House Construction Questions

[Samoerai]

You know Saint-Gobain from the Gyproc drywall right? Over here they’re also represented but with the so called MU (Mortar Utama) brand. They also have the flexible tile glue I was talking about which is not so easy to find but you probably need their plasterplus. That one dries slow if used as primer. I think the code is 300 something. The advantage is that you can apply a very thin layer of plaster afterwards. Their acrybond product as liquid, is more suitable if you still have old layers of plaster.

Ah, Kaizen also has some rather good primer solutions.

Great tip ... I checked these products of Mortar Utama (MU) ... The one I was looking for is https://www.id.weber/en/wall/finish-coat/mu-200-skimwall to apply on top of a plastered wall (in Dutch "een gestucte muur"). In my new house the developer used a some kind of powder wall paint. And I wanted to (re)paint it all over again with latex paint. I had to remove powder paint first. That's a lot of work. So after 1 wall, I was thinking ... for the other walls to use a "skim wall product, in Dutch "plamuren". But, I couldn't find it in Depot Bangunan / did not know how to say what I needed in bahasa Indonesia.

 

[Ozric13]

Interesting stuff here!

I have an English mate who moved to Indo 6 years ago with the intention of building houses.
He has so far built 5, and man talk about solid built, he seriously knows what he`s doing like adding ice into the concrete mix so the set will be much harder than normal!

His personal home which he built from scratch, has a small pool leading from his kitchen/spare bedroom, 2 floors, plus a massive upstairs terrace with bamboo hut for chilling etc, all for under 1 Billion.

I can't fault his build quality, happy to share his details if needed.

I myself bought a small home from a developer out in Serpong, it was only meant to be an investment but because of covid had to move there to make it our main home.
Got a local builder to do a renovation and make it bigger, 3 months and we had a beautiful home, unfortunately, 2 years later we realise the builder had very little knowledge and now our entire home is tilting towards one corner, as he did not compress the soil underneath and again as noted here only put down small foundations, now stuck with a home that may sink more and it probably unsaleable!

Be warned!

Cheers Alan

 

[Samoerai]

the soil underneath and again as noted here only put down small foundations

Wow, you still can solve the problem by digging underneath the house and make a solid foundation with concrete piles. I saw constructors do this in The Netherlands. Not easy.

 

[jstar]

They even have systems which inject an expanding chemical in the ground. Don’t think they will have that here, probably also cheaper to rebuild.
We corrected a crooked wall of a house with shallow foundation once by digging underneath, adding reinforced concrete, and then using two heavy duty truck/car jacks. Centimeter at a time, scary.

 

[snpark]

Wow, you still can solve the problem by digging underneath the house and make a solid foundation with concrete piles. I saw constructors do this in The Netherlands. Not easy.

Also seen on Oceans 12
When they do the Ahab with the piggyback

 

[Samoerai]

They even have systems which inject an expanding chemical in the ground. Don’t think they will have that here, probably also cheaper to rebuild.
We corrected a crooked wall of a house with shallow foundation once by digging underneath, adding reinforced concrete, and then using two heavy duty truck/car jacks. Centimeter at a time, scary.

lifting concrete with polyurethane

 

[jstar]

Yeah that method with polyurethane is an alternative for the so called mud-jacking. It’s mainly for walkways etc.

Now they also repair building subsidence via the injection method with a two-component expansion resin. They drill holes along the foundation base, then they insert a lance and inject into the holes under the subsided foundation at different depths. It can go 6-8 meters deep. The expansion resin reacts almost immediately and expands with great force. This lifts the soil around the injection points, including the existing foundation.

Now they also have techniques to apply this in clay ground. It‘s rather fast, after the initial investigation phase it only takes one day to install. But also rather expensive, for the front of a 150 year old house (which had different levels of subsidence) they asked €12.000 and that was quite some time ago.

Soil Injection Technology Using an Expandable Polyurethane Resin: A Review

The soil injection, using an expandable polyurethane resin, holds a unique potential for settlement compensation, lifting, and strengthening the foundations of existing buildings and structures. Although various research and case studies regarding this ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[serious_fun]

Thanks again for all of the replies; very informative.

 

[jstar]

In my new house the developer used a some kind of powder wall paint

You need to find out what he used exactly. It’s probably some satin (not glossy but also not dof) paint and that I would not remove at all but do some tests first with primer. Take the ones that are for the very smooth surfaced walls.

But, I couldn't find it in Depot Bangunan / did not know how to say what I needed in bahasa Indonesia.

The plamuur (dempul) here is really to fill holes, not for large surfaces. Then it’s plester (plaster, gips, gypsum). But it will fall off if the wall is super smooth and non absorbing.

I would not go to a Mitra10 or so (and avoid ACE); it’s expensive and you will never get good advice. Visit a specialized paint shop. For instance the Propan. Now even Nippon Paint, Jotun and Kansai have good products. But in the DIY stores they’re really too expensive.

Propanraya

Cat Propan cocok untuk Cat Eksterior, Cat Interior, Cat Anti Bocor, Cat Lantai, Cat Lapangan, Cat Besi dengan harga cat Propan terjangkau

www.propanraya.com

 

[Samoerai]

would not go to a Mitra10 or so (and avoid ACE); it’s expensive and you will never get good advice

Agree. They always direct you to the product 'termahal'. And if one ask more specifics, like what kind of primer it is. Fixative or adhesive? They don't know.

 

[Samoerai]

The plamuur (dempul) here is really to fill holes, not for large surfaces.

Skim wall is for large area's.

 

[jstar]

Now in your case this could be overkill. It’s more for @Ruserious situation. If you already have a very straight plaster and super smooth surface which has no alkaline problems, no need to apply an extra layer.

 

[Loki]

Apologies for reviving an old thread but I recently visited my sister's newly built house and as an Australian (Vic State)-trained plumber I have many, many concerns about rainwater drainage, angle of the downpipe, etc. especially with the recent 3-days of heavy rains, I spotted so many issues.

But! These things takes major work and my sister don't understand why I made a fuss, so I'm tackling the small thing first: grout sealing.

There doesn't seem to be any grout sealing done in all the wet areas and people here aren't aware of such things? Any advice of where I can best get them so I can test them with the grouting that's been used?

Thank you all in advance.

 

[Samoerai]

There doesn't seem to be any grout sealing done in all the wet areas and people here aren't aware of such things?

With sealant you mean? In the bathroom? Here in Indonesia, as far as I have seen they use "Sika Plus 107" or somerhing like this to waterproof the grout in the wet areas. If the house just have been handed over, I would check the pipes and drainage. My experience is that the pipes are full of sand, mortar, nails and such. I saw how they work here, they are just too lazy to clean up the residual waste of cement, mortar and sand and put it in bags. Instead they sweap it in the drainage. So, that would be the first order of business. I did that with my house. In all 4 bathrooms and balcony I opened all the drainages. And just 2 weeks ago I opened a rainpipe hidden in the ceiling that was leaking. I cut it open and it was full of sand. After that you should also check if the pipes of the house have a connection to the sewer pipe in the street. And have a 2x 45 angle connection. That is a common mistake here.

 

[centurion]

Apologies for reviving an old thread but I recently visited my sister's newly built house and as an Australian (Vic State)-trained plumber I have many, many concerns about rainwater drainage, angle of the downpipe, etc. especially with the recent 3-days of heavy rains, I spotted so many issues.

But! These things takes major work and my sister don't understand why I made a fuss, so I'm tackling the small thing first: grout sealing.

There doesn't seem to be any grout sealing done in all the wet areas and people here aren't aware of such things? Any advice of where I can best get them so I can test them with the grouting that's been used?

Thank you all in advance.

Use sika tile grout, many colors available. For wet areas (bathrooms) you should add latex additive (sikacim) so the grout is waterpoof and does not wash with water.

 

[Samoerai]

Use sika tile grout, many colors available. For wet areas (bathrooms) you should add latex additive (sikacim) so the grout is waterpoof and does not wash with water.

My point, in my post earlier, is that the workers already made the wet areas waterproof with these kind of Sika products. Wouldn't hurt though to check this with the project manager of the perumahan. @Loki should check the drainage and pipes for residue mortar, sand and such. Would be a walk in the park for him, being a professional plumber.

 

[Dave70]

should check the drainage and pipes for residue mortar, sand and such. Would be a walk in the park for him, being a professional plumber.

Exactly what happened to our house built more than 20 years ago, sand inside water pipe which we discovered after removing the faucet to check why water pressure is low.

 

[Loki]

Thanks @Samoerai and @centurion. It's been 4 months since the handover, but I'll check the gutters and downpipe when I can. I'm getting mixed info about where the downpipe is and I didn't exactly came down with all my gear here...

I can see they used Sika between the tiles but there are many blank patches where the grout is exposed. The grout between the shower floor tiles have gone black, which shouldn't happen within 4 months. Where I live we use grout sealer instead of Sika, which is waterproof membrane. This way no water seepage into porous surface for things to grow. Less cleaning and less maintenance overall since all you need to clean is the soap scum.

About the downpipe, one of the things of concern from the last 3 days of heavy rain was the amount of noise I can hear from the pipes. This is a 3-storey house and I don't think they put any bends in it to slow down the water going down. Apparently they didn't even put a gutter from the 3rd floor roof originally...

I had a chat with my sis about the expected lifespan of houses here and it seems they're not expected to be problem-free for more than 6 months (facepalm)

 

[Samoerai]

The grout between the shower floor tiles have gone black, which shouldn't happen within 4 months. Where I live we use grout sealer instead of Sika, which is waterproof membrane. This way no water seepage into porous surface for things to grow

Which grout sealer do you recommend? Brand?

 

[centurion]

Which grout sealer do you recommend? Brand?

Use sika tile grout with aditive for humidity resistance (sikacim latex additive). Common mistake is to use just grout for bathroom.