Building your own Thai condo

[Fabian]

Seems like it will take some more time.

[dirtydog]

Well they have been spending their time tieing up bits of rebar to each other and putting in the wooden supports for the form work, once the rebar is all tied together then the sides of the form can be put on and the next lot of concrete poured.

[DrAndy]

DD does anyone put lifts in to these places?

what is the cost of a small lift to 5 stories?

[dirtydog]

Well there is a bit more to the cost than just the lift, ie in the original construction you need extre reinforcing beams, also fire wall surrounding the lift structure so incase of fire people don't get baked too quickly, also they are not legal in private homes but obviously that can be overlooked for a small fee, reckon you aint gonna get no change out of a million baht for the smallest and it could be considerably more expensive depending on lift capacity and building design.

[DrAndy]

right

I had not realised there would be a legal problem for private homes

does that include private flats?

[dirtydog]

Private flats normally have a common area which the lift would come under.

[Fabian]

That's a strange law, why aren't they legal in private homes?

[dirtydog]

No easy access to check for safety standards I assume.

[a. boozer]

No easy access to check for safety standards I assume.

In Thailand ?????????

[dirtydog]

Well they have started on the posts for the second floor, the beam work is all done and concrete poured.



These are the concrete plinths used for the floor, they are 30cms wide and you can order whatever length you like but they always have 4 meters in stock.



These are supported by any old wood you can find or you may have to buy eucalyptus trunks at like 10baht per meter as supports, on top of this is put the rebar for the floor and then another concrete pour on that to make a lovely second floor, yeah I know it sounds cheap but there is also a lot of expensive wood used in the form work and the supporting stuff, so don't take much notice of the price of crappy tree trunks.



Heres a load of form work ready for making a load of new posts, you get to use this wood like 3 or 4 times then it starts getting bitty, at that stage of the game you will be buying as little wood as possible to help the old profit margin.



A close up of the corner of the building.

[gusG]

Is that steel the starter bars for the stairs?
How come, the last thing they build on a house or condo in Thailand are the stairs?
They seem to spend the whole time building a structure, climbing and lugging shit up pissy little ramps or ladders, then at the last moment they put in a proper access.

[dirtydog]

At the beginning of any job it is easier to rope and pulley or crane stuff up to the floors you need it on, those cross beams need 30 days to get to 80 percent hardness so they need a lot of time before you can put the weight of the form for the stairs and the weight of the concrete pour for the stairs on them.

[dirtydog]

Time to start pouring the concrete beams on this section, note they got a crane in, suppose it's quicker and easier than a bucket and pulley.



If I remember rightly the concrete plinth lorrys can get the floor plinths up onto the 3rd floor, anything higher than that and you got to arrange a crane, so prices start getting a bit more now.

[dirtydog]

Things are getting exciting now with the big toys being moved on site, here we got a crane and a cement lorry, I took these pictures whilst standing between the two vehicles, noway they would allow some stanger to do that in the UK, ie walk onto a site and then walk into a hazard area to take pictures, they just smiled the joys of Thailand.



Here we got the cement lorry filling up the bucket for the crane to lift up so it can do the beam pours.



The video is of the bucket and some Thai guy holding onto it and being lifted into the sky, he has a safety cowboy hat and safety flip flops on just incase anything goes wrong

[dirtydog]

The guy on the bucket made it this time, one guy to hold it all steady and one guy with the pipe to control where the concrete goes.



The guy on the right is using an electric vibrator to settle the concrete as it is poured, this is good as you should get rid of any bits where the concrete hasn't got and also most of the airbubbles, generally though they would just use a stick or something to have a prod about at the cement.

[Fabian]

If some german work security officer will take vacation in Jomtien I am sure he will get a heart attack seeing that worker in his safety cowbay hat flying around.

[dirtydog]

The form work for the next lot of posts is going up now, wonder how many floors this building will have.



Supports for the form so they don't topple over when filled with concrete.

[dirtydog]

Well the forms are off and it on with with the next lot os support beams, also they have started with the blockwork on the ground floor, even using insulation blocks aswell.

[jizzybloke]

The form work for the next lot of posts is going up now, wonder how many floors this building will have.

83

[dirtydog]

The block work is carrying on, in the foreground you can see the wood used for the forms for the upright concrete posts.



A crane lifting the concrete plinths for the floor.



This is where KR Karting kept all their go karts, gone as the building is being knocked down.



The only international standard go kart track in Thailand I believe being laid to waste

[Spin]

wonder how many floors this building will have.

Well it needs at least 9 or 10 I reckon, tall enough for farangs to fall off

[Norton]

Well it needs at least 9 or 10 I reckon, tall enough for farangs to fall off

Actually about the height of a bar stool would do. Many more farangs falling off them than 10 floor buildings.

[Fabian]

For all we can see so far it will probably be an architect's masterpiece.

[dirtydog]

Well the place is slowly coming together, cranes are there a lot more often now as the building is getting taller.



Door and window frames concreted in place.



I am suprised they went for wooden window frames, seems a shame when they are using insulation blocks that they don't use something more modern, got enough pvc frame and double glazing shops in Pattaya now.



Video of another Thai man doing the crane ride

[Fabian]

I had to put my monitor sideways.