Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms • Hacker News Board

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#31

Post by ewzimm » Fri, Oct 07, 2022, 5:56 AM UTC

monkeywork wrote: post #25

ewzimm wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Concrete construction without rebar is more durable and worth bringing back. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_concrete

Isn't there a massive difference in wall thickness between what the Romans did and what we do today?

Modern uses of Roman concrete go beyond what the Romans did. We can create completely different types of structures using the same principles. Here's an example of recent developments in research:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/01/210113090920.h...

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#32

Post by byw » Fri, Oct 07, 2022, 5:56 AM UTC

Animats wrote: post #16

There 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.…

I remember coming across a video of a product from Europe where the entire wall assembly is sold as one piece (outer wall, insulation, inner wall). I'm not sure if this type of product is common in Europe.

If you then have wire conduits and junction boxes built-in, you are a lot closer to a livable home. Perhaps floor assemblies with hookups for plumbing.

I'm not sure why these things aren't standardized to be the point of plug-n-play. A lot less work for the tradespeople maybe.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#33

Post by tomthe » Fri, Oct 07, 2022, 6:15 AM UTC

Here are two more pictures: https://newatlas.com/good-thinking/ifff-construction-inflata...

But without reinforcement, this is only a toy. But I find it interesting nonetheless.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#34

Post by jahnu » Fri, Oct 07, 2022, 6:31 AM UTC

byw wrote: post #32

Animats wrote: post #16

There 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.…

I remember coming across a video of a product from Europe where the entire wall assembly is sold as one piece (outer wall, insulation, inner wall). I'm not sure if this type of product is common in Europe. If you then have wire conduits and junction boxes built-in, you are a lot closer to a livable home. Perhaps floor assemblies with hookups for plumbing. I'm not sure why these things aren't standardized to be the po…

Very popular here in Austria. And they are mostly very good quality. I have friends who built one of these "Fertighäuser" (prefab houses) and even though cheaper than a custom build they are really impressive. The walls are delivered just as you describe.

https://www.liebfertighaus.at/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Ado...

https://www.google.com/search?q=fertighaus+teile&tbm=isch

There are some efforts now being made to reduce the amount of concrete and build with more sustainable wood.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#35

Post by dieselgate » Fri, Oct 07, 2022, 6:32 AM UTC

atty wrote: post #28

It seems like a ton of these prefab projects show up on HN, but does anyone know of any that produce houses/structures that actually… look nice? It seems like everything I’ve seen on here have all the aesthetics of a shipping container. (Or, to be more on the nose, a concrete box).

That's a good point, hopefully this inflatable form method could yield structures that "look good" (whatever that means) but seems they'd need to get good at quickly producing/customizing the inflatable forms into ones that "look good". Maybe they could steel reinforce it too?

edit: point being - it seems easy to pump concrete into a form, but the problem is making forms - at scale - that look/function a certain way, and in this case are made from an inflatable.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#36

Post by themmes » Fri, Oct 07, 2022, 6:35 AM UTC

This reminds me of an emergency shelter I saw on Natgeo years ago [1].

Difference is that they produced a canvas containing everything needed for the concrete, only requires to add water and blow it up.

[1] https://youtu.be/Vb1pdvvoVoQ

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#37

Post by totetsu » Fri, Oct 07, 2022, 6:37 AM UTC

I'm excited for when we can grow houses like House Telvanni had in Morrowind from giant genetically engineered mushrooms.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#38

Post by raisin_churn » Fri, Oct 07, 2022, 6:37 AM UTC

In what way is concrete a sustainable building material? It's a huge carbon emitter, a poor insulator, concrete production is devastating to natural habitats turned into sand quarries, etc. Plant-based construction materials, e.g. hemp, seem to be vastly superior on every ecological consideration.

Plus, an unreinforced concrete dome has to be one of the inherently least population dense structures, and density potential is probably as important a consideration in sustainability as actual construction techniques.

Edit: not necessarily a dome, but also not able to safely scale the structure very high with this technique without losing the only purported advantage, the low labor cost.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#39

Post by tapland » Fri, Oct 07, 2022, 6:41 AM UTC

jjeaff wrote: post #26

reneherse wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Dangers of pthalates notwithstanding, you do actually want an airtight home. Ventilation should be controlled and filtered with the HVAC system.

Now, I'm from a place where HVAC is rare, and thus this sounds like a mold disaster waiting to happen. But is that actually best practice where HVAC is common?

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#40

Post by jeffrallen » Fri, Oct 07, 2022, 6:44 AM UTC

jahnu wrote: post #34

byw wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember coming across a video of a product from Europe where the entire wall assembly is sold as one piece (outer wall, insulation, inner wall). I'm not sure if this type of product is common in Europe. If you then have wire conduits and junction boxes built-in, you are a lot closer to a livable home. Perhaps floor assemblies with hookups for plumbing. I'm not sure why these things aren't standardized to be the po…

Very popular here in Austria. And they are mostly very good quality. I have friends who built one of these "Fertighäuser" (prefab houses) and even though cheaper than a custom build they are really impressive. The walls are delivered just as you describe. https://www.liebfertighaus.at/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Ado... https://www.google.com/search?q=fertighaus+teile&tbm=isch There are some efforts now being made to r…

Good quality prefab panels from eastern Europe installed by incompetent foreign companies with no incentive to stand behind their work result in occasional sob stories here in Switzerland.

You get what you pay for.