Markit

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Sep 3, 2007
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Just a thought: you do realize that by putting in a damp course you are effectively cutting off the upper part of your building from the foundations?

This might, or might not, be of value here with rising damp but what happens in an earthquake?

Don't forget this area isn't called "The Ring of Fire" because of hemorrhoids.
 

balibule

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Feb 6, 2009
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Just a thought: you do realize that by putting in a damp course you are effectively cutting off the upper part of your building from the foundations?

So you think a 50 ton house will fall over because it sits on a 3mm thick plastic sheet?
 

Markit

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Thanks Alex - can't swear to have read every word in those long and detailed docs but did most of them and nowhere did they mention a damp course. But as you so rightly pointed out page 6 does make a major point of the building being constructed as one unit so I wait for more enlightenment from the master builders on the forum.

Balibule - I've lived a lotta years in the San Fran bay area and been through some wonderful quakes and the short answer is a resounding "yes".
 

alex margou

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Jul 20, 2013
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Thanks Alex - can't swear to have read every word in those long and detailed docs but did most of them and nowhere did they mention a damp course. But as you so rightly pointed out page 6 does make a major point of the building being constructed as one unit so I wait for more enlightenment from the master builders on the forum.

Balibule - I've lived a lotta years in the San Fran bay area and been through some wonderful quakes and the short answer is a resounding "yes".

The first document doesn't mention damp proof course. The second document makes a passing reference to it on page 9 of the PDF.

The problem with a plastic sheet damp proof course is that you have to leave gaps in the plastic at each corner, and at anywhere else a vertical steel reinforced concrete column rises up from the foundations. Or, if you have a complete damp proof course of plastic then you cannot have the house connected to its foundations by steel rods.
 

DenpasarHouse

Active Member
Aug 13, 2013
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Thanks Alex for the WSSI_Teddy_Boen PDF, that's going to allow me judge the quality of the Rubble Stone foundations later on.

The problem with a plastic sheet damp proof course is that you have to leave gaps in the plastic at each corner, and at anywhere else a vertical steel reinforced concrete column rises up from the foundations. Or, if you have a complete damp proof course of plastic then you cannot have the house connected to its foundations by steel rods.

I agree with this and, like Markit, am worried about the implications in case of earthquakes. However, I'm going to take the middle road and just do what I can without changing the construction process.

I'm going to cut a 10cm strip of Karpet Talang and place this between the foundation beam and the first row of red bricks to stop (or at least lessen) rising moisture. I'm also going to cover the earth/back fill with Karpet Talang before the "lantai kerja" and the slab cement are set. I'm not going to attempt to join the two however, so it won't actually be one big sheet of plastic, I'll cut it to fit each specific area that is demarcated by the foundation beams. In this way I can at least feel I did something to mitigate the problem of rising damp without risking unintended problems in the case of earthquakes.
 

balibule

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Feb 6, 2009
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The problem with a plastic sheet damp proof course is that you have to leave gaps in the plastic at each corner, and at anywhere else a vertical steel reinforced concrete column rises up from the foundations. Or, if you have a complete damp proof course of plastic then you cannot have the house connected to its foundations by steel rods.

I'm not a builder but I don't think the waterproof course of plastic is supposed to cut through the beams. If it does then you might as well not have a foundation.
 

Markit

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Sep 3, 2007
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But if it doesn't cut through the beams you might as well not bother with a damp course as the water will creep up your columns as it would the wall - probably worse, as they go much deeper.

I await enlightenment from our master builders????
 

balibule

Active Member
Feb 6, 2009
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But if it doesn't cut through the beams you might as well not bother with a damp course as the water will creep up your columns as it would the wall - probably worse, as they go much deeper.

I await enlightenment from our master builders????

I think concrete has a better water resistance than brick walls. When I poured concrete I had a puddle of water on the first floor (where the shower is now) for several weeks and the ceiling under the puddle stayed dry.

But yes, lets wait for our master builders ...
 

Populaire

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Jun 22, 2011
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Quality concrete in itself is an effective damp course. Concrete does not draw up moisture in the same manner a brick wall does - so having a damp course which gives right of way to reinforced concrete elements is the right approach. The damp course never severs the structural bond between foundations, columns, beams and slabs.


All the best,

Populaire..