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LoudTsu t1_j42l3go wrote

Surely this will make housing more affordable. Just kidding.

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Offgridiot t1_j42oqjq wrote

I was thinking it was going to be show casing houses built of recycled plastic. It’s ‘printing’ concrete? This should be posted in r/gimmicks

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mycleverusername t1_j42rpm3 wrote

Why would this be cheaper? From what I understand, they 3d print the walls, then you have to go back in and fur out and drywall all the interior walls so you can install insulation, plumbing and electrical.

So where's the savings? You are just replacing the exterior siding and finish, the rest of the house is the same as building it traditionally. Seems like this would be more expensive.

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RealDealHemp t1_j43dxzd wrote

Am I wrong for thinking two stories isn’t all that wild?

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paulhags t1_j43i9qf wrote

The coolest thing about this build is that larger aggregate sizes (up to 10mm) were used than typical 3DCP projects and they printed a structural beam on site.

This is the future of multifamily and commercial construction, it just needs time to mature and become accepted by building departments across the world.

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AlienPrimate t1_j43iahh wrote

An average house does not take a year to build. Assuming the video was talking about all levels, a 4000 sqft would take a 4 man crew about 3-5 weeks to go from foundation to siding and shingles. What the concrete frame of a house doesn't account for is the need for a cavity for utilities to go through. Someone still has to go through the interior and frame with wood to allow for plumbing, electrical, and hvac. A smaller simple house can be done even quicker. My brother's house with a main level of about 1700 sqft was started on a Monday and painted the following Saturday with driveway, patio, and sidewalk all poured.

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OozeNAahz t1_j43w39f wrote

Housing costs are through the roof right now. So more affordable housing is very desirable. And lower prices because of cheaper manufacturing is usually an outcome you see with these sort of changes.

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Ok-disaster2022 t1_j43x215 wrote

Well it's concrete walled construction. If it sells for the same price per square foot as stick framing it's something of a bargain. Concrete can be better insulated and structurally stronger, though it comes down to methods and builders. The downside is concrete will reduce EM penetration and reduce the range of cell and wifi reception. Proper planning would be needed to ameliorate the issue.

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Ok-disaster2022 t1_j43xo2x wrote

The Concrete isn't just siding, it's structural. So depending on the roof design the interior space can be entirely changeable with no interior structural walls. Also concrete is more resistant to wind damage. If you see a single home standing while all the neighbors are flattened, it's probably a concrete home or has other significant structural improvements.

My statement is a lot of ifs though. However single family homes aren't the optimal method for affordable housing or effective infrstructructual and city planning. Multifamily construction can be far more energy and resource efficient, if designed and implemented correctly.

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PCBytown t1_j44b3qy wrote

ICF can be put up and poured just as quick.

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OozeNAahz t1_j44pju5 wrote

Not always. You can get folks that realize they can leverage an advantage based on their efficiency to make a lot more by producing at a discount but at greater volume which tends to put a whole lot of pressure on their competition. Whole lot of ways those sort of economics can play out. And no reason that the model that has always occurred for housing stays the same with improved tech.

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Enderswolf t1_j44rver wrote

Just 3D print a cave and live in that.

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Maxamillion-X72 t1_j44v807 wrote

There are spaces within the concrete walls for insulation and utilities. They may not drywall the inside. Parge coat it and spray it with a concrete sealer, then either paint or install prefab panels, tiles, stone veneer, shiplap, etc.

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thebannanaman t1_j4529op wrote

It is neither. This thing is not building a house. Building a house is a many stepped process this is only replacing the framing step. There is still wiring, plumbing, finishing, glazing, and many other expensive specialty trades this thing is not capable of doing yet.

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wookiee_borg t1_j454nyr wrote

I thought there was a video out of China a few years ago of them 3D printing the concrete for a whole apartment building or hospital or something. Like they did a few floors, jacked up the printer, repeat.

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Hyalus33 t1_j4562uz wrote

I would love a poured house.

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HandsyBread t1_j4567a4 wrote

I have major doubts about it being faster. Concrete forms for a standard house can be set up in a few hours with a small crew of 5-10 people. And with a line of concrete trucks it can take a few hours to pour the walls, the forms are usually removed the following day, and the walls are useable immediately. From start to finish poured walls can take 1-2 days to set up and pour.

The article says it will take 330 hours to print this house, which is way more time then it would take to set up forms and pour concrete walls.

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PineappleLemur t1_j45in06 wrote

They're not affordable for other reasons.. construction materials price rise is a small part of it.

Demend is through the roof the building takes time.. people are willing to pay a lot more than it's "worth" and then there's corporations that will buy for renting and they do massive buys.

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JKBone85 t1_j45zhw8 wrote

Amazon could invest in this kind of technology and then get into the real estate game and absolutely crush with a model similar to Sears back in the 30’s.

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That_Storage_9614 t1_j4608l0 wrote

There using concrete not print why not just wall form it and be done in 3 weeks BUT NO the act like its the future Right ok

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adam_3654 t1_j46cga5 wrote

They have to get their bridging settings really dialed in before starting that print

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BakesAndPains t1_j46kk8q wrote

Yep! 3d printing goes layer by layer from the bottom up, and is of course subject to gravity. When printing “bridges” over empty space, it’s easy in small plastic prints to use supports because plastic filament is cheap, but these same bridges are much much much harder and more expensive to do with concrete.

This is a real breakthrough of 3D printed building usefulness. Houses will be closer to what humans expect and want from a domicile, and able to house twice as many people on the same acreage.

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JKBone85 t1_j46lxao wrote

I’d love a Sears kit home. If Amazon used the Sears sales model, where they are the finance company, and they could sell pourable 3D homes for say 50k, 80k, 100k tiers, they’d clean up, and actually provide affordable homes and more opportunity for home ownership.

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JTtornado t1_j46t1xq wrote

Obviously it's not going to be cheaper or easier than existing construction methods yet. But they have to build things to figure out ways of improving it. Also they only need a crew of 4 to 5 people on site while it's printing, so that is a benefit of this method.

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mycleverusername t1_j46wdz6 wrote

Yes, but what I'm saying is that per the building code, you need insulation. You also need electrical (but obviously that can be face-mounted). Perhaps some of the interior walls can be painted concrete, but the exterior walls will all have to be studded and drywalled (in most areas). Those studs can also be structural. So you are basically installing 2 structural walls instead of one.

All of the "savings" that these houses claim to have can easily be done with standard, current construction practices; you just need the lead time and planning to do it. Which is exactly why no one does it.

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JTtornado t1_j47vzlz wrote

Exactly. The robot will always be at work everyday, never fails a drug test, and doesn't complain about working long hours. I'm sure they're also working hard on increasing its precision and speed over time too.

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Schnort t1_j4olga5 wrote

You don’t need interior walls because the exterior walls aren’t strong enough.

You need interior walls because the joists aren’t stiff enough to support the ceiling and the exterior walls need something to keep them from bulging/falling outward as the weight of the roof transfers to them.

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