# Building in India



## Schmidt & Co (Jun 2, 2008)

Awsome photos! And I really appreciate the commentary. :clap:


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## Winchester (Jun 29, 2008)

Cutonce said:


> The food here is really good too!


Photo in reverse order of friendliness.

Two look friendly, one looks like he's thinking about the best way to gut a ****** :laughing:


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## Mark Siders (Dec 11, 2010)

Winchester said:


> Photo in reverse order of friendliness.
> 
> Two look friendly, one looks like he's thinking about the best way to gut a ****** :laughing:


Now thats funny:thumbup:


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## Cutonce (Oct 1, 2010)

TimNJ said:


> How free will you be when tons of rubble come crashing down on you because some idiot filled his poured in place concrete beams with cardboard and wood chips because he didn't have enough money to pay for the all the cement. It was more important that he spend his money on marble/granite veneers than to have a structurally sound building to start with.
> I can escape out of a prison, but you can't escape out of a grave.


Well I think you've brought yourself back to your original point that you are assuming every house in India is unsafe and you are scared to risk staying in them. I think you are either trying to stretch the truth or you've miss read the pictures. They don't fill them with wood chips or cardboard, Ive never seen that. They do do a lousy job of making forms. 

And now you are willing to live your precious life being wanted, hunted, and scared at every knock at the door. The more you write the more I see the differences in us for sure. :thumbsup:

Really the end of this pointless conversation should be, go see for yourself before you make judgments. It may open your eyes to a whole lot of new things.


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## Cutonce (Oct 1, 2010)

Rio said:


> Great photos, keep 'em coming.........


Thanks. I have some of Nepal next, but I'll put them in a different thread to keep the countries separate.


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## TimNJ (Sep 7, 2005)

Cutonce, I think you are reading way too much into this.
Your original post /photos show a structure going up with nothing but empty voids in the poured beams. Then you go on to show what wonderful buildings they create. I agree with the beautiful craftsmanship, they just suck at the basic structure and foundation. Obviously no type of inspections or standards followed. It seems their main concern is how pretty their building looks. 
Sure I'm a prisoner or whateverbecause if I was there I would stay in a Hilton instead of papa Singh's family inn that they cobbled together with whatever was laying around.
Kind of like filling a cake pan with cowsh** and then putting an absolutely beautiful frosting and decorating job on top of it.
Yeah, I'll just stay in my prison cell suite at the Hilton and suffer in the whirlpool tub:thumbsup:
Remember, "eat with your right, wipe with your left":laughing: since who knows what is running through all those pipes laying all over the ground.


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## Cutonce (Oct 1, 2010)

TimNJ said:


> Cutonce, I think you are reading way too much into this.
> Your original post /photos show a structure going up with nothing but empty voids in the poured beams. Then you go on to show what wonderful buildings they create. I agree with the beautiful craftsmanship, they just suck at the basic structure and foundation. Obviously no type of inspections or standards followed. It seems their main concern is how pretty their building looks.
> Sure I'm a prisoner or whateverbecause if I was there I would stay in a Hilton instead of papa Singh's family inn that they cobbled together with whatever was laying around.
> Kind of like filling a cake pan with cowsh** and then putting an absolutely beautiful frosting and decorating job on top of it.
> ...


Good point. Best you stay at home in NJ and don't travel abroad and embarrass the rest of us. :thumbsup:


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## Bastien1337 (Dec 20, 2010)

Cutonce I read a good portion of this thread, but maybe I glanced over the this aspect of it. 

What were you doing in india building, vacation? both? some other kind of work?


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## concretemasonry (Dec 1, 2006)

Tim - You have been in Jersey too long.

People draw conclusions based on what they see or read in the sites the go to for "knowledge". That unfortunately, is very narrow minded and like my wife that makes up her mind before knowing that much about something. She is from Philly, but denies Camden exists.

I have had $2 meals in India that were far superior to $40 meals at U.S. restaurants, even though I do not really enjoy Indian food (spices and texture), but I keep trying even after a dozen trips there. I usually prefer room service, a good Chinese restaurant or good pizza when in India.

I was required to stay in international hotels by my employer because of communications (phone and internet) and a guarantee of good water and being productive with my time. I learned to rely on bottles of water from the hotel (they were sealed and free). I made ice cubes from this in plastic bags that I put in the freezer compartment. The hotels ice cubes were supposedly suspect, so in the bar I always had drinks without tap water or brought my own cubes. The Indian beer was very good and safe. I was told to never buy something like Perrier on the street (sort of a local E-Bay or Craig's list) since it might just be other water in a old bottle with a new cap. When you travel internationally, you cannot afford to be laid up with a temporary intestinal problem just as you do not want it on a vacation elsewhere (Mexico).

It is ironic since many apartments buildings in India are built with advanced dual waste water systems (gray and black water) for proper treatment and use. Someday this may be done commonly in the U.S.

Many international hotels in India (Taj, Oberoi and Sheraton) are far beyond the U.S. luxury hotels in service and technology. Instead of checking in, with a reservation you are taken to your room immediately and the staff will check you in there if the room is acceptable. Your bag is delivered immediately and they call about 15 minutes later to see if everything is O.K. In one hotel that I had been at before and checked in at 11:30 PM (airline schedules), the clerk asked if I wanted the same meal I had the last time I was there at similar time check in time (the computers work well). When you leave the hotel, you leave your room key at the desk and pick it up when you return. Usually, when you go to the desk to get your key, the person gives the you the key before you get there, addresses you by name thanks to the photographic recognition at the entry door and your photos is also attached to you record (kind of scary!). Not cheap since the rack rate is $325/night, but my reservations were made locally for $200 including 3 phones, 3 T.V. s in the room (including bath and bedroom), free transportation locally and to and from the airport.

There are many faces to India, but all based on morality, passiveness, hard work and occasionally on advanced technology.

When you spend a day or to to get there and the same return time, the Indians know they have to offer quality even though they are really not interested in importing to the U.S. - they just sell technology and have enough internal economy and cash.


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## TimNJ (Sep 7, 2005)

concretemasonry said:


> Tim - You have been in Jersey too long.
> 
> People draw conclusions based on what they see or read in the sites the go to for "knowledge". That unfortunately, is very narrow minded and like my wife that makes up her mind before knowing that much about something.


Not very narrow minded when you SEE photos of a building going up and there are numerous voids in the poured concrete, not to mention that if that is how they fill their forms just how strong is that mix they put in those forms. It seems to Cutonce that doesn't matter as long as they put a pretty marble veneer over everything. Outta site, outta mind I guess.

I would be in one of the major hotels instead, where I wouldn't worry about the building falling down on me.


Those pictures brought back memeories of a trip to Venezuela. Every night like clockwork it would rain for about an hour. You had to zig zag your way down the streets because that was when all the locals would dump loads of sand, stone, and bags of cement right out on the sidewalks and use the rain for their water. The first part of the mix looked ok, but after about 1/2 hr of rain the rest as you can imagine turned to sloppy soup. Then they bucket brigaded the concrete into their forms.
My g/f asked me if that was ok to do that to which I replied, "You won't catch me staying in one of those buildings".


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## CarpetbaggerEnt (Jan 6, 2011)

Building codes in the US, Canada and Europe don't apply to India. Having a $2 meal that was in quality of a $40 meal in the US has nothing to do with a building structure or compliance to code.

Most buildings in India are built without reguard to ANY building code. Large commercial buildings like hotels do comply with international codes because those buildings are owned by international corporations. Sure, the hotel will be nice and sound, but step outside and look around. Don't walk down the alley with sandles - the hotel help us it for a toilet.

I have travelled in 3rd world countries (but not India) and can attest that what you see in terms of structure is surprizing. This is why when an disaster strikes, so many loose their life because often times the building is on the verge of collapse when it is built.


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## Cutonce (Oct 1, 2010)

TimNJ said:


> Not very narrow minded when you SEE photos of a building going up and there are numerous voids in the poured concrete, not to mention that if that is how they fill their forms just how strong is that mix they put in those forms. It seems to Cutonce that doesn't matter as long as they put a pretty marble veneer over everything. Outta site, outta mind I guess.


You are basing your "knowledge" on some photos you've seen. What you have missed is that these are two different buildings. The one with the voids in the concrete is a singe family residence. Although its poor quality, its adequate for its use and its location. The one with the marble veneer is from a fort that has stood for nearly a thousand years.



TimNJ said:


> I would be in one of the major hotels instead, where I wouldn't worry about the building falling down on me.


This may come as a shock to you, but there actually isn't a Marriott on every street corner in the rest of the world.


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## Cutonce (Oct 1, 2010)

Bastien1337 said:


> Cutonce I read a good portion of this thread, but maybe I glanced over the this aspect of it.
> 
> What were you doing in india building, vacation? both? some other kind of work?


I was a builder in Atlanta. In 08 I decided I'd worked enough and sold up to go travel the world. It just happened that I did it before the economy went down the crapper, so I got out just in time. So yeah India was just vacation, although this year I did act as a guide for a motorcycle trip over the Himalaya into Ladahk!


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## TimNJ (Sep 7, 2005)

Cutonce said:


> The one with the voids in the concrete is a singe family residence. Although its poor quality, its adequate for its use and its location.
> 
> :laughing::laughing::laughing:
> 
> ...


 So, like I posted before, just keep eating with your right and wiping with your left and everything will be fine.


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## 3bar (Jan 14, 2011)

wow. thats amazing.


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## blu (Jun 5, 2010)

One of the best threads I've seen on this forum. The OP's commentary between the shots is great! Keep going. He teased us about the Australian photos. Hopefully they come soon. Hopefully TimNJ's visits in here to spill his puke will get moderated out.


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## TimNJ (Sep 7, 2005)

blu said:


> One of the best threads I've seen on this forum. The OP's commentary between the shots is great! Keep going. He teased us about the Australian photos. Hopefully they come soon. Hopefully TimNJ's visits in here to spill his puke will get moderated out.


Look, let's get one thing straight blu. OP show photos of constuction that is horrible structural poured in place concrete work. I suppose if someone came on this site and posted a job that looked like that, you along with OP, would commend him for a "job well done".
I acknowledged that the finish work is great and the structural work sucks and OP starts getting an attitude and next thing you know I'm attacked for calling out the construction defects. Then OP starts attacking me on a personal level. Now I'm "scared at every knock of the door", "stay home", "don't embarrass us".

If the purpose of the post is for OP to toot his own horn about his world travels, then post it in "Off Topic".


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## Willy is (May 20, 2010)

Cutonce, thank you for the thread, the pictures and the commentary and Dick, I have appreciated your input as well. I think the thread exists to show how things are done in some places in the world and it touches on the how and why. Thanks!! 

Tim, I think you are seizing on negatives that aren't adding much to the thread. The whole point was to show some of the methods of construction that are used in the absence of having abundant material, equipment, construction infrastructure.
Cutonce *is* aware..... he posted the photos.

In the 80's while working as a welder I've seen some licensed contractors doing very suspect work; intentionally and with full knowledge they were cutting corners. Would it be fair to characterize the whole aggregate of contractors for this? 

One of my builder friends tells of a group of "Okie developers" that he and his father worked with. They would lay out the forms install the steel, have the pre inspection approval, *un*-install the rebar, and do the pour.

"It don't need _all that steel_" they would say...... :whistling

Willy
----------------------
edit; I thought I would add.... *nobody* is saying the construction techniques and materials are fine. 

I also thought I would add that in the United States they would have 7 different ASTM ratings for cow dung; high tensile, architectural, low temp duty, etc, as well as cow dung review comittees, special courses for certification for applicators and a special Marshalltown line of trowels for the discriminating applicator. So...in India do they bring the dung in cold or do they bring the 4 legged batch plant in for _special_ hot mix?

-W


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## Cutonce (Oct 1, 2010)

blu said:


> One of the best threads I've seen on this forum. The OP's commentary between the shots is great! Keep going. He teased us about the Australian photos. Hopefully they come soon. Hopefully TimNJ's visits in here to spill his puke will get moderated out.


Thanks! It takes a bit of work to put these together so nice to know its appreciated.

Yup we'll get to Aus soon, but dance around Asia for a bit more first.


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## Cutonce (Oct 1, 2010)

Willy is said:


> http://www.contractortalk.com/members/cutonce-66774/
> 
> One of my builder friends tells of a group of "Okie developers" that he and his father worked with. They would lay out the forms install the steel, have the pre inspection approval, *un*-install the rebar, and do the pour.
> 
> ...


Wow



Willy is said:


> I also thought I would add that in the United States they would have 7 different ASTM ratings for cow dung; high tensile, architectural, low temp duty, etc, as well as cow dung review comittees, special courses for certification for applicators and a special Marshalltown line of trowels for the discriminating applicator. So...in India do they bring the dung in cold or do they bring the 4 legged batch plant in for _special_ hot mix?
> 
> -W


Ive actually seen women following cows around and picking up the ..umm building material as it dropped on the ground. They mix it in with straw and then leave it in the sun to dry. This is the method for making patties for burning in the stove. For the flooring I've never seen it "laid" but I'd assume it would have to be used pretty much straight from the "4 legged batch plant.


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