3D-Printed Home Can Be Constructed For Under $4,000
Why Hacker News recommends it
Cited as a concrete example that 3D-printed houses already exist and are cheap.
What it is
A short Insider Tech video on New Story and ICON building 3D-printed homes that can go up in under 24 hours for around $4,000. It frames the effort as a way to address global homelessness.
Recommended by 0 HN commenters across 0 different months, 2018 to 2019.
What Hacker News said
Cites PhasmaFelis · 2018-07 · on “Evolving Floorplans”
These guys are building small houses with a thing that prints in layers just like a home 3D printer, using mortar instead of plastic. [this video] It looks like there's manually placed metal mesh for reinforcement. Dunno what the quality's like, but it's there. It does seem like it would be tricky to scale to structures larger than the practical footprint of their printer, but maybe the thing could be mounted on wheels.
Cites nostrademons · 2019-04 · on “College Kids Are Living Like Kings in Vancouver’s Empty Mansions”
Already have: [this video] (The workmanship isn't as good as a conventional contractor, but you can't beat the price, and they're being aimed at people who would otherwise be homeless or living in shantytowns.)
Cites wahern · 2019-12 · on “New Story's first 3D-printed houses are now complete”
FWIW, they show the mesh in the first few seconds of this video: [this video] Personally I think they should emphasize the manual labor requirements. One of the strongest criticisms of 3D-printed and prefab housing technology is that it reduces demand for low-skilled labor. For the past 80 years home construction has been a major pillar of the American labor economy; likewise for China and many other countries. Free or reduced cost housing is great, but to the extent it comes at the expense of a sustainable labor economy, then it's problematic.