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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

#131

Post by bumby »

cameronh90 wrote: post #110
badpun wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 natur…

There are places that do many of those things, but in a community format.

My SO and still think back to how great it was to have an apartment with a park next door where we could let our dogs run. They had more space there than our current home.

I've never seen a public wood fired pizza oven but community bbq's were pretty standard at our apartments in the past.

We have a community projects place that gives us the opportunity to do all kinds of woodworking (my personal hobby) without spending tons on equipment. Plus there's always people there more competent that I can learn from. We have a seed-sharing repository in our local library and the ag school has plenty of gardening resources.

I think what you're talking about is certainly possible, but it takes a concerted approach to meet the needs of a community. I tend to think people in the US prefer housing because there is a much more individualistic mindset combined with relative affluence that gives people the option to eschew many community approaches.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#132

Post by bumby »

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 do think there is something different that leads Americans to desire homes and consider apartment living a failure.

Some of it is the rhetoric about owning a home being part of the American Dream. Some of it is about the nature of the US housing market being a such an avenue to wealth (Americans have a disproportionate amount of their wealth wrapped up in their home). Some of it may be the individualistic mindset.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#133

Post by jrockway »

cameronh90 wrote: post #110
badpun wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 natur…

There are plenty of high density apartments that have public and private gardens available. But yeah, not something that will ever be available to everyone simply because there is only one ground floor.

In general, though, density doesn't mean that you can't have yards. Do you need a front yard, back yard, and two side yards to set up a wood fired pizza oven, grow potatoes, and build things? Nope. Just a backyard could be fine. So you could share an exterior wall with your neighbors, stick your front door right up against the street, and do all the same things as a freestanding house but at lower cost and higher density. If townhouses were more of a thing, you could have everything you want, AND not have to drive. The only problem is zoning laws.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#134

Post by MerelyMortal »

lloydatkinson wrote: post #88
bilsbie wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every time I’ve lived in an apartment or condo the whole building smelled like trash. They need a better solution for managing waste disposal instead of a stinky room on every floor.

I thought the universal solution was a chute for rubbish to be thrown down ultimately landing in an external bin outside the bottom of the building?

I lived in a recently-built high-rise in the U.S. that had a trash chute. A problem is that bags tear open easily, people throw away liquids in their bags (which leak even without tears). I've seen trails of trash juice leading from people's apartments to the trash chute, and even with the ventilation, when you open the door to the trash chute, it smells and it's dirty (because of torn bags, and the fact that the chute hatch is smaller than the average full trash bag, meaning you have to squeeze it in, usually causing more tears).

Make bigger trash chute doors, better bags, and smarter people, then trash chutes work. #1 is doable, #2 is hard because it's always a race to the bottom, and #3 is impossible.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#135

Post by jjk166 »

friedman23 wrote: post #4

I wonder how complex the design can be, could it work with a 2 story multi room home?

Until they figure out how to get reinforcement into it, it would not be able to produce any parts of the structure that are in tension, such as non-vaulted ceilings.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#136

Post by analognoise »

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.

Being that close to other people sucks, and so do housing associations.

You get neighbors screaming and fighting, playing music at 2am, apartments turned into meth labs with explosive toxic chemicals, dangerous predators can be right next door, people who don't take care of themselves and give your whole unit rats/bedbugs/insects, people who don't know you should fix water issues and cause mold, roof assessments that can be tens of thousands of dollars surprise! That you're forced to pay...

It isn't some fairy land where we all love plants and hold hands in our communal space - living close to other people IS failure.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#137

Post by sholladay »

ksec wrote: post #57
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 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.

I’ve had some pretty bad experiences living in mid size apartment buildings. Everything from a drugged out neighbor causing a fire, to bed bugs coming through the wall from a slob next door, to someone nearly stealing my car until I shouted at them from four floors up, to landlords who wouldn’t fix leaks for weeks/months after I left a voicemail on their high priority line, to dreadful indoor temperatures because the thermostat controls are overridden by time-of-year policies and heating/cooling is disabled.

All this in Boston, at nearly $2,000 per month for a single bedroom, in the mid 2010s.

Conceptually, I’m on board with apartment buildings. I would like to think that the future looks more like Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood than the one that I lived in. But the people who evangelize high rise buildings must be either paying for a ritzy place or never actually lived in one.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#138

Post by bergenty »

russh wrote: post #130
bergenty wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate apartment living. People on all sides, you have to live like a mouse, no room for any activities.

Have you thought about bunk beds? I saw a documentary awhile ago where it was discovered that switching to bunk beds creates ample room for activities.

I mean like a garden, a pool, a wood/metal working shop, gun range, kids play area, badminton court etc.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#139

Post by cameronh90 »

EricDeb wrote: post #127
cameronh90 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 natur…

Europeans don't need those things

I am European.

Re: Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable Forms

#140

Post by bumby »

bergenty wrote: post #138
russh wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you thought about bunk beds? I saw a documentary awhile ago where it was discovered that switching to bunk beds creates ample room for activities.

I mean like a garden, a pool, a wood/metal working shop, gun range, kids play area, badminton court etc.

Are you saying you want access to each of those or you want your own private resource for each of those? They are very different questions with different answers.
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