Water damage prevention to Bali Homes

Post by Nigel Saywell-Lee.

 

Water damage Prevention to a Bali home and in areas with high annual rainfall

A home in Bali is no different to purchasing a home anywhere in the world.  Often this purchase will be the single biggest purchase in anyone's life time. Therefore it is critical to be buying through knowledge.  In previous blogs I have covered the topic of earthquakes in this blog I will cover the relationship to rainfall and the suitability of your home to withstand water penetration.

Bali is a tropical Island it sits 8 degrees south of the equator (08° 39' S, 115° 13' E) and has a climate to suit its position.  The seasons number two and are obvious in so far as they are a wet season and and a dry season.  The temperature throughout the year rarely changes however, the humidity rises drastically.

Between Oct and April Bali receives approx 1.4M of rainfall which is significant if you are to stop water penetrating your property.

First thing to note is water is lazy if you have a flat surface it wont go anywhere only sit and soak. The other thing to note is water travels down and it does this along its easiest route so if you have a fracture in your build then that is where it will head.

Water will by Osmosis travel up through a building this is known as rising damp and once you have this it is very difficult to eliminate the damp mark that blots your walls.  It is also not at all healthy to live in a room with Fungi spores growing on a damp area.

Once you have damp in your walls you get a build up of salt and even if you have blocked the damp from rising the salt within the wall absorbs the water from the air, still keeping a damp patch visible.

What we do; 

1. We start at the foundation we always assess the area that we are building with in ie. level of water table.  The ground use prior to build etc.
2. If the water table is high then we build higher 
3. We always start with the foundation and incorporate the latest damp proofing technology see rumah-di-bali.com and click the technology tab.    
4. This damp proofing additive continues into the columns and the walls.  Incidentally this additive causes the cement to harden in a way that helps to add rigidity to the home.
5. With minimalist homes and the cost of Land normally homes are built to the limits of the land (tanah) leaving no chance to have the roof extend beyond the building.  Therefore it is important to ensure that the external walls are regularly treated with a waterproof paint this we do as standard.
6. The deck of the roof is again fabricated from concrete poored all at one time to ensure no fractures exist.
7. We add an additive to the deck to ensure no water can soak through.
8. We always put a slope on the deck to ensure that the water can find its way to the nearest drain point.
9. We always add a drian to remove surface water.
10. The roof slope is appropriate to ensure water runs off the roof in a fast and efficient way.  Depending on the tiles we again coat with a waterproof solution.
11. The roof tiles have to be laid in rotation and they must overlap vertically and horizontally

With all of this in mind you are now well equipped and able to ensure that your family home is safe and secure from the rains of Bali.

Alternatively look to a Bali Puri Gelis Home here on the paradise Isle of Bali.

Homes Homes Homes 3 rules 1) safety 2) Safety and rule 3) Safety

Post by Nigel Saywell-Lee.

 

 

Homes Homes Homes  3 rules: 1) safety 2) Safety and 3) Safety

Villa style or starter homes try a Bali Puri Gelis property.  Much has been said about properties in Bali and perhaps right across Indonesia.  Be advised Bali and Indonesia sit on a fault line, they are also in the tropics and experience short spells of monsoon rains.  Wet areas dry out as the year progresses causing the ground to shrink. 

As for the fault line earthquakes means that the ground can move, sometimes violently. The reason for this is the two plates where they meet are not necessarily a smooth surface and often trap each other that is until the force is overwhelming and the plates free from each other forcing movement in any direction. up, down, left or right.  This is of course a scary experience and it should not be dismissed; most fatalities during an earthquake are caused by the buildings collapsing either ones that we live within or work in. Earth quakes are not something that goes away or lays dormant like a volcano can as the plates can move all the time and this movement can be anywhere between 1cm to 9cm per annum.

Bali sits on the larger Australia plate which includes much of the Indian ocean and New Guinea.  The rest of Indonesia sits on the smaller plate known as the Sunda plate, however, this excludes Irian Jaya.  The Australia plate is by far the most active as it is traveling north at an alarming rate of 6cm per year.  This plate is sliding underneath the Sunda plate and is situated just 250 km south of Bali.

It is fair to say that this area with the tectonic plates, volcanoes and Tsunamis is one of the most unstable areas on the planet; which brings me to the need to be sure that your home is equipped for the worst scenario as death comes quick if the roof or the concrete floors collapses.

In order to make your home secure you need to be sure that the foundation is deep and well keyed to the ground that it sits.  Columns need to connect with the foundation by a heavy gauge steel and travel to the roof structure uninterrupted.  You then need a well constructed ring surround the house at each floor level.  This ring also has a steel structure over which is pored concrete ideally mixed with super cement which we always use.  This structure wires if you like all corners of the building structure into a 3D dimension i.e. roof is connected to the foundation and front is connected to the back etc.

This brings me to the depth of the foundation minimum for a single storey (1 floor) should be 1Meter deep.  some areas where houses are built on what used to be rice fields means the ground is very unstable, extremely wet in the monsoon season and extremely dry in the hot season.  Needless to say the ground stretches and shrinks at an alarming rate and your home needs to be well keyed to the land that it sits. Take a look at our starter homes in Permogan and our villa style properties in Sidakarya

The Perfect place, the perfect time and the perfect place to buy in Bali

Post by CV Bali Puri Gelis.

 

 

This is a buyers market right here and right now.

3 rumah baru villa style Sidakarya

Land prices are sky rocketing climbing every new moon.  Land is released onto the market as building land within weeks it is all sold to ambitious property developers.  However properties are built and buyers are in abundance.  When faced with the prospect of a loan from the bank at 12% - 14% these buyers are disappearing in spades.  In short the property market is stagnant, stifled by high interest rates.

3 rumah baru villa style Sidakarya

But, the message is clear; there are many people looking for property.  Property will stop being built if builders can not sell them or the banks will not loan.  This will cause the new homes to climb in value exponentially and rapidly.

Reason simple the country has been paralyzed by an election.  The currency is under pressure and the central bank has to provide support to the financial system to underpin the banks.  This will change after the election, life will stabilize pent up demand for homes will release and available rumah's will sell in a heart beat.

2 rumah baru Pemogan

For the savvy investor there could never be a better time to own an investment property on the paradise Isle. The gains will be phenomenal and quick to see a return.

Take a look at Bali Puri Gelis homes where the rumah of quality counts.  Three villa style homes available in Sidakarya.

2 rumah baru Pemogan

Infra-structure is coming on stream, conference facilities are in abundance and hotels are popping up like daffodils in spring.  There is talk of a Disney park.  We already have an expanded airport that rivals some of the biggest in the world.  The future is bright it's Bali the home of stability and growth.

Agents Wanted - Dua Units Permogan Jalan Mekar Jaya Block B IV

Post by CV Bali Puri Gelis.

Dua Units Permogan Jalan Mekar Jaya Block B IV

 AgentsWanted

We're almost done

 Stone drive to go in + Pinto on order

 Listrik already installed

 Dapur - Cupboards, Tap to be fitted - Granite floors - granite worktop

 We're close to the 3D

rumah-di-bali.com

Lets make life easier and more secure.

Post by CV Bali Puri Gelis.

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Mathematics the heart of a good sound building

Forgive the abundance of widgets highlighted above, but I have included these in this blog as a useful tool to calculate roof angles, sizes etc..  I noticed a builder cutting a wood roof for a house whilst I enjoyed a coffee nearby.  

Usually, I use steel for all of our roofs as the rigidity is stronger and the connecting pieces are in my opinion more secure.  However, mindful of the fact that wood has been the preferred medium for centuries it would be folly of me to critic such a well proven design. 

My only concern in watching this roof take form was that the builder had not included a "birds mouth" at the point where the beam met the wood plate attached to the outer wall of the structure.  A birds mouth is a triangular cut, whose angle is decided by the angle of the roof etc. This cut should not take too large a section from the timber, normally 30% approx leaving 70%.  This then makes for a well supported roof as all joints are mitigated by their joining partner.  see diagram attached.

By making this cut and fixing to the plate you then give yourself an opportunity to overhang the roof from the neck or the edge of the structure. This gives protection during monsoon conditions. 

Meanwhile for a quality build check out rumah-di-bali.com and look for the red flash always on the front of our houses. 

New Innovative quality ideas for the best homes on Bali.

Post by CV Bali Puri Gelis.

New Innovative quality ideas for the best homes on Bali.

I am always keen to improve the builds of our elegant Bali homes not only from a looks perspective but from a quality point of interest.  It is my goal to make our homes fit with the affordable luxury market that will stand the test of time. ie. look as good tomorrow, next year etc. as the day that you purchase to home. 

One of the ways to do this is of course to ensure all the waterproofing technologies are incorporated, but, another is to look at the way in which we build here.  To that end I am considering, attempting to use a self leveling floor screed known as flo screed.  Here we lay the floor as per normal ie. back fill with limestone, hardcore and cover with sand then lay the plastic sheet returning up the walls some 70mm or so forming a waterproof bath, after which we will pump flo screed into the home ensuring for a perfect flat smooth surface.  

This to me is a better way in which to provide quality and as such make laying granite or ceramic floors easier, avoiding air pockets forming and ultimately cracked floor.

 

My question is simple; is such a product available here in Indonesia, if so I would be interested to know please contact me through rumah-di-bali.com 

Remember for quality always look for the red flash on the front elevation of our homes.

Fight back, fight for quality and safety

 

Quality and Safety look for a:

 CV Bali Puri Gelis Home

We have many years in the new build arena both here and in Europe.  I am amazed that an area such as Bali can be so naive when it comes to Safety and quality.  I use the word safety first as I have seen many not all low cost houses grow with the sub-structure not adequately secured.  In other words the steel is substandard, in an earthquake zone that is a major concern. 

The other areas which are often neglected are:

1. Damp proofing - Walls and foundations need to be built using an additive, a chemical which causes the concrete mix to harden in such a way that the molecular structure forms a barrier to rising Damp.
2. Minimalist homes are often built to the very limit of the land they occupy which means that the roof is often set within the property.  The structure takes the form of a deck leading to a neck, the roof is then placed on the neck.  This situation exposes vast areas of flat roof where the monsoon rains can penetrate the molecular structure of the concrete deck around the neck of the roof, causing considerable dampness inside the property on the ceilings etc..  Here we again use additive to bond the molecular structure, harden the concrete and secure the roof surface.
3. Depth of foundations - I have seen properties where the home has been built at a depth of just 20cm, all single floor properties should be at a depth of at least 1 meter with 2 floors properties considerably deeper.
4. A fourth area which is in my opinion equally important and again relates to the high water table that Bali sits upon is the floors all our floors have a layer of plastic sheet below the granite or ceramic surface again to prevent the damp rising.  This also helps to keep unwanted pests out of the living areas.
5. The only way to keep water from penetrating walls is to have a cavity but that is not possible here in Bali, primarily as the houses are so cost strapped that the additional cost can be prohibitive.  Therefore walls have to be coated with Aqua proof material to prevent damp penetration.

 Post by CV Bali Puri Gelis.

So all told don't ask about whether it's a Wasser tap, ask about the structure of the building, look if you can at the steel and at the foundation depth - also look for damp on the walls and just above the floors.

Alternatively look for the red flash as all our buildings have an element of red on the decor to the front.  Look for a Bali Puri Gelis Home