Andrew Dillon

Thanks! Here are my responses:

I signed up to better understand how much work was required to build a house "from scratch". I'm pretty handy and I've done a lot of DIY renovation work on my house, but I didn't really know how to approach building an entire house from the ground up. I wanted to learn how to lay the foundation, frame the walls, build the roof, run water and sewer lines, install doors and windows, install solar panels, build kitchen cabinetry, install kitchen appliances, install a mini-split heat pump, and install siding. I was also excited to build the thermal battery.

Building a house is attractive to me because, according to Marcin's numbers ($60k in materials) it's much more affordable than buying a house. It's really the only way I could own a house without a mortgage in the near future. If it works, it's something my family members would be interested in too. The amount of money we would save and wealth we would create by building our own houses is immense. This would be an extremely effective way to protest and help fix the broken system we live in.

I accomplished 58% (7/12) of my learning objectives.

I learned how to lay the foundation, frame the walls, build the roof, run water and sewer lines, install doors and windows, and install a mini-split heat pump.

I did not learn how to build kitchen cabinetry, install kitchen appliances, install solar panels, install siding, or build a thermal battery.

I would like future FBCC courses to cover building kitchen cabinetry, installing kitchen appliances, installing solar panels, installing siding, and building a thermal battery. I was particularly disappointed that we did not cover the thermal battery in this FBCC.

I would also like an evening session devoted to pre-build steps such as: finding suitable land, working with the city building dept and inspectors, code compliance, tasks that may legally have to be done by licensed tradesmen, etc...

My participation level was 100%. I attended and participated in all the build time and class time.

I think better project management and more clear instructions would improve participation. It should be clear within the first 30mins of the morning session: (1) what will be built that day, (2) who is working on which project, and (3) who is leading each project.

I appreciate the freedom and ability to self direct one's own work, but that must be balanced with clear structure and direction. If not, people will simply throw their hands in the air and give up. At times it felt like we, the students, had to corral the teacher in order to keep the project on track.

Better planning and logistics is also important. We frequently had equipment and material shortages. This could have easily been avoided if just a single person was responsible for tracking progress and setting up materials needed for the next day.

We also wasted a lot of human labor due to poor organization. People were not efficiently allocated to or made aware of work that needed to be done. A lot of time was spent standing around and wondering what to do next. We should have had foremen/leaders on site and waiting to answer questions at all times.

I spent approx 12 hours preparing.

(1) How to frame a house. (2) How to install doors and windows. (3) How to install a mini-split heat pump. (4) How to deal with imperfect lumber (warps/bows).

I'd prefer buffet/catered food. I really enjoyed the grilled meats. I would have liked more organic/local foods, but I understand that's difficult to provide and I was happy to have freshly cooked meat available. I would not want to spend a lot of time self serving or preparing my own food. I came to learn and build a house, not to prepare food (I appreciate that others spent the time to do this for me).

My favorite thing was building a code compliant house in just two weeks to near completion! I now have the confidence and experience to do it myself.

Second to that: I met a ton of incredible people that I hope to stay in touch with. It was inspiring to meet so many like minded souls actually doing something real to improve the world, not just complain and talk about it.

I would absolutely recommend FBCC to others! In fact, I already have. Even with all the rough edges this time around, it was still an incredibly valuable experience. I can only imagine the impact it'll have when it's refined and running smoothly.

The most important improvement you can make to the program is better project management and more clear instructions.

I think you asked all the important questions.

Marcin is a great visionary and leader. He's pouring his soul into helping the world. He inspired me and I'm so happy he's taken the initiative to make these workshops happen.

He needs an assistant: a project manager (maybe an FBCC alumni volunteer?) to watch him, keep him on task, and tackle the important logistics that Marcin just doesn't have the bandwidth for. That alone would hugely improve the experience for FBCC attendees. Jeremy partially filled this role, but I don't think it was his sole focus.

3.5 stars