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  1. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by blackgang View Post
    LET'S BUILD A WALL.

    Said by Joe Stalin in 1945 at Berlin Germany

    LETS TEAR THIS WALL DOWN.

    Said by Ron Reagan 1985 at Washington DC.
    And Pink Floyd actualy did it in 1990

  2. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by Archer View Post
    LoomBucket
    Can you please tell how many miles The Wall will be and cost estimate?
    And when will Pink Floyd come play?

    Cheers
    /Archer
    The wall will be metres, not miles, and I have the costs somewhere. To be honest, I'm having enough trouble finding all the pic's, so please be patient.

    Pink Floyd have, as yet, not replied to my e-mails, but we did play the 'HeBeGeBes' version of Michael Jackson's (RIP) 'Off the wall', when we tested the lights near the end.

  3. #28
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    Day Four

    I oversleep and by the time I have downed that 'all important first coffee' and found my shorts, the front trench is looking crowded.



    Khaans are being tweaked so that they hook onto the uprights,



    ...and here is the first one in position.



    Where the level drops, you can see how it starts to fit together.



    The first of the long sides is threaded though the uprights.



    Meanwhile, they have started shuttering the front and Sing is busy making some spacers to maintain an even width.



    Complicated twiddly bits at the right angle and everything wired together.



    Shuttering and fine tuning takes the rest of the morning. A splash of water (Nam) ...



    ...and we're off



    As the gloopy mass nears the top, the spacers are plucked out,



    ...and the top is smoothed off.



    The first thousand blocks then arrive and are carefully placed into two large piles.



    The two guys at the back are desperately trying to keep ahead of the rapidly advancing collum of gloop,



    ...as it heads towards the first turn.



    At the last minute, the advance is halted by an unexpected bit of wood that drops off and gets buried, forcing A? to show off his skill with a tape measure.



    That's pretty much it for the day. Walking round a bit later, I noticed that they had blocked and filled the back pillars already.



    It was then that I realised what Sing had been going on about when he said 'not square'. These two posts are the line of the, as yet, unstarted other side. Notice that it goes through the garden.


  4. #29
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    Day Five

    It's another hot one already and the photos and the notebooks don't tally. We have nine people running amok, divided into two teams. Khun Sing has some personal problems, my wheelbarrow has been secunded, again, the gass has run out in the kitchen and 'some kind person' has unplugged the charger for the camera. Other than that, we proceed as normall .

    Covers off, Sing makes a start on tweaking the pillar rods.



    Extra binders are added and the site is carefully measured to get a uniform size for the pillars.



    Khun Lee then goes into hyperdrive and starts laying bricks with gusto.



    Meanwhile, around the back, there's a spot of 'good old fashioned time wasting', before the main event.



    It seems that we are waiting for this important bit, so that we can make it to the corner,



    ...and the conga line advances a bit further.



    The last mix of the day,



    ...and the subsequent rush to pour it. Notice the wall in the background that the others have managed.



    A shot from the front balcony.



    A bit of bad news, my wonderfull, Isaan style wheelbarrow has suffered massive bearing failure. Whilst the bearings are not exactly high tech, it's still a pain and the lads are forbidden to borrow it again.



    The news is taken in good spirit. In fact, they are still laughing as they pull off down the drive.


  5. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by Loombucket View Post
    The wall will be metres, not miles, and I have the costs somewhere. To be honest, I'm having enough trouble finding all the pic's, so please be patient.

    Pink Floyd have, as yet, not replied to my e-mails, but we did play the 'HeBeGeBes' version of Michael Jackson's (RIP) 'Off the wall', when we tested the lights near the end.
    Sorry about the mile. I just read another thread about farangs "stealing" land from the poor farmers in Esaan
    Nice pitures, are this the same crew that built you house?
    Will you put anything on top of the wall to keep out the "wild animals"?

    Cheers
    /Archer

  6. #31
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    nice pics keep them comming

  7. #32
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    Quote Originally Posted by Archer
    (is) this the same crew that built you house?
    No, this lot are from a moo ban about 5Km away


    Quote Originally Posted by Archer
    Will you put anything on top of the wall to keep out the "wild animals"?
    Maybe some railing at the front.

  8. #33
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    Day Six

    After the dissapointingly poor performance of the camera batteries, yesterday, I am in no mood for trifles. I stride about with some sort of purpose but the team doesn't want to play. The decent brickie and the joker are on another job and the others are behaving like someone has died. Lacking the necessary language skills to make respectfull enquiries, I bide my time and mooch about looking for wildlife. Then I notice that we have had a visit from the hard wood batten fairy.



    I have no idea what they could, possibly, be used for, yet.

    Meanwhile, down at the wall site, the covers are off and Khun Chy, the Apprentice, has drawn the short straw. He gets started with enthusiasm but is painfully slow.



    At the other end of the garden, Sing is preparing the ground for the back beam and, late arriving, Somchai prepares to burst forth with his own vairiations of laying bricks like a loony.



    Chy makes it past the tree.



    Here is a close up of the metal hook that goes trough the pillar frame and hooks onto the blocks either side. When the blocks are the right hight, and there is room to move, the linking rods will be wired to a binder so that when the pillar gets poured, the blocks will be solid.



    The back beam goes in and my attention is drawn to the handy looking crow bar. Good for lifting concrete methinks.



    Somchai has gone into hyperdrive.



    By Lunch time, Chy has managed three courses at the tall end,



    ...and Chit is making good headway shuttering the back beam.



    The block Elves then arrive with another thousand, or so.



    ...and the team knock off early, for some reason. At last we get a smile.



    Late in the day, we can see where all the blocks have gone.


  9. #34
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    Day Seven

    Today, they say, it is going to rain and the Company want a decision about the last, not square side. They say that they can get the tractor over later today, if only I would make up my mind. I had not realised this, of couse, because no one had actually mentioned it.

    "Off with the last post", I cried, in the style of some mad king.



    With a real sense of urgency, or pre-rain excitement, the lads were throwning themselves at it.



    They got the beam poured in double quick time,



    ...just before the rain started.



    This was a good excuse for a little down time,



    ..and the odd nap.



    It rained for about an hour, then there was a little of the 'wiring the block links to the binders' that we dicussed earlier.



    The tractor then appeared and Sing marked out a new line with rope and a few, well placed, plastic bags.



    I've been struggling to remember the guys name, not that it makes any difference, but he did a good job and the loss of a part of the front garden didn't seem quite so bad. Gate will have to open on the other side though.



    Meanwhile, out the front, the boys enjoy a spot of gossip over the garden wall as the water pipe level gets another look-in.



    Extra metal is cut for the pillars and stuff,



    ...before the hevens open again and we have to shelter in the porch for an adhoc master class in base plate construction.


  10. #35
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    Day Eight

    No work today. No excuse offered but I suspect that the Company thought that the ground would be a tad damp.

  11. #36
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    Day Nine

    We have a skeleton crew of three and the first job is to get the covers off the back beam,



    ...to enable the sight board to be relocated.



    Once the string is back into position, block laying recommences.



    We hit the wall with the usual two pronged attack,





    ...but it doesn't last. Real, Isaan style rain is soon upon us and the lads make a run for it. More of a slip and slide really.



    The locals have the same idea, but that's it for the day.


  12. #37
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    Day Ten

    It's a little soggy underfoot and we are, nearly, two days behind. Much to be done so we start with a spot of measuring,



    ...and marking out, for the 'last side' pillars.



    Leaving the team to get on with the digging, Sing sets up the surviving tressle, produces an electric plane and starts adding wood shavings to the floor?????



    All is revealed,



    ...it's half of a two part pillar case, or mould.



    These are put together rapidly as the other half of the team alternate between digging,



    ...and hiding from the sun, which is well hot.



    Planing over, Sing carefully measures,



    ...and marks,



    ...so that the cases can be put on,



    ....and wired together.



    Cracks are filled with wet cement bags rammed in tight.



    Here is a view inside the mould.



    It's Nuy's turn to pour the gloop,



    ...and he does a pretty good job.



    The last side has been dug, planted and poured,



    and the guys are all a bit knackered. Time for a beer.


  13. #38
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    fuk me Loom, that is a wall to end all walls

    I love the make do and mend attitude of the village workers. They can knock something up out of scraps and it works well

    I was watching some builders making a wall in the UK, essentially the same. They had all sorts of premade jigs and spacers, but the wall looked the same in the end. Saving worker time becomes paramount when they are being paid £8+ per hour
    I have reported your post

  14. #39
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    This really is a brilliant thread LB.

    Deserves plenty of credit and appreciation for the careful and interesting work you are putting into the same.

    Cheers and thanks.

  15. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by DrAndy
    that is a wall to end all walls
    Thanks. We looked at many different ways to do it, but decided, in the end, to go with the stronger, more solid approach.


    Quote Originally Posted by Mathos
    This really is a brilliant thread
    Praise indeed from an exellent role model.

  16. #41
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    Day Eleven

    We're back to a skeleton crew and I make a mental note to speak to A? if he stands still long enough. Anyway, the covers come off the bottom bits of pillar,



    ...and are quickly recycled.



    The others are making fittings for the mid beam. Here are the links.



    These are than slipped onto two bits of bar and then walloped with a big hammer to close them up.



    Once we have the required length, it is slipped into position and wired to everything else.



    Hooks are then added,



    ...and the shuttering is applied.



    More rods than your local bait and tackle shop.



    The view inside the pillar by the tree.



    Time to fill the trench. Sing rams it down hard to get all the air pockets out,



    ...and finishes with a trowel.



    As we get close to the tree, the guys are taking extra care. Cement is getting a bit thin on the ground and we don't want to run out yet.



    Later, Sing gets to play in the tree,



    ....before pouring the rest of the pillars down that side. The yellow conduit is for the wall lights. The yellow stuff is not waterproof, like the blue stuff, but ok for hiding in a pillar.



    We end with the usual rodding, using a spare bit of bar, the same hight as the pillar.


  17. #42
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    Was wondering how forms would be attached to the block wall. Thai's really do solve things in the simplest and most convenient way. Again another great thread Loombucket
    Last edited by BKKBILL; 06-09-2009 at 10:03 AM.

  18. #43
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    Day Fifteen

    We've gone three days without a sign. A? tells me that it is not a problem, as he is sure that we can finish on time. He forgets to tell me that they are doing another two jobs, for richer people, at the same time as ours. I keep quiet.

    Anyway, The team rip the covers off the mid-beam section and Sing carries on with the all important rod tweaking.



    Somchai gets started on the, already, dwindling pile of blocks,



    ...and the new boy, Goon, starts repairing the hose pipe with bits of old motorcy inner tube.



    God poses for his mugshot (his mrs was delighted),



    ...before making his way down to the last beam assembly point.



    Nuy is busy cuttin blocks down, to make up the thickness of the mid beam.



    Somchai quickly puts them in a safe place.



    Having tweaked his rods, Sing starts cleaning up the pillar stubs at the back of the high wall. He dresses the tops with a bit of pug, so that the top beam framework will sit nicely in position.



    Back on the beam, the channel has made it to the other side of the drive,



    ...the last section is just about ready,



    ....but it looks like rain, a lot, is nearly here.



    We make it to the last turn before the wind starts blowing.

    Last edited by Loombucket; 09-09-2009 at 07:02 PM. Reason: Sticky keys (sounds like a place in Florida)

  19. #44
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    Hi Loom
    Thanks for the update. How many days was this wall building projected to last? (ie how many days are you behind schedule?)

    Last edited by Loombucket : Yesterday at 02:02 PM. Reason: Sticky keys (sounds like a place in Florida)
    My keboard has built in spelling errors.

    /Archer

  20. #45
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    It is good to see a happy bunch of workers; glad you treat them with respect and some humour

    I was reading a post by Miggins where he was complaining about his "shit" workers. For some reason, he could not fathom out why, they walked off the job and left him to it. Obvious innit?

  21. #46
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    Quote Originally Posted by Archer
    How many days was this wall building projected to last? (ie how many days are you behind schedule?)
    The job was supposed to take fourty days. That included all the walls to 'being painted' standard, steps down to the rear archway and a runner beam for the gate. We have, so far, lost four full days, due to 'other work' and one whole and two half days due to rain. Not the end of the world and about the same as we lost during the start of the house build.



    Quote Originally Posted by DrAndy
    It is good to see a happy bunch of workers; glad you treat them with respect and some humour
    Absolutely! Their needs were small. Fresh water, with ice, every morning and top-ups. A bit of shade that they can all get under to eat their food and enough room for them all to take a nap afterwards. Sometimes I would go to the little shop next door and, after I could pronounce their names properly, handed out little bottles of red bull. Sing always had coffee.

    Being accepted by the team brought other rewards, such as 'being allowed' to stir the concrete mix ( "I made some of this myself " * Blows on knuckles and rubs on chest*), a ride in the Isaan style business buggy, the odd child round to play, honest answers from the crew and access to the after work drinks club and simple conversation.

  22. #47
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    Day Sixteen

    The rain is holding off today and the crew get a good start. Somchai is back on the blocks,



    ...assisted by Nuy.



    It is just starting to look good,



    ...when I am called away for a quick 'half hour'. Most of the day later, and in serious need of food/shade etc, I arrive back to the fully shuttered 'last side of the ground beamwork,



    ...and a spirited discussion in the front porch. This had been going on a while although, to be fair, they are sheltering from a little shower here.



    "Ten people come tomorrow, make many water" said Sing. "Goodie", I thought.
    Last edited by Loombucket; 11-09-2009 at 12:25 AM. Reason: Loosing the daze already

  23. #48
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    Day Seventeen

    Preocupied with finding room for ten workers to eat and nap and scuttling about with two water pots with ice, I failed to notice that it was quite late when the team eventually arrived. Both of them. I had to laugh to myself.

    Anyway, Sing and Chit quickly errected the woodwork for the front pillars.



    Sing was not about to have his ears tickled by the Bamboo and hopped on top, of the wall, to prune a few bits off.



    Once the area was more easily navigated, the front pillars were poured quite rapidly.



    After that, there wasn't much that the two of them could do and, in any case, the cement was all gone. Here, Sing catches up on a little quality time and Chit makes a few more links for the top beams.



    This bucketfull should keep us going for a while.



    Then Chit has a nap and Sing shows off his skill with the cutter,



    .....and then the walloper.



    The powder fairies came a little late. The poor little things must have been knackered after this lot.



    At least there'll be no excuses tomorrow, I think to myself.

  24. #49
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    Day Eighteen

    It's another glorious Sunny morning and Sing is too busy to make it today. The last lot of blocks have arrived as well as these ones with holes. I had to count them four times and broke one just tapping it with a stick.



    The others run about recycling pillar cases and putting up a makeshift scaffold so they can reach the top of the wall.



    The bottom support rods are teased out,



    ...and the rest of the pillar is cased up.



    Somchai perches on the Electricians ladder and narrowly avoids giving Chit an Isaan style, workers rinse,



    ...making it as far as the tree, without mishap.



    After lunch, we get started on the last ground beam, but we are running out of stone.



    Not to worry, it's a long push to the mixing tank anyway.



    There are quite a number of steps in this section and a certain ammount of care was necassary to get the levels right. The guys do the best they can but it would have been better to send a few more hands.



    In full flight and trying to finish.



    Here at the join, it looks like they ran out of gloop just at the last.



    I decide to keep quiet, again.

  25. #50
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    Hi Loombucket,

    Just a thought if you have not painted the fence yet and IF you are going to render it why not put colour in the render and never having to paint it again (well never is a long time)

    Cheers johpam

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