This seems awful. The inflatable form is not reusable.
It's reused immediately as a waterproofing membrane.
Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms
11–20 of 172 posts
Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well concrete is not waterproof (generally) so they are technically also using the form as waterproofing. It's pretty clever IMO but you'd need rebar at the very least for any structure worth building...
It seems like a high amount of complexity. Lots that can go wrong. I’ll take tyvek and wood :)
Concrete is also super bad for the environment. Wood is renewable and far easier to get locally.
Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms
#13Not quite the same, but made me think of https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binishell, which is also interesting.
Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms
#14This seems awful. The inflatable form is not reusable.
Even worse, it becomes the inside and outside vapor barrier for the entire house. An air tight home lined with phthalate-laden PVC? No thank you.
Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms
#15Is concrete actually a good building material for homes? It doesn't seem like it'd be insulating, and you're definitely not getting internal plumbing/wiring. And concrete is actively bad for the environment. It all feels like the shipping container home -- seems great at a glance, but doesn't really pan out to be lived in.
Ikea style flatpacked prefabs still seems like a vastly better option to me.
Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms
#16There have been many variations on building houses with prefab forms, going all the way back to Edison. Works fine, but the result is a concrete box. The shell is not the big cost item in homes.
If you want a small, low-cost box structure, there are companies that will sell you one. Concrete.[1] Metal.[2] Steel frame with wood siding.[3]
[1] https://precastbuildings.com
[2] https://www.butlermfg.com/
[3] https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rose-Cottage-2-Beds-443-3-sq-ft-...
Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms
#17Is concrete actually a good building material for homes? It doesn't seem like it'd be insulating, and you're definitely not getting internal plumbing/wiring. And concrete is actively bad for the environment. It all feels like the shipping container home -- seems great at a glance, but doesn't really pan out to be lived in. Ikea style flatpacked prefabs still seems like a vastly better option to me.
[deleted]
Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms
#18Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms
#19Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms
#20Sounds like someone watched too much Barbapapas as a kid:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/621986.Barbapapa_s_New_H...