Posted on 03/15/2018 8:24:05 AM PDT by bgill
Austin could soon be home to 3D printed houses, if one company showing its model at South By Southwest is able to work with the city to get approval. The home at SXSW is the first permitted 3D printed house in the country. The Austin-based startup ICON plans to print 100 homes in El Salvador next year, and wants the creations to be part of the solution for communities with major housing needs, according to Alex Le Roux, ICON CEO and one of the co-founders... It currently costs about $10,000 to print a 650-square-foot single story house using cement. The process takes between 12 and 24 hours, according to one of ICON's founders, Jason Ballard... In the future, the company hopes to reduce the costs of building to closer to $4,000 per house.
(Excerpt) Read more at kxan.com ...
Does the company accept EBT cards?
And just to be clear, regarding the “between wives” comment there is not equivalence. I was dumped by a woman who never really wanted to be married, after 20 years, and am now in marital bliss, going on 20 years, with the woman of my dreams. i.e. there is not equivalence. :)
I like it, the technology to pump concrete to form solid basement walls is well proven. Would like to see more video of the process and less of the yakkers however.
>>It’s a start. 650 sq ft? Too small. Why not extend the techniques and make a normal size home?<<
That is a mansion in Manhattan or West L.A.
I’m thinking my hurricane proof backyard workshop/mancave. 4 walls, open kitchen and a bathroom.
I hadn’t thought of it before, but can the days of 120VAC (in the US) wiring come to an end in the not-so-near future? After all, lighting and electronics already runs from low-voltage DC which is safer, easily distributed, and easily protected against overcurrent or faults. Perhaps we’ll end up with one or a few AC points in each room, with a small high-efficiency power converter providing low voltage DC to the point of use. Clearly kitchen appliances, heating devices, would be a different case, but modern devices in the typical bathroom, bedroom, or living space convert AC to DC inside each device anyhow and cheap power conversion electronics is truly one of the wonders of the modern era.
They aren’t building these homes for Manhattan or LA.
ICON plans to print 100 homes in El Salvador next year
I have $100 that says they and their equipment will NOT make it back after they build these homes for MS13
This is fascinating. Thanks for sharing.
“I wonder what a concrete block house would cost compared to this one?”
In El Salvador, where they are planning on building these, probably less. It is a function of the labor cost. In fact I would think in a lot of places around the world, you could pour a 650 square foot slab, put up cider block walls, windows, doors, plumbing & roof for less.
The problem in many other countries is you can not get a mortgage to pay for a house over 15-30 years. There is no Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac to back up the banks and credit unions. That is why when you go to the Caribbean islands you see houses that are in the process of being built for ten+ years.
I understand the need for well-made, inexpensive housing. I just don’t think this is going to be a good solution.
“I think the biggest drawback is the plumbing and wiring- how do you handle that unless everything is surface mounted.”
Well, the walls have hollow spaces in them. I imagine they just stick some access boxes in the concrete before it dries to allow them to run pipes and wires around through the walls.
go away I’m batin
Small house = smaller cost.
Ten grand or less. isn’t half bad for a ‘starter’ home. Looking at Tiny Houses/w or without wheels and the cost would be much greater. The company could probably work with you in printing a home to meet your needs, along with those of the family. At a greater expense, of course.
I think it has something to do with where you put it.
We moved from Seattle to rural KY about seven years ago. My wife was looking at plans for new homes and they allowed you to punch in your zip code and they would then give you a price.
With our current zip code, the design she liked priced at just under $100,000. She then punched in our old Seattle area zip code and it priced at over $300,000.
And in neither case did it include the land. FWIW, I purchased my neighbor’s 20 acre knob with two streams and gorgeous view for $2,000 an acre. Our old Seattle area address would have cost a bit more, even for a 5,000 sq ft postage stamp lot.
I’m slapping up a 15x9 sheet metal building for my zero-turn and garden tools for $400. Sure, I’m doing it myself but it’s fun and easy. Gravel floor at first
And no permits. I’ve already built a 16x8 shed and an 8x8 chicken coup and will hopefully get my 36x36 garage done this summer. That one is $17k including concrete slab.
I know of people who build a garage in Appalachia ( NY/Pa.),
put in a basement, and then chose to live in it.
Somehow they beat the zoning code for plumbing
and never got around to building the 'main house'.
Construction costs vary from region to region. Here in southern NH a drilled well starts around $6K, a 3 bedroom septic = $12K+. Poured concrete floor runs $8/square foot.
Excavator operators charge $150/hour. These all change depending whether you are in rural KY, Long Island, NY or Bozeman, MT. Generally the more rural, the cheaper. The local market will only bear so much.
Heh. There is plenty of that where I live. I confess that if my wife wasn’t against it I’d love to build a barndo.
https://www.google.com/search?q=barndo
Fact is, there are a lot of those around here and they can be downright palatial on the inside and quite attractive on the outside, as long as you don’t mind sheet metal siding and a slab floor. Check out the photos for yourself.
I don’t know, sheet metal has a certain look to it that I’m not sure I like that much.
This house is decent in appearance.
While a do not have a particular need for a big house, a lot of land is ideal. 32 acres of land in Kentucky basically sounds like paradise.
Designed to build inexpesively,..and live in,
cheap materials on the outside, palatial on the inside,
and beat the local 'tax assessor'.
Living on the cheap !
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