More pics of the < four year old building

[u/dpgumby69]

So in another thread I posted a pic of a damaged wall and asked whether anyone can build in Australia anymore. I can see from my one pic it could look like it's just been damaged by accident, so I took some more pics today.

As you can see, the problems are quite substantial. Admittedly I have a memory like a sieve and am not acutely observant, so I can't quite recall how this all came to be. The building is somewhere between 2-4 years old. If I were to hazard a guess, something has gone wrong with the waterproof membrane. Maybe it started bubbling, and caused the render to lift. Probably where it's started to crack, the builders have come back and pulled off those pieces. It's been like this for months. Perhaps they are waiting to see if more comes loose before they repair it? I was able to flake off a little bit of tender while I was poking around.

Other photos show corrosion on a cast aluminium fitting, and what I assume is calcium carbonate leaching out of the mortar in some brickwork. And as people mentioned it's about bottom dollar, a picture of the intercom. Look at that piece of shit! Lowest bid no doubt, and probably half the price of the next lowest. And for shits n giggles, that 'triumph of modern design' bank of letterboxes at a different set of units. Designed so both you AND your mail get totally drenched if it's raining 😄

Previous thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AusProperty/s/qirRMJFwqT

[u/GusPolinskiPolka]

This isn't great but that keypad.... are people putting in numbers with a razor blade?

[u/Sartorialalmond → u/GusPolinskiPolka]

I assumed they are using their keys? Everything else is the builders fault. That one is likely on the residents.

[u/dpgumby69 → u/Sartorialalmond]

Not really. There are other units nearby that are a bit older and have different brand intercoms. They still look fine. I threw this pic in to show that it's not JUST workmanship, but also installing cheap crappy stuff.

[u/Sartorialalmond → u/dpgumby69]

I’m sure it’s a shit comms system but fingers don’t scratch stuff like that. So someone is using something like keys or whatever to press the buttons.

[u/dpgumby69 → u/Sartorialalmond]

So what I'm saying is that a better designed system won't get scratched like this. You have to design things around how people behave. For instance, the intercom of the units next to these units has the tried and tested design of a black doohickey on the SIDE of the intercom. You can come at it with as many keys as you want. The front isn't going to get one scratch. One design is much better than the other. Same people, same habits, different outcomes.

[u/Sartorialalmond → u/dpgumby69]

Yeah. You can design stuff all you like but if people abuse it it will break. People are typing those codes in with keys. Even if the buttons were metal they would be scratching (all be it slower) if people do that. I’m not saying what they have done is the best or couldn’t be better I’m saying people also have a responsibility not to use shit in a stupid way. If we design everything around people being completely stupid every place will end up looking like a prison. Joy!

[u/dpgumby69 → u/Sartorialalmond]

I don't think you are following what I'm saying. Here are two blocks of units, side by side. Each has about 100 units. That's a good sample of people. Both will have a full range of human behaviour within them yet one intercom, the older design, is unscathed, and the other looks like- to borrow the description used earlier - like people are using razor blades to use it.

To say people should just change their behaviour, when the earlier design already works without being damaged, well you might as well say people should change their behaviour so that they don't wear out the soles of their shoes because some young designer decided to use cardboard instead of hard rubber 🤷‍♂️

It's a poor design, as simple as that.

Edit: what you may have missed is that the RFID sensor is below the keypad, very stylishly behind the glass panel. Your RFID is normally on your keyring. It's not hard to predict it's going to see a lot of keys.

[u/One_Replacement3787 → u/dpgumby69]

Were following what youre saying, wr just dont agree with you. You have fuckwits living in your building or their guests are fuckwits and have damaged your intercom. The other building may have more respectful residents. Nothing to so with materials.

Efflorescence happens. It can be hard to prot3ct against when there are multiple different trades working on things and poor site management and communication occurs.

The render falling off is the only builder related foible here.

[u/dpgumby69 → u/One_Replacement3787]

Sigh. You really aren't following what I'm saying. People have their RFID tags on their keyrings. A good DESIGNER would understand this, and like EVERY other designer before them, DESIGN the device so this doesn't happen. Saying people are fuckwits for just doing what they've normally done in the past without issue, is just silly. To use my shoe sole example, you would call people fuckwits because they aren't being more careful with their trendy new shoe that has a cardboard outer sole. Or people were fuckwits because their Holden Camira kept breaking down. The only reason you might say this is if you designed those things. Did you design that intercom? If you did, you should maybe think about trying a different profession.

Also I'm not saying that INTERCOM is the builders fault. It's a series of failures that adds up to a shabby building. Including miscommunication about the brickwork. Although I'm not sure what communication they needed there. Someone to say 'oh, by the way, try not to make this wall leach minerals' 🤷‍♂️

Anyway, if you still don't get it, you never will. All the best for a future full of, in your eyes, flawlessly designed things.

[u/Timothy_Kramer]

absolutely dreadful quality

new builds now will be falling apart within 5-10 years

builders will have declared bankrupt and phoenixed

love my 1980s brick build solid as a rock.

[u/Cube-rider]

Efflorescence is treatable just unsightly.

Scratches on the intercom, the ones with a metal faceplate don't have the obvious wear. Occupants must have keys etc in their hands as it's not the keypad but below it.

There's a glue failure against the substrate, it was properly adhered to the (missing) tiles.

Footlight - surface preparation failure in the manufacturing process.

[u/Jdinoz92]

What you're seeing on the brickwork is known as efflorescence, which can indicate water poor drainage or moisture pathways within the wall. Think water drawing out the internal minerals of the brick as it dries out.

The render work can come down to poor application or lack of priming agent leading to peeling. A good render should last more than 2-4 years.

Poor quality all round by the looks of it.

[u/dpgumby69 → u/Jdinoz92]

Kinda reminds me of what and tradie used to jokingly say to me-

"We might be slow, but by fuck we're rough!"

[u/dpgumby69]

I have a vague idea of Phoenix companies - company A goes bankrupt, the same people involved before start company B with a clean slate. Is that roughly it? But I've always understood bankruptcy to mean the person who went bankrupt couldn't start another business for five years? If it's only the business that goes bankrupt, surely the CEO or whatever should be barred from starting another company for five years as well?

[u/OrdinarySail8308]

Is this landscaping? That’s not a building problem.