has been employed on the second floor slab known as ponding. In this case, a sand wall has been formed around the edge of the slab and the slab flooded.
Today, with the all of the second floor slab cast, the final stage of steel reinforcement and shuttering was applied for the final stage of column casting.
Any one who has spent even a small amount of time viewing rental properties in Thailand will be familiar with the differences between western and Thai style kitchens. It is not uncommon for Thai style kitchens to be situated in a covered area outside of the house or when there is a dedicated internal kitchen, it often lacks the cupboard space and built appliances that one may be used to. There is nothing wrong with Thai style kitchens and with such a warm climate, having an out door kitchen can be a very nice feature. However, we shall be installing a typically western style kitchen complete with built in appliances, the first of which were delivered yesterday and are pictured below.
The house is L-shaped in form, consisting of two ‘wings’ with a two storey high entrance hall at the intersection. As such, the second floor slab for each ‘wing’ can be poured separately. Today the slab for the master bedroom, bathroom and balcony was poured. In the video below, you can also see that preparations have started for the second floor slab of the other ‘wing’ which will be poured on Tuesday.
Below you can see the finished slab. The areas marked by wooden boards denote different levels of the slab. The area in the front left corner of the slab will be the master bathroom so is at a lower level than the rest of the master bedroom as is the area beyond the board at the far end of the slab which will be the balcony. The steel bars protruding from the front of the slab will be used as attachment points for the reinforcement structure of the staircase. This picture also shows the initial plumbing preparations for the bathroom. Also in the picture is our foreman, Kan, who has done such an excellent job in ensuring that the build runs to plan!
With the wooden supports in place underneath, the steel reinforcements were tied for the second floor slab today. The section being tied here is for what will eventually be the master bedroom balcony, so this video also gives an idea of the view from the balcony.
I recently had a few issues with my photo stream on Flickr, but these have now been resolved. You can find all of my additional photos on Flickr by following the link in the right hand column, which will take you to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nongkhaidesign/
For the past couple of days, preparations have been made for the second floor beam construction. All of the reinforcement structures have been tied, and support trusses put in place on which the beams will be constructed. The initial stages for the second floor beams will take longer than for the ground beams, firstly because the beam layout is more complex, but mainly because they are having to do it suspended 3m above the ground!
Second floor beam trusses and reinforcement structure
Another great day of progress today, with the ground floor slab having been poured by lunch time! The steel bars that you can see protruding from the slab is the attachment point for the steel re-enforcement structure of the concrete staircase.
The finished ground floor slab
Tomorrow, the steel reenforcement structures for the second floor beams will be tied and attached to the columns.
Not ones to waste any time, the workers had already poured most of the ground floor slab by the time I visited the site at 10:00 am this morning. The part that has not yet been filled with sand and steel re-enforcment, that you can see in the video, is where the ground floor bathroom and garden store room will be. The floor for these two rooms is at a lower level than the rest of the floor, so will be poured separately once the main floor casting has set.
The concrete is due to be poured for the ground floor tomorrow, so the steel re-enforcing structure that is to be embedded within it had to be laid out and tied together. Also, initial plumbing for the kitchen and ground floor bathroom had to be fitted. Conduit for the mains power supply was also fitted.
Yesterday was a Buddhist holiday so no one was working. Today, however, they were back to work pouring the last of the second stage columns. Also, more of the area between the ground floor beams was filled in.
