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Building a house in Trinidad

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carluva
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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby carluva » January 27th, 2022, 10:06 pm

Jerry

You're on the right track with the reputable company bit ...

A good concrete supplier will actually warrant their concrete. Meaning, upon your request and sometimes at an additional cost, they will send one of their technicians to site, perform a slump test and take samples for crush test.

You can request samples of the crush test moulds to keep and they'll take to crush at 7, 14 and 28 day to check compressive strength. You can also be invited to witness the test. If the test fails (unlikely with a good company) they'll sort you out with a warranty claim. As I said I have never encountered a warranty claim, but a good supplier will stand by the mix design.

Why am I telling you this???

For elevated concrete structures such as deckings, and load bearing/load transferring structures such as beams, columns and foundation, do not attempt to save cost on concrete. Pay for good concrete that meets the 28 day compressive strength. Ensure that no water is added to the mix on site. Many masons love to add water to concrete to make it workable. A good supplier and by extension the truck driver will abstain from that practice. If you want a workable concrete, ask the supplier the right additive. If you are working slower, ask the supplier for the right retarder.

Cheaper concrete is good for skirting and non load bearing floors. Else, avoid cheap concrete for your deckings.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby adnj » January 28th, 2022, 5:40 am

fokhan_96 wrote:
Phone Surgeon wrote:
Jerry84 wrote:Any suggestions for a product/adhesive to bond rebar with concrete? Have a situation with a perimeter wall where I need to raise it by a few block heights, thus having to extend the concrete posts 8 ft apart. I was told that I can drill the top of these posts to put in the additional rebar with the adhesive which would hold pretty well. Sadly the person giving the advice didn't know the exact product. Any suggestions /comments?
Yes it has several products.

One is called "anchorset"
You get that by afzal hardware in el socorro.

There are many other brands and types though.
Another one is pc concrete.
They are more or less epoxy.
Yes, these are all epoxy adhesives.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby supercharged turbo » January 31st, 2022, 4:12 pm

Where has fence post the cheapest atm?

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby Chimera » January 31st, 2022, 4:49 pm

Kelvin Ghany has 8 foot fence posts...

Otherwise bhagwansingh probably had the cheapest 2 inch 19.5 feet posts.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby supercharged turbo » January 31st, 2022, 4:58 pm

I looking for the ad on Kelvin Ghany's fb page but not seeing it.I think it was like around $70

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby Rory Phoulorie » January 31st, 2022, 9:25 pm

Jerry84 wrote:
Phone Surgeon wrote:775 to 850
Do you have a contact for a representative who is charging this price per meter of concrete? At this price I will definitely go with them providing they are a reputable company.

I'm in the process of doing a decking 30ft x 30ft with an opening of 12ft x 4ft for a step. Want to know how much concrete I will need in order to work out some budgetary issues.

If your decking is not an engineered design where the drawing specifies the concrete strength, you should purchase concrete with a 28 day CYLINDER strength of not less than 3000psi. Please ensure you specify cylinder strength for the concrete.

I personally don’t trust any concrete supplier to do the quality control tests on the concrete. You can arrange with them to have the driver prepare the samples and you take them to an independent laboratory for testing (for example, CARIRI). But you should inform the concrete supplier that you are doing your own testing and that they are invited to witness the tests (you would first have to clear this with the testing lab, especially during these COVID times). You should test one sample at 7 days, two samples at 28 days and keep an additional sample as a spare.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby kerwinishere » February 1st, 2022, 6:16 pm

zorced wrote:
kerwinishere wrote:Noticed that the reinforcement on the underside of the waist of my exterior staircase is corroded, this has lead to exposed reinforcement and spots with about 4 sq in. Of exposed rebar. Anyone has experience using a product such as Rust Treet from Inter-Chem to treat this? Plan is to apply the product and then reapply mortar to the affected spots.


Is the rebar also corroded? I have a small area like that due to water seepage. The surface above needs to be sealed properly and the extent of corrosion might need to be checked because it may be hidden.
Well the staircase was enclosed roughly 6 years ago after about 15 or so years so this may be the case.

Thinking about using Rust Treet, anyone have experience with it?

Also any local option like quickrete or additives that improve setting time? Nothing for structural use but as a base for a drain.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby Jerry84 » February 3rd, 2022, 4:10 pm

So I've been calling around for concrete estimates and I have been getting a number for different quantities. The dimensions of the decking is 30ft x 29ft with an opening of 12ft x 4ft for a step. I've been told that I need 17 meters of concrete, 14 meters and as much as 21 meters, all checking a 5 inch thickness on decking pan. When I googled a concrete calculator I came up with much less, a whopping 10.4 meters and the calculator was for a standard 5" thickness throughout.

Correct me if I'm wrong but with decking pan there will be "ridges and valleys", the latter having the 5" thickness of concrete. Is there anyone here who can verify the volume of concrete needed for my application?

Much thanks

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby carluva » February 3rd, 2022, 5:08 pm

Jerry, you have to cater for concrete for the beams. Remember, there are beams running longitudinally across the top of the columns. The beams support the floor by transferring weight down the columns to the foundation and then the earth.

Running your numbers at 5 inches will give you cicra 10 cubic metres. The beams consume the rest of the volume of concrete.

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carluva
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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby carluva » February 3rd, 2022, 5:11 pm

Hang on. You are using decking pan.

Therefore your beams are already in place not so?

Have your concrete estimates been based on site visits or over the phone conversation?

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby Jerry84 » February 3rd, 2022, 7:03 pm

carluva wrote:Hang on. You are using decking pan.

Therefore your beams are already in place not so?

Have your concrete estimates been based on site visits or over the phone conversation?
Steel structure bro. So the concrete is only decking.

I'm starting to believe these companies are robbing us as we're not actually measuring the concrete just ordering. And no sight visit as yet but these "reputable" companies have already indicated that there will be slight variations but most likely by 1 meter.

I am not sure what to do now. If anyone has a contact for a reputable person from a reputable company, I would greatly appreciate if you can share it with me.

Thanks

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby Chimera » February 3rd, 2022, 7:17 pm

If you want to be 100% sure. Pay buildaboyz from Facebook to estimate the concrete for you.

Your contactor suppose to be able to give a proper estimate though

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby pugboy » February 3rd, 2022, 7:33 pm

some of the concrete companies will send a sales rep to measure and show you how they work it out

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby adnj » February 3rd, 2022, 8:36 pm

Jerry84 wrote:So I've been calling around for concrete estimates and I have been getting a number for different quantities. The dimensions of the decking is 30ft x 29ft with an opening of 12ft x 4ft for a step. I've been told that I need 17 meters of concrete, 14 meters and as much as 21 meters, all checking a 5 inch thickness on decking pan. When I googled a concrete calculator I came up with much less, a whopping 10.4 meters and the calculator was for a standard 5" thickness throughout.

Correct me if I'm wrong but with decking pan there will be [b]"ridges and valleys", the latter having the 5" thickness of concrete. [B]Is there anyone here who can verify the volume of concrete needed for my application?

Much thanks


It depends on the decking pan that you are using. There are different profiles.

For a common three inch rise decking pan with a five inch slab (two inches above the rise), expect to use about 0.096 m^3 per sq m of floor space. Your floorspace is 822 sq m.

With 10% wastage, 8 m^3.

Move to an 8 inch slab (0.16 m^3 per sq m), you go to 13.5 m^3 including wastage.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby Chimera » February 3rd, 2022, 9:30 pm

Lol what company tell you 21 meters?

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carluva
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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby carluva » February 3rd, 2022, 10:44 pm

I have consistently used Coosal's.

Sometimes these sales reps make some unreasonable assumptions over the phone. I suggest you select one supplier and ask him to do a site visit. Once you have your volume of concrete and the concrete spec in mind, you can then call around to get your best pricing.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby Jerry84 » February 4th, 2022, 9:52 am

Phone Surgeon wrote:Lol what company tell you 21 meters?
Central concrete

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby Jerry84 » February 4th, 2022, 9:55 am

carluva wrote:I have consistently used Coosal's.

Sometimes these sales reps make some unreasonable assumptions over the phone. I suggest you select one supplier and ask him to do a site visit. Once you have your volume of concrete and the concrete spec in mind, you can then call around to get your best pricing.
Wanted to clarify the amount of concrete needed. My assumption is these companies tell you a much higher volume over the phone with the expectation of minimal fluctuations (1-2 meters).

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby Jerry84 » February 4th, 2022, 10:00 am

adnj wrote:
Jerry84 wrote:So I've been calling around for concrete estimates and I have been getting a number for different quantities. The dimensions of the decking is 30ft x 29ft with an opening of 12ft x 4ft for a step. I've been told that I need 17 meters of concrete, 14 meters and as much as 21 meters, all checking a 5 inch thickness on decking pan. When I googled a concrete calculator I came up with much less, a whopping 10.4 meters and the calculator was for a standard 5" thickness throughout.

Correct me if I'm wrong but with decking pan there will be [b]"ridges and valleys", the latter having the 5" thickness of concrete. [B]Is there anyone here who can verify the volume of concrete needed for my application?

Much thanks


It depends on the decking pan that you are using. There are different profiles.

For a common three inch rise decking pan with a five inch slab (two inches above the rise), expect to use about 0.096 m^3 per sq m of floor space. Your floorspace is 822 sq m.

With 10% wastage, 8 m^3.

Move to an 8 inch slab (0.16 m^3 per sq m), you go to 13.5 m^3 including wastage.
I'm using 20g decking pan. The space between beams are approximately 8 feet. Most likely I will still support these spaces with props.

Much gratitude for all the advice

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby Jerry84 » February 4th, 2022, 10:03 am

carluva wrote:I have consistently used Coosal's.

Sometimes these sales reps make some unreasonable assumptions over the phone. I suggest you select one supplier and ask him to do a site visit. Once you have your volume of concrete and the concrete spec in mind, you can then call around to get your best pricing.
I have used Coosal's in the past and they've proven to be effective. I called the rep I dealt with before but he's no longer with them.

The reps finding it kinda difficult to do a sight visit as I'm located in Santa Cruz.

With respect to the specs of concrete, are you referring to psi rating? If not kindly elaborate.

Thanks

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby carluva » February 4th, 2022, 2:28 pm

Yeah. The specs I am referring to include compressive strength (i.e. psi which is based on mix design) any additives or retardants which improve workability, adjust curing time and which add a feature such as waterproofing.

You have to insist on a site visit cause they'll have to determine if a pump is needed.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby Jerry84 » February 4th, 2022, 3:24 pm

carluva wrote:Yeah. The specs I am referring to include compressive strength (i.e. psi which is based on mix design) any additives or retardants which improve workability, adjust curing time and which add a feature such as waterproofing.

You have to insist on a site visit cause they'll have to determine if a pump is needed.
Tell me more about this waterproofing you mentioned.

I already know that a pump will be need though. Thanks for the heads up.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby carluva » February 4th, 2022, 5:32 pm

As you know, concrete is very porous. As an example, if you wash down your concrete driveway and you leave the water to pool, eventually the water will be absorbed into the concrete.

What makes concrete porous is that there are many voids in the cured product. These voids exists at the microscopic level and at the level that is visible to the naked eye. It is in these voids that water will travel and this is what causes concrete to be porous and to absorb water.

In concrete that is commonly exposed to water, for example a water tank stand, this can present a problem as the water absorbed in the concrete can result in rot in the rebar. As the rebar begins to rot, rust develops and the rust forms a layer which, over time, cracks and then deforms the concrete around the rebar. This process repeats and overtime it can result in your concrete shelling out.

Waterproofing additives serve to create chemical bonds that fill these voids in the concrete and therefore reduce the porosity of the concrete and the ability for the concrete absorb water. In other words, some of the additives may form a crystalline structure that completely seals all voids within the concrete at the microscopic level and therefore makes the concrete impervious to water. This helps to prevent any corrosion developing in embedded rebar and will result in a long term protection for the structure.

When I did a water tank stand a few years ago, I cast the decking and used a waterproofing additive in the concrete. Underneath the tank stand, I have several storage rooms and over time I have observed that there is no ingress of water through the top decking seeping into the roof of the rooms underneath.

If you would like to make your decking completely waterproof, you can consider adding a waterproofing additive to the concrete. This may be a great benefit in your case because your support for the decking is decking pan, which even though is zinc plated, can still be subject to the effect of moisture and subsequent rust. If you plan to cast this decking and leave it for some time, possibly a few years I would advise using the waterproofing additive. If, however, immediately after casting the decking, you choose to start blocking up and eventually put a roof over the structure, perhaps within a year or so, I would say there is no need to to use the additive and you will achieve waterproofing through the roof of the house.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby Jerry84 » February 5th, 2022, 8:12 am

carluva wrote:As you know, concrete is very porous. As an example, if you wash down your concrete driveway and you leave the water to pool, eventually the water will be absorbed into the concrete.

What makes concrete porous is that there are many voids in the cured product. These voids exists at the microscopic level and at the level that is visible to the naked eye. It is in these voids that water will travel and this is what causes concrete to be porous and to absorb water.

In concrete that is commonly exposed to water, for example a water tank stand, this can present a problem as the water absorbed in the concrete can result in rot in the rebar. As the rebar begins to rot, rust develops and the rust forms a layer which, over time, cracks and then deforms the concrete around the rebar. This process repeats and overtime it can result in your concrete shelling out.

Waterproofing additives serve to create chemical bonds that fill these voids in the concrete and therefore reduce the porosity of the concrete and the ability for the concrete absorb water. In other words, some of the additives may form a crystalline structure that completely seals all voids within the concrete at the microscopic level and therefore makes the concrete impervious to water. This helps to prevent any corrosion developing in embedded rebar and will result in a long term protection for the structure.

When I did a water tank stand a few years ago, I cast the decking and used a waterproofing additive in the concrete. Underneath the tank stand, I have several storage rooms and over time I have observed that there is no ingress of water through the top decking seeping into the roof of the rooms underneath.

If you would like to make your decking completely waterproof, you can consider adding a waterproofing additive to the concrete. This may be a great benefit in your case because your support for the decking is decking pan, which even though is zinc plated, can still be subject to the effect of moisture and subsequent rust. If you plan to cast this decking and leave it for some time, possibly a few years I would advise using the waterproofing additive. If, however, immediately after casting the decking, you choose to start blocking up and eventually put a roof over the structure, perhaps within a year or so, I would say there is no need to to use the additive and you will achieve waterproofing through the roof of the house.
Much gratitude for this information bro. Can you suggest an additive to combine with concrete for this water tight finish as I will be doing something similar to your tank stand with storage below.

With respect to the decking, I assume a roof will be up by July-August

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby carluva » February 5th, 2022, 9:38 am

Jerry, I cannot remember the name of the specific product.

However, I do believe that on my job, Coosal's used a Fosroc product. Once you tell them you need waterproofing, ask for the name of the product and do some research. If it is a Fosroc product, you can contact SCL for the specific information, datasheet, or how the product achieves the waterproofing.

Regarding the house decking, I would advise against the waterproofing as you are doing a roof.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby worksux101 » February 5th, 2022, 10:02 am

Vulkem was used on my outdoor porch. Costs a mint but no issues yet.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby Chimera » February 5th, 2022, 10:41 am

Scl also has chemicals that you can spray on or paint to seal the concrete after if need be.

I bought the other day when I find a new set of concrete was continuously dusting. Real cement dust.

Paid 490 I think for a 5 gallon bucket and used a agri sprayer to spray it on in 2 coats

Worked extremely well.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby eitech » February 5th, 2022, 11:02 am

I had an issue with water seeping through my concrete tank stand. I cleaned the top and applied two coats of drylock masonry waterproofer paint I got from peakes (cocorite). Cost $400 per gallon but money well spent. All leaks stopped finally.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby pugboy » February 5th, 2022, 12:39 pm

the rubber one?

worksux101 wrote:Vulkem was used on my outdoor porch. Costs a mint but no issues yet.

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Re: Building a house in Trinidad

Postby carluva » February 5th, 2022, 5:28 pm

The ideal form of waterproofing will be a combination of an additive to the mix and then a coating.

Something as simple as powerfloating is also very effective at reducing porosity... The floating seals the top layer of the concrete.

So, additive, float and coating and you likely would have close to 100% waterproofing.

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