The Dayton display home saga
Apologies in advance if I've misrepresented anyone or ascribed words to the wrong person or missed stuff out. You'll let us know. FYI, I bought more FBR stock today. Here we go...
Photos were posted by Herewegoagain1 (HWGA), Moultz17, madjamo, Hoolio, Ankhenaten2, rbc808, youngdawg (thanks to parents for camera), timboc, Investor1965, norts72, NoGtsNoGlry (NGNG), TSProfits, Noeliam, RussellBO1
As early as July 3, Ivorbigun passed the Dayton site and posted, “Well the slab has been cleaned with a new temporary fence around it. What could be happening? It's 2 mins from my house and on the way to work so I have been gliding past quite frequently. Saw a bricky next to it today [house next door] cleaning his tools under a tap. He is in for a shock this weekend or Monday morning.” HWGA was of a similar opinion: “The brickies working next door on that build will be astonished to see HX lay blocks if they are still there!! Can just imagine the look on their faces. Just look at the mess on this site next to the slab , safety hazards , cement , sand , shed , rubbish…”
There was some speculation that the site might be a decoy!But on July 7, the Hadrian 2 did indeed arrive at Elderberry Drive, Dayton. The video of Mike and Mark taking Hadrian out the gate for the first time to build an actual (display) home caused great excitement. Seano180 said, “So good to see both Mark and Mike in the cabin together, this was a special moment i bet “ Gary Jitters exclaimed, “I'm about to lay an egg!” HWGA said, “reading these posts I feel like we’re all waiting for a baby in a delivery room!” Ash007 later said, “I cried as well over the few days” and “Once again, every video has brought tears in my eyes. Has anyone seen a more happy construction site EVER?” Pawalshe1 wrote, “I cried when I watched this!! exciting times ahead .”
Noeliam posted pics of HX and saw Mark Pivac on site.
Next morning, 8/7/20 at 10:33am, Moultz17 stated “boom is out and the machine is operating. Couldn't see any bricks on the ground on the way past but stuff is happening!!” MrLamby added, “You can see the boom a few streets away, very funny actually, as driving up the street I had that nervous feeling in my guts, like I was about to meet a famous person.” Youngdawg said, “Build is starting, bricks loaded up and camera crew filming.” Rossi1 commented, “Such a beautiful thing to see in the real world. It's like being in the Himalaya and seeing a snow leopard in its natural habitat.”
People were desperate for photos and updates. For example, Tomatoes asked, “Any updates on what is happening over there in Perth ? have got smoke coming off my shoes pacing around house.” Later adding, “updates anyone? please , the suspense is killing me.”
Those able to reach the site obliged with photos and Timboc gave a series of posts like a live commentary: “Boom is out and over the slab… First pallet of bricks going in… Second pallet in… Nothing laid yet. It just cut a brick internally… I think they are going to lay a test brick off to the side first… Van parked in front now… It is laying all the corners first… The photo I posted earlier had the first 2 blocks down on the slab. You can just see them… When I left, they had done all of the corners of the slab. A lot of them had been cut before being laid. They were about to start filling in between with full blocks.”
NoGtsNoGlry wrote, “I was there for about an hr and never saw anyone having to go over to the laying head… I spoke to Mark… Mark indicated if you went back in 24hrs you could not kick down the wall with the glue having set… Mark added if it was windy that wouldn't be an issue. I left around 6:00pm and still working. I'll post photos after dinner.”
Rbc808 said Hadrian “was easily laying blocks at night… They are only allowed to work until 7pm WA time. Mark Pivac… had a huge smile on his face as well as the crew looked to be enjoying it. They didn't appear to be stressed, just looked like another day at the office”
PedrosH said, “Just been over to Dayton, got out of the car for a sticky beak for a few minutes. Looks very impressive. It is quieter in operation than I thought it would be, you can hear the bricks being cut but the rest is a muffled hum.” As rbc808 put it, “It wasn't loud, but it wasn't silent. If I lived in one of the houses over the fence - definitely would hear it and would be irritating at 3 am when trying to sleep. The main noises are the humming of the brick processing area, onboard generator and what sounds to be sliding plastic in the boom.”
Ash007 noted that laying of blocks started around 11:29 and at 15:45 only the first course was down. Norts72 took a photo at 4pm and said, “not even 2nd row completed”. (A couple of days later, GaryJitters stated, “: Looks like 5th course. The latest video released yesterday hints at completion for Sat if all going well. This build will be about proof of concept on a real building site, precision, quality of product, a world first demonstration to get right. I don't believe speed is a priority for build 1”
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Troopy1, true to form, left the comment, “This build is to be bought back by FBR. IMO, it will never receive a compliance certificate nor an occupancy certification and probably will be demolished and rebuilt in the near future. Just wait for the capital raise after completion.”
Hokey5771’s comments included: “its taken 15 years 65 million of capital to do what stack bricks in a straight line woop de do it's EXPECTED that this machine can do this as it's been KNOWN for years that i can do that going back to the caversham build the days of the old hx”
On July 9 there was concern and debate about whether or not there was overhang of blocks on the slab visible in some photos. Ankhenaten2’s photos suggested this wasn’t the case. Madjamo stated, “I visited site yesterday afternoon and was stoked to see the hx in action. I didn’t see any overhang…” Rob808, another eye witness wrote, “But to be there and see it to the naked eye, an overhang of 1-1.5mm in some spots. Obviously within spec… There is no overhang, I was 1 metre away from that spot, Glue makes it look deceptive on photos and the corner of the slab wasn't square by about 10mm at 1 block.” NGNG perhaps put the issue to bed: “I asked Mark about overhang and he said yes there is but within the tolerances.” Nothing to worry about then. You get some slab shrinkage. In future, we should remember that shadowing in photos can be deceptive, showing overhangs or misalignments that turn out to be nothing of concern when inspected by those visiting the site in person.
NGNG also wrote, “I asked about how they cater for inconsistencies with the slab (eg. what happens if slab not square). Mark says they developed software to give to the concreters to make their job easier and give a better final delivered product.”
TSProfits said, “ Was there about 10.30 ish and was there for maybe half an hour. Unfortunately only got to see it lay a few bricks as they were running into some issues at the time (apparently the direction of the sun can affect the sensors).”
Then there was some talk about bricks being dropped. Ceddybu and SB182 suggested “dropping bricks" is Aussie slang for "laying bricks"? But Norts72 made claims that Hx was literally dropping bricks, freezing between brick lays, and taking up a lot of space. Dropping bricks on startup was explained as a software glitch that needs fixing. Hx carries on and any dropped bricks get put in manually.
In contrast, Noeliam wrote “Went and observed the Hadrian in action for about an hour - it really is a thing of beauty. It didn’t have any issues while I was there, was laying the blocks perfectly. Some videographers were setting up to do some drone shots. The security guards were actually super friendly and directed me to the best viewing location.”
Herewegoagain also encountered obliging staff, “…asked about overhead shots, so I was able to convince one of the on site staff to take some shot from ladder tower with my phone.”
Goodie wrote “I had a chat to a lovely bloke from fbr who gave my son a red ball and me a pin. There were two vans onsite, one for engineers to follow and correct mistakes/software issues, and one for fbr media. I was told neither would normally be there. There was a telehandler and a couple of employees flying a drone. The back of the Hadrian was open and you could watch the internal workings and see the brick storage. I stayed for about half an hour.
Goodie continued, “It was impressive to watch in action and long suffering shareholders deserve some relief. It didn’t really alleviate the concerns I have about the concept though. The main positive was that it was very quiet. The machine moved at a slow and steady pace and it is obviously technically impressive. The back of the Hadrian didn’t hold as many bricks as I thought it would and it will need regular reloading. It also takes up a large amount of space, although I was assured it could park closer to the build. But for most builds, in Australia anyway, it would need to be parked on the verge in front of the house. I personally think this will be a problem. For this build it is working from the empty block next to it, and looks to have been driven in from another block next to it (it is working from an empty corner position).”
Goodie’s son wasn’t the only one to receive pressies. Westie1973 gave the following account: “…At 8.30am Perth time the Hadrian was about to start building again. Mark and the gang were there and I have to say Mark was fantastic engaging with me - very giving in information, issues along the way, next steps etc. Many thanks Mark. Best of all we got one of the exclusive (!!) FBR pins and also some FBR branded stress balls (we could have done with these previously with FBR!)...
The build is seen as a proof of concept validation firstly and secondly a gateway to showcase the product on a global scale and attract clients, investments etc. Nothing new I know but it confirms where in the path to revenue they see this step…
Overall though what I took away from Mark was an enormous sense of pride that 15 years of work was coming together. Clearly the core FBR guys see this as their baby and clearly were pleased with this step and what is to come.”
On July 10, Madjamo wrote, “I just left site, channel 9 news was interviewing Mike. I was there for 40 minutes and the hx didn’t skip a beat. When Madjamo left, they were on the seventh course.
The news item ended up being disappointing. Lastdollar23 said, “Bit of a nothing piece really. Basically saying bricklayers aren't going anywhere, no mention of using adhesive so will get so many "wHaT aBoUt ThE MoRtAr??" questions. Bide agreed, “yeah, bit annoying angle they went with. instead of promoting a Perth based company to the world.” Mooodys thought it “was a shit piece they didn't want to promote a machine that threatens jobs in this covid environment IMO.” Gary Jitters thought, “To much focus on how FBR won't take work away from brickies and very little focus on the significance of a complete game changer created in our own back yard.” Woodmaster concurred: “I knew it would be all about the brickies not loosing their jobs and bugger all about the tech, same as last time.” Mr Lamby considered “It was a much better story than last time Channel 9 did a clip, last time they focused on people losing their jobs, this time around there was at least some good points about the tech and the fact that there will always be room and work around for Bricklayers.”
Apart from the media being there, HWGA noted, “BGC , Dale Alcock, Smart homes ,Structere, and many more builders or supervisors doing drive by’s !” Broadviewhorizons also mentioned seeing a Dale Alcock rep keeping a close eye on the build: “He literately just stood there and had Dale Alcock shirt on and it was obvious that he was there for no other business but to look at what FBR up to.”
On 11/07/20, Big ev wrote what many of us were thinking, “I'd like to know if anyone obtained info on where it got to last night, and how close it is this morning? Obligatory pictures should go along with such info, i would have thought.”
Noeliam was one who took pictures and gave an update: “Just left the site, watched the Hadrian in action for an hour - they are on the 11th course. Mark said that they’ll finish soon and have the afternoon off. He said that the Hadrian has been laying like a dream for the past 2 days, there were a couple of issues on Wednesday and Thursday but they’ve all been ironed out.
Hoolio posted a video of a watershed moment: “Here we go for all the FBR faithful: Last brick for FBR’s first build .”
RussellBO1 said, “ Went and checked it out and chatted to Mark. His smile is from ear to ear” Then at 16:46pm posted “Finito Crane tucking away. finished about 1.00. Seanl noted that 3.5 days was not too bad. A new video announced the completion.
As they were packing up the Hadrian X to go home, NGNG took photos and “I asked about waterproofing (re queries from Adent and Troopy). It is addressed and both Mark and Mike said not an issue. They way I understood the explanation is that the walls we see (ie. Hadrian built walls) are on a raised slab. The face brick (to be laid by bricklayers) sits on the lower slab (if that is how you describe it). So water won't get in as the slab is raised.
Overall really pleased and you could see the joy on the faces of all on site. Even the security staff were very accommodating and friendly.
I think everyone that has been to site to witness the Hadrian X in operation has been impressed. As a side line I brought one of my work colleagues to site the other day (he was a paving contractor as a young fella) and he had a go at me because I understated the description to the reality he saw.”
Let’s give the final word to Sango, who was an actual bonafide brickie: “I was a bricklayer, wrapped it up last year. Due to the wear n tear on my body and lack of quality trades.
I am unsure of the amount of blocks in this build, but in saying that a crew of 5 would have this close to complete in the same time. In a perfect world.
Giving your workers rock up.
Any rain or wet blocks can’t be laid
Quality would not be to these standards.
The job site would have been a mess.
The concrete slab would have some damage to it from dropping material and stains from the mortar.
I have been following FBR on this build. The quality of the laying is above the average standard you get from a crew.
(20min delay)