World's largest neighborhood of 3D-printed homes to break ground in Texas

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/w...ak-ground-in-texas/ar-AAQiIkC?ocid=uxbndlbing

A new property development in Austin, Texas, is set to become the world's largest community of 3D-printed homes.

Scheduled to break ground next year, the project will feature 100 single-story houses "printed" on-site using advanced robotic construction and a concrete-based building material.

Digital renderings of the neighborhood, unveiled last week, show rows of properties with their roofs covered in solar cells. The homes will each take approximately a week to build, according to firms behind the development.



https://www.thezebra.com/resources/home/3d-printed-homes/#:~:text=Cost: 3D-printed homes are surprisingly cheap to create,,projected goal of reducing builds down to $4,000.


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Angular stuff I'm sure they look good inside they might be earthquake proof.
I couldn't find a video linked to the article so I just searched 3-D printed house.
 
I’d do it in a heartbeat if they could manage something larger that 1900sq ft.
 
So, what is the supposed benefit of building homes like this?

Is it just that it takes less labor in a time when workers are difficult to come by?
 
I follow Kirsten Dirksen (Fair Companies) on Youtube, which covers a lot of alternative housing.

Here's one she covered on 3-D printed house.

OPs is interesting but I would be concerned about insulation in a concrete printed house (in all fairness did not watch the full video or other links).
 
Cinder Blocks are basically unreinforced and people been using those for decades.
I actually built a few houses don't ask me how they turned out was right after HS.
 
Yeah, true. You can stack stones with no mortar and make a house if you want to. I wouldn't want to have that either.
 
wonder if printing in layers somehow mitigates some of the issues of not having reinforcement. (didn't watch video so not sure if it doesn't have any)
 
Eh, I've seen this stuff before. Looks dumb. So what happens if I need to modify wiring/plumbing in the walls? Have to break out a concrete saw for every little thing? Is this aimed squarely at renters because as a homeowner, it looks like a nightmare.
 
wonder if printing in layers somehow mitigates some of the issues of not having reinforcement. (didn't watch video so not sure if it doesn't have any)
I dont know either. Fiberglass strands can be added to concrete for reinforcement, but I dont think it works as well as rebar.
I could see something the military using it when they need buildings in a hurry, or disaster relief... buildings that are not meant to be permanent. Dunno if the economics or logistics make sense.
 
So, what is the supposed benefit of building homes like this?

Is it just that it takes less labor in a time when workers are difficult to come by?
Most probably labor costs, as when housing booms start up they tend to be limited by the available labor in the area, or they have to "truck in" labor from out of the area which gets even most costly, or worse they use substandard labor and you end up having to redo things (or more to the point hide the mistakes) which could cost money. I would also imagine that you also have some of the benefits of prefab housing here too since it's just following a design without any real need to think about what to do to make it work. Plus they said in the video they can print a home in 48 hours, which is nutso fast, even if it's just a shell that is unfinished and requires extra work.

dem layer lines.. what size nozzle are they using. 400mm? heh
Yeah I'm thinking smooth a huge layer of stucco on the outside to fill in those voids would go a great way to make it look a bit more "normal", but I guess that would simply add to the cost.

Eh, I've seen this stuff before. Looks dumb. So what happens if I need to modify wiring/plumbing in the walls? Have to break out a concrete saw for every little thing? Is this aimed squarely at renters because as a homeowner, it looks like a nightmare.
The walls all look hollow, so fishing wire or pipe through them shouldn't be too much of a trouble, plus the benefit of not having to drill through firestops in the wall which isn't horrible for wiring with special long bendy drill attachments, but for plumbing you're basically ripping out a bay of drywall to do it anyways. I think the roof/attic area is traditional too so there's access points from above to run everything from above, and sure the video showed a concrete floor everything was on, if this was a traditional house on a concrete pad as a floor you'd basically have the same issue. I wouldn't be surprised if the concrete is not quite as hard either, so while yeah you would need specialty tools to bust through that initial layer is it really that much of a pain? How often is the average homeowner going to be rewiring and replumbing their home, I mean people build log cabins FFS, and those have similar types of issues if you want to change anything.
 
I dont know either. Fiberglass strands can be added to concrete for reinforcement, but I dont think it works as well as rebar.
I could see something the military using it when they need buildings in a hurry, or disaster relief... buildings that are not meant to be permanent. Dunno if the economics or logistics make sense.
I've seen some of these 3d printed homes where a guy walks by the nozzle and occasionally throws down a hunk metal bar that goes across the wall cavity, so perhaps there is some level of "rebar" for stability, just not in the traditional way
 
but for plumbing you're basically ripping out a bay of drywall to do it anyways.
Taking out a chunk of plaster/drywall is much easier to both remove and repair.
and sure the video showed a concrete floor everything was on, if this was a traditional house on a concrete pad as a floor you'd basically have the same issue.
Don't houses usually at least have a crawlspace? The house I grew up in had one. Current one I own has a full basement.
so while yeah you would need specialty tools to bust through that initial layer is it really that much of a pain?
Have you cut through a 4" basement floor? Yes, it is much more of a pain to cut through concrete than normal flooring.
I mean people build log cabins FFS, and those have similar types of issues if you want to change anything.
Are they trying to build neighborhoods out of legit log cabins though? Usually you just see stuff with a log facade over a normal wall.
 
I don't know what the case is here, but I've seen other companies who 3d print houses elsewhere and they usually throw in some rebar inbetween the walls, and then the spray in insulation/foam between the walls.

Much better insulation and much studier.. in theory, I doubt there's been much long term study on this since it's pretty new stuff. Pretty cool stuff.
 
Eh, I've seen this stuff before. Looks dumb. So what happens if I need to modify wiring/plumbing in the walls? Have to break out a concrete saw for every little thing? Is this aimed squarely at renters because as a homeowner, it looks like a nightmare.

Yeah, I don't see a lot of room for changes, at least not easily, in what they're showing. That said, if they just 3-D printed the outside shell of a home and then you studded all the interior walls then you'd have a fairly fast build with excellent water proofing properties and then good ability to run wiring/plumbing and make changes later. I see lots of potential, though, which is a good thing.
 
That said, if they just 3-D printed the outside shell of a home and then you studded all the interior walls then you'd have a fairly fast build
Honestly, I thought that's what they were doing. Then I saw the interior pics and was like oh no....it's solid concrete inside too.
 
I follow Kirsten Dirksen (Fair Companies) on Youtube, which covers a lot of alternative housing.

Here's one she covered on 3-D printed house.

OPs is interesting but I would be concerned about insulation in a concrete printed house (in all fairness did not watch the full video or oth

at 4:58, Vinay is monitoring and looks to be reading a book, which he quickly puts away and turns from the camera...
 
Where I live (Texas), everything is built on a slab.
Lots of houses in Louisiana are, too, even where it doesn't make sense. People build a huge house where a field crop used to be, barely build it up, and wonder why it floods...
 
Lots of houses in Louisiana are, too, even where it doesn't make sense. People build a huge house where a field crop used to be, barely build it up, and wonder why it floods...
Doesn't help that most of southern Louisiana is below sea level. Never understood why people build cities in flood plains, then act surprised when it floods.
 
Don't houses usually at least have a crawlspace? The house I grew up in had one. Current one I own has a full basement.

It is really geographically dependent. Here in the northeast just about every house I have ever seen has a full basement. A minority have crawl spaces.

Interior floors are all wood, usually covered in finished hardwood. Other flooring like permanently installed carpeting or tile are somewhat rare here.

In the southwest I understand concrete slab and carpeting is a lot more common.
 
Amazing. I just assumed houses would at least have a crawlspace. Well learn something new at least.
 
Basements are necessary where the frost line is deep, totally impractical where the water table is close to the surface

In places where you have both , dont build
 
at 4:58, Vinay is monitoring and looks to be reading a book, which he quickly puts away and turns from the camera...
And? Referencing written material is pretty standard when operating machinery, especially new machinery.
 
Taking out a chunk of plaster/drywall is much easier to both remove and repair.
Easier than just dropping a pipe down a hollow wall? Sure the other ends probably will involve more effort, but getting a pipe or wires down a wall is significantly easier in this case.
Don't houses usually at least have a crawlspace? The house I grew up in had one. Current one I own has a full basement.
Zarathustra pretty much answers this
Have you cut through a 4" basement floor? Yes, it is much more of a pain to cut through concrete than normal flooring.
I was talking the the walls for any outlets or piping bends. Many people if they want to run new plumbing their pipes may run through the basement foundation causing them to break up the concrete along the drain lines, so it very well could be similar.
But again, in building a "modern" home how much plumbing and electrical work needs to be done? I mean sure I've done that shit but I live in a 70 year old home. If I bought a house bought today, I'm going to hope to high heaven there are sufficient plugs, and the water fixtures are where I need are, and really unless you are a DIY homeowner (which the vast majority of people are not) the cost of a pro to build a new bathroom or whatever will far outweigh the cost of poking a hole in a quasi-concrete wall.
 
And? Referencing written material is pretty standard when operating machinery, especially new machinery.
I don't know. the way he slyly put it away when his name was called, was kinda shady. Looked like he was reading for class or something and got busted.
 
Just a newer spin on "manufactured housing" ... although much more durable..

The houses in the video are about the size and layout of early 50's houses after WW2... small rooms.. Many of us would like open and "airy".

Leaving the outside "ribbed" will be a mold trap... so if you leave it like that, be sure and invest in a good power washer and plan on cleaning your house every year in the Spring.

I am sure the walls can be injected with Spray foam, so that would be good.
 
Many of us would like open and "airy".
Here's the thing, these are being built like this specifically because there is a shortage of housing, some of which is price related but also due to inability to actually build homes. Translation: What "many of us would like" is of secondary concern. I wouldn't live in that shit either if given any other chance, but there are plenty who would be more than happy to just because it's something that is available and/or they can afford.

I get it, we're used to what we grew up with, but most housing developments in areas that have either skyrocketing housing costs (i.e. this one in the video) and/or a huge demand for housing (i.e. need to be built quick, and also this area in the video) you're not going to get a "traditional" home, you're going to get what they can make fast, heck if they even did do traditional housing would surprise me if they had similar footprint duplex style homes with tiny backyards because it's what can be done cheap. You want your custom house? Then you'll need to get the land and build it yourself.
 
We don’t have crawl spaces in Texas because we don’t provide housing for spiders. They arent welcomed here.

just kidding, my sisters house on Galveston island has a crawl space….for flooding purposes, and many peoples pipes got wrecked during the massive freeze that happened earlier this year. Galveston got snow and couple days of sub zero.

As it turns out, houses are built differently all over the world. It’s pretty cool really.
 
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