Boyblue

I've seen mention of girders as part of beam and block but I can't find a video or pictures showing how it's done. Is a girder able to span 6m and carry the weight of all the beams that would be resting on it?

So the options are to build more internal walls to keep the spans to a managable length or rent a crane. manpower against the price of crane rental. About how long would it take to place beams on a 100 m2 foundation, give or take?

Thanks Mike, I prefer to stay away from uncommon solotions, I'll have to ask the engineer to inclide the 50mm screed in the calculation.

Thank you that is helpful info. Based on your experience what's the longest span would you suggest be done manually and I'm wondering that for as long as the Brits have been doing beam & block why aren't there buggys or trollys made for moving beams?

Thanks, I read that you can do a 25mm screed if you use bonder, is this something that is common? Would you advise this?

Great point, particularly beacuse my blocks are 43 mm smaller which brings the beams closer, so the addition would be inconsequential. The chart below indicates no screed is necessary but I'd feel comfortable putting 50mm on there. We're adding cost but considering the fact that I won't have to import blocks, it's a cheap out.

They don't sell or use beam and block! They went another direction, engineered lumber and wood are their materials of choice. With that combination they get pretty firm floors, so much so that they can probably pour concrete on that base if they want to.

Any specific one? It's guava season, maybe that's it?

LOL, I wouldn't say it's overated, but I wish we had seasons.

Those are the two styles to which I was refering. It may be an efficiency thing, less material means less weight and less cost, right

First sizable hiccup, in checking the measurements of the local block, 3 5/8" comes to 92, so the beams are going to be much higher than the blocks. Anyone know if there is a beam that has a top section less the 100m?

It's not just the fill, steel is ultra expensive as well, I mentioned that in my answer to the previous post. Thanks for the direction, Once I've chosen a manufacturer I do as you suggest.

Vacation homes and we're at the stage where we've chosen a site. That drawing details in the original post tells most of the story. Two facts left ot are that the finished floor must be 610mm above street level and the footing must be in 155mm of rock. In the normal course we're talking 3 - 5 course of block which would be $1,200 - $1,500 per unit but this site has a parcipitous dropoff and to fill each unit will cost $6,000. Plans call for 4 ground floor units. Then there's the point that with a suspended floor we may be able to use that space. For an interior suspended floor we generally use steel web joists, which indicates that it's probably cheaper than a reinforced slab. One web joist for a 6m span would likely be around $2,500. I priced one for something like a 4.5m span last month and that was $1,950. I estimate I'm trying to beat 60k

Is there a difference between the straight T beam and the one that looks like a capital I with nods at the top that almost mirror the bottom? Is it just a style thing or are there critical differences that should be considered when selecting? Are there less consequential differences like might one or the other fit more snugly or require more screed material? Is one more popular, or more commonly used? When no screed is detailed on a beam span chart, does it mean that a screed is unnecessary, or is it that none can/should be applied?

There are two answers, for the ground floor, we're running out of fill (to bad we can't use sand), I'm still running the numbers but I anticipate some savings. If I'm wrong, I may still do it because it's something that we will have to come to in a few years and I like trying new things when building. For the upper floor it will definitely be less expensive, one bar joist for a 4.5m span is $1950. I haven't started that analysis yet but the installation should be similar, correct?