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Posted on 03/05/2026 4:52:04 AM PST by grundle
A first-of-its-kind neighborhood is taking shape in Yuba County. California's first 3D-printed community is being built in Linda.
The first home is already for sale and the second and third homes are being printed right now.
"Five 3D-printed homes are going to be here," said Nan Lin, founder of 4Dify.
The new neighborhood in Linda is being built one layer at a time with the latest in 3D printing technology from the company 4Dify.
The 1000-square-foot home for sale was printed from the dirt up within 24 days. It's made up of mostly concrete.
"We've done ballistic testing on these, shot at it with 9mm, 45, 556, machine guns. These are bulletproof walls," said Lin.
As the crew is getting the hang of things, they anticipate the next homes to be printed within just 10 days. Lin said printed homes are stronger and more efficient than regular homes.
"Because of how thick the walls are and the energy transfers between a concrete wall to a wood wall, the energy efficiency is extremely high. So you're looking at half the energy bill and half the insurance costs," said Lin.
Lin comes from Sacramento but has hit too much red tape to start construction there yet, but it's on the horizon.
"I have a lot of good things to say about Yuba County. I didn't know they were going to be so welcoming and also they're also very innovation driven," he said, "we're looking to keep one machine here in Yuba County. We want to build more of these houses and more of these communities. However, we are expanding to Sacramento, Bay Area, SoCal."
He says 3D printing increases productivity. The same five-person crew is able to print 10 to 12 homes per year, saving two months of construction time on each home compared to the traditional way.
"The issue I saw with construction is that the cost of employment and materials were all uncontrollable, always going up and there's so many different variables that constantly change," said Lin. "So 3D printing made a lot of sense because we get to control variables."
It also helps to keep the cost down, with the first home priced at $375,000.
"We started construction on the second and third houses last week. The second house is about halfway up and the third, we're just starting the foundation process," said Lin.
Lin anticipates the entire community to be finished in June.
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But the zoning laws in many other California cities will never allow this to happen.
how much of the 375k is in the land vs. the house?
No pic or film on how it’s done. Gotta be cheaper than regular construction so the price has gotta be market-based.
Patiently waiting to see how Waymo gets integrated.
My walls are solid concrete poured on forms. Solid concrete for two stories. It does seem efficient as far as energy use for heating and cooling.
Yuba County, CA voted 61% for Donald Trump in the election.
The house itself would be cheap.
You must have good insulation.
Cement homes are just a form of mud housing.
Adobe homes have been around for a few years, so concrete sounds fine.
Not to mention best protection from nuclear bomb radiation. Concrete will stop it much better than wood.
375 dollars a square foot is not keeping the prices down. The lie that technology will lower prices and makes us more efficient continues forward. Case and point look at cars. 20 years ago a one-ton diesel pick-up cost about $20K, today that same truck goes for between $75 to $100K plus. They don’t pull more than the older trucks and the increase in fuel efficiency is minimal. Don’t get started on sending one to the shop to replace a sensor doodad that probably costs $10 to make but you pay $400 and they want to keep your truck for 3 days waiting for the part to come in and then spend the 10 minutes it took to put it on.
Combines that farmers buy cost around $800K a pop. Yeah, technology has kept prices down.
And yes, I have had 4 such trucks over the last 20, the best one was the 1995 dually I drove 367,000 miles with no breakdowns until I replaced it. No frills but she was a workhorse and never left me afoot.
Is there a warranty?
Most of the world uses concrete or steel for homes. People from other countries call American homes “paper houses” or “stick houses”.
The form material on the outside and inside looks like a white brick-like material that is several inches thick and then the poured concrete is 8 inches thick. The white material is softer than brick and is supposed to have insulating properties. Overall the walls are 12 inches thick. My house is much more than 1,000 sq ft, but the price per sq ft is much less than those houses. I think my house is about $180 per sq ft.
This isn’t about reducing prices.
It’s about goosing margins.
Having attempted to review modular homes in the past, there are more than a few caveats to consider, such as:
1. As another commentator raised, the price of land should be considered.
2. The baseline utility structure, e.g., sewage, water, and electrical.
3. A garage or car port.
4. Windows, casements, doors, etc.
5. Kitchen and appliance considerations.
6. Showers and/or tubs
These are just some of the basic considerations and possibly some are already in the basic architecture. These additional thoughts might
toss in $50,000 to $100,000 or more.
BINGO.
Nobody builds houses out of altruism.
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