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Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

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Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#101

Post by prottog »

yrgulation wrote: post #82

The most expensive bit in a building is the land it sits on. The denser the cluster of people the more expensive the land becomes. People cluster around jobs. The more the jobs get distributed geographically the less people need to cluster and the more affordable housing becomes. Remote work is the way to solve the housing crisis. There can be smaller regional clusters of people working in shared offices or small off…

> The most expensive bit in a building is the land it sits on

This isn't always the case even in smaller cities, let alone truly rural areas. I live in a suburban area of a small city and empty lots around here go for under $100k, and only the very cheapest houses built on top of them cost less than that to build.

Remote work is nice, but only a minority of jobs can be performed remotely; and there is a certain degree of economies of scale in "human farming" (nice phrase!), so I think the majority of jobs will always remain in denser areas.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#103

Post by CyberDildonics »

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #74
badpun wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because Americans regard living in anything other than a detached house as a failure.

Well would you want to share a wall and roof with most Americans?

What would possess someone to say this? You think there is something different about americans or that americans don't live in apartments?

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#104

Post by pasabagi »

ksec wrote: post #97
pasabagi wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mmmm, there are a few examples of prefab high-rises that have gone up in weeks or months. I guess high-quality is something of a shifting bar, but if you prefab all the pieces, build them at volume, and have enough demand to justify that volume, it's been done before. That's how all the plattenbau (ugly commie concrete towerblocks went up in eastern europe) got done. I figure the problem is basically politics. Libera…

Do you have any links on that? Most of the reference I found, Pre-Fabs only works for about 10-15 Floor buildings.

It's kind of a genre: watch like, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhLk7L1B_fE, and you can see a bunch of others in suggested links.

From what I gather, a industrial-scale air-conditioning unit company basically broke the space open, since they were essentially doing large scale prefab construction already.

Just think about it from first principles. You can build large structures out of prefabricated parts, and if you design the parts sufficiently well, it's possible to fit them together fast. The problems are stuff like weight (transport costs start to dominate), volume (if there's not enough demand for skyscrapers, you don't want to be sitting on a skyscraper factory), etc.

In East China, they have a lot of structural advantages: a huge, hugely dense population, a government that loves big construction projects, a massive housing market, a great deal of experience in doing civic infrastructure fast, etc.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#105

Post by pjerem »

inglor_cz wrote: post #95
pjerem wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

wow ! In which country are you ? I've never seen something like this in France.

The Czech Republic. I have seen this in all homes under construction that I saw, except for wooden ones. Granted, it is a small set, N < 10.

I didnt noticed that it was a picture of your inner walls. In France, we only use bricks/concrete for the structural walls. The inner walls are almost always "placo" mounted on steel rails. It looks like this : https://www.monsieurpeinture.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/... or https://www.monsieurpeinture.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/...

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#106

Post by inglor_cz »

pjerem wrote: post #105
inglor_cz wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Czech Republic. I have seen this in all homes under construction that I saw, except for wooden ones. Granted, it is a small set, N < 10.

I didnt noticed that it was a picture of your inner walls. In France, we only use bricks/concrete for the structural walls. The inner walls are almost always "placo" mounted on steel rails. It looks like this : https://www.monsieurpeinture.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/... or https://www.monsieurpeinture.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/...

Interesting. This is how ceilings are done here, but I haven't seen a private home with walls like that. Offices, yes.

This might be one of the reasons why Czech construction costs are so high. Expensive material everywhere.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#107

Post by JohnJamesRambo »

CyberDildonics wrote: post #103
JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well would you want to share a wall and roof with most Americans?

What would possess someone to say this? You think there is something different about americans or that americans don't live in apartments?

I just go to Walmart often.

And the wonderful solitude and quiet of my old house in a dying town contrasts sharply with my college years living in apartments.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#109

Post by reneherse »

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.

I agree that a tight house is desirable for many reasons, but proper ventilation and indoor air quality are areas of building design and construction that are often severely neglected, even in new construction.

And with the amount of ventilation needed to make a PVC lined box into a healthy living environment, your kids will be conducting airfoil research at the dining room table.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#110

Post by cameronh90 »

badpun wrote: post #70
ksec wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still dont understand why people keep talking about " House ". When 90% of area that needs urgent "housing" are in needs of Tower Blocks / High Rise Residential Buildings. We Need to find a way to quickly and cost effectively build a lot of mid to high quality apartments. Better heat isolation. Network Pipes ready rather than relying on WiFi. Note: Yes, I know zoning and planning etc are still the biggest hurdle.

Because Americans regard living in anything other than a detached house as a failure.

How would I let my pets run around in the garden? Where do I put my wood fired pizza oven? How do I teach my kids how to grow potatoes and build things? Where do I put the koi pond?

There is perhaps some platonic ideal of an apartment where you can live a similar quality of life to a house. But in the reality that we actually live in currently, living in a house usually has a much better quality of life so it's natural that people would prefer it.

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