i applause your effort. some people will say it's impossible (as usual), but they themselves don't dare to try it.
building with sand and bricks will cost a lot more than a cabin constructed like this.
those that worry too much about the heat penetration certainly have never worked inside an AC-ed cabin before.

good luck. if you're interested in rainwater supplementary system read the last few pages of my build thread. there's quite some technical discussion about it.


p/s: makes much sense spending RM50k and getting a landed house rather than spending half a million for a studio unit eh.

waiting for the monsoon season to pass. just nice to let the piling to set in this weather.

it makes no sense to buy a small studio unit for half a million when a nice land plot could still be had for RM35k, eh?

you know once you have the proper land title (geran tanah) you could initiate a loan to build a better house. the interest rate will be the same as buying a house. it doesn't matter if the land is under tanah pertanian status or tanah pembangunan. an agriculture status land would still entitle you to build one house for the owner.

someone will come in an say, nope, there's no such loan. and saying it's bull$hit. this is kopitiam after all.

i'm building a 3621 sqft behemoth. still got people saying it's small.
we did considered the whole container concept at the first land plot that we tried to acquire. the seaside plot in my thread.
but since the land deal didn't go through we didn't proceed.

20 feet containers could be had for RM2k-ish over here. kampung people are buying them and using it as an outdoor store room. decent condition with no leak.
put in on stilts and retain the shell strength so that it can be moved, and viola! it doesn't count as a permanent construction. you'll get A LOT OF LEEWAY, even in the eyes of the law. hence why the local council doesn't have any law regarding a container house, because it can't be counted as a permanent structure.

we considered the whole container concept so that we could build right next to the shore line, and the container on stilts provide such possibility.
check with your local council.

i didn't use the weather to set the pile. it's just that the weather isn't conducive to start building.
so might as well pile before monsoon and leave it to rest through the not-so-favorable weather. make sense?

i'm depending on friction to hold the structure. as the soil underneath the plot is quite soft because it's an agriculture land. so like it or not we need to let it set. would you rather let it set through dry season when it's best to work with cement or let it set through monsoon season when it rains heavily everyday?
after monsoon there's gonna be a few month of dry season, esp during march. that time is good to start construction as there's very little rain and the weather is very predictable.

if you're opting for friction to hold the pile, you need to let it rest. so you could pile before the monsoon starts, let it set through the monsoon and start construction after the rainy season passed.
if you start piling after monsoon, by the time you let it rest you're going to hit the next rainy season already. so missed that dry window.

or, you could pile until you hit the hard layer and it doesn't move anymore. that method you don't need to let it rest, can start immediately. but some soil is just too soft that you're going to need lots of pile for each point. that will certainly not be cheap.

then again, i'm not formally educated in civil engineering so i might be off.

2 genuine questions:

1) does time improve the pile friction to the ground?
2) would a pile left to set for 1 minutes have the same friction to it compared to a pile left to set for 1 month?

maybe my friend made a mistake when he suggested that we let the pile rest for 3 months.

he no have phd. but he civil engineer in the area here. housing projects in alor setar and kangar, mostly in the same condition as my plot.
he visited the site, asked the pile that we're using, the method and suggested rest time of 3 months.

from his mouth, he's never seen a pile move after 1 month rest. they're also not piling to set because it's cheaper. need 3-4 pile back-to-back if the piles are driven to set. too deep soft clay in these area.

just to be safe, we did asked a couple more of them for advice. wife works in jkr so civil engineer is aplenty.

sigh. if you were to type back the first paragraph into google you'd know where it's from. the quality of kopitiam replies, i'm not expecting anything less.
it's from electronic journal of geotechnical engineering, written by a senior lecturer from civil engineering department, uitm, one assoc. prof and one full prof from usm engineering campus, civil engineering faculty. that prof is a P.E. in civil eng.

but sure, maybe you've written lots of theses-es to know which is taken from an undergrad. on the findings, i leave it to kopitiam experts to download and read the paper and derive their own conclusion.

i posted the abstract to point out the first 2 line where it's a well known phenomenon, common, and it's also researched and reported in malaysia.
as much as i would like to trust some random stranger posting in some randon internet forum, i dont'. at least the paper is written by someone with credible background.

not if it's could be declared as temporary structure. if it's not directly welded to the ground, can be moved, it's not permanent structure. refer your local laws. temporary structure have less red tape to them compared to permanent construction.

it's a land lot, with proper paper.
TNB and water probably no problem. we managed to get water and electricity supply to a wooden guard house, built at the side of the road on stilts, declared under temporary structure and the local council doesn't bug us. they're the ones that advised us how to avoid the red tape.

Tnb doesn't provide grounding calculation. They just connect the ground rod and do simple resistive test.

Come k expert. Advice him how to calculate proper grounding point.
Just be wary that a miscalculation could cost someone's life.

add waterproof sealer into the cement mix. then use waterproof paint or liner to line the pool wall.
you don't need to be a millionaire to enjoy a nice pool next to the house.

if you ever wanna build a container cabin, do it properly.

Os kof