QCon block pricing

Stargazer

Stargazer

Surin Legend
I like QCon block for its R value. We built a nice 220 M2 home with it, stays cool. My Thai wife complained of the extra cost, but I think it is worth it. If you stick to one story, no structural issues really. We're about to build a little 6M x 8M 1 BR cottage out in the rice fields, and I want to use it. I've heard two things: that QCon ceased mfg. for a while not long ago, and now is back with a two month order lead time, and that prices have nearly tripled. Anyone share comments on this, as well as whether any of the AAC block alternatives are decent quality?
 
Mel Malinowski said:
I like QCon block for its R value. We built a nice 220 M2 home with it, stays cool. My Thai wife complained of the extra cost, but I think it is worth it. If you stick to one story, no structural issues really. We're about to build a little 6M x 8M 1 BR cottage out in the rice fields, and I want to use it. I've heard two things: that QCon ceased mfg. for a while not long ago, and now is back with a two month order lead time, and that prices have nearly tripled. Anyone share comments on this, as well as whether any of the AAC block alternatives are decent quality?
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ATB is your man.
 
Mel Malinowski said:
@gotlost: not fair to involve him, as I already have a local team for this simple project (and I'm a retired builder). I don't ask for unpaid advice from other than the likes of you ;)
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That is your first mistake; take advice from Got Lost and you will be bollocksed! :)


Send a message to AtB he has always been helpful with advice in the past. If he doesn't reply you are no worse off. He was certainly using QCON in his house builds.
 
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CO-CO said:
That is your first mistake; take advice from Got Lost and you will be bollocksed!


Send a message to AtB he has always been helpful with advice in the past. If he doesn't reply you are no worse off. He was certainly using QCON in his house builds.
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Thanks to you both. I'll make a note to double your advice pay rate. Finally figured out I had to use 'Alanthebuilder' rather than ATB.

I had a funny thing happen you'll appreciate. My Thai wife is very reluctant to make returns, saying in essence that it's not Thai, not polite and not wanted. Very different than USA, where they encourage a liberal return policy to encourage reckless impulse buying ;) I had foolishly bought a walk-behind brush trimmer at TW because, though we have a couple of regular ones, I find the weight of them hard on my old back. After brief 10 minute use I found it had several safety and utility issues. I decided to try taking it back, still clean and saleable, since I had just bought it 2 days before, to just get a credit on purchasing a better, different design unit. My wife dug her heels in, saying it was a bad idea. I think she found it an embarassing prospect. I quoted a favorite line from Singapore "Discounts may be available, but only if you ask". What does it hurt to try? Well, seeing some benefit in encouraging a well-heeled farang to spend more money, they agreed. They said they allow returns for one week from purchase. I think they had to bend the policy a little as it had been operated. Still...
 
CO-CO said:
That is your first mistake; take advice from Got Lost and you will be bollocksed! :)


Send a message to AtB he has always been helpful with advice in the past. If he doesn't reply you are no worse off. He was certainly using QCON in his house builds.
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Yes, he has snookered me in the past with comments I did not catch as twisted humor. I once wrote a rather famous San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Cain admonishing him for something he wrote (apparently tongue in cheek as droll irony). He wrote back a one sentence reply: "Lighten up, man! I was joking!" So I will remember to just never take him seriously.;)
 
CO-CO said:
That is your first mistake; take advice from Got Lost and you will be bollocksed! :)


Send a message to AtB he has always been helpful with advice in the past. If he doesn't reply you are no worse off. He was certainly using QCON in his house builds.mu
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Alan suggested Global House. Global House turns out to be a dead end. Their only brand will only do 20x20x60 AAC block with a minimum order of 1500 blocks. We're ordering from Thai Watsadu, which quotes 800 blocks from Diamond Industries at 88.5 THB per block, 40 day order time. And they cannot supply 20x20 lintels, only 7.5x20, so you must space two per opening, and not quite as strong.
 
Anyone able to shed light on Thai concrete strength specs? ST320 appears the top, but it's not clear what exactly that means in PSI strength. 10cm 'slump' is always best if you can get them to actually deliver it that stiff--drivers like to water it up, to make it flow easier after long delivery times, which weakens it. Thai word for 'slump'?
 
Mel Malinowski said:
Anyone able to shed light on Thai concrete strength specs? ST320 appears the top, but it's not clear what exactly that means in PSI strength. 10cm 'slump' is always best if you can get them to actually deliver it that stiff--drivers like to water it up, to make it flow easier after long delivery times, which weakens it. Thai word for 'slump'?
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Found the answer on the CPAC website plus a little scientific conversion. They offer 280, 300 and 350KSC, which correspond to 4000 PSI compressive strength, 4275, and 5000. Most folks are fine with 4000 for ordinary slabs, but the higher strengths are warranted for load bearing slabs, such as those expecting truck traffic, or building wall load. They seem to just use the English word 'Slump', and their standard is 4-6", which is reasonable. For those not in the trade, 'slump' refers to how thick the concrete comes. You fill a cone with the concrete, remove the cone and measure how far the concrete slumps down. Less slump is called 'stiffer', and it is the strongest. Add more water, the concrete flows and pumps easier, but is weaker, but also easier to move around and finish. So 4" is preferred for uses like foundations, and a little wetter for slabs. Readimix drivers often err on the side of putting too much water in to stretch the concrete flow time, and ease the unloading flow, and it can be a struggle to get them to not do that. In my experience, local Thai don't understand that adding lots of water weakens the end result, and leads to more shrinkage cracks. Oh, well.

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Mel Malinowski said:
Alan suggested Global House. Global House turns out to be a dead end. Their only brand will only do 20x20x60 AAC block with a minimum order of 1500 blocks. We're ordering from Thai Watsadu, which quotes 800 blocks from Diamond Industries at 88.5 THB per block, 40 day order time. And they cannot supply 20x20 lintels, only 7.5x20, so you must space two per opening, and not quite as strong.
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After quoting 40-60 day special order time for 20x20x60 AAC block, it came in one week. Let them sit on it now till we're ready!
 
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