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The world's largest 3D printer is building cozy homes from wood

cnn.com

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Re: The world's largest 3D printer is building cozy homes from wood

#31

Post by throwaway22032 »

SamBam wrote: post #11
organsnyder wrote: post #2

As a 3d printer enthusiast, I think this is really cool. But as someone who built an ADU a few years ago, I fail to see how this will address affordability in any meaningful way. Building a structure is a lot more than framing. For our project, the framers were on site a few weeks out of the six-month total. I think modular pre-fab building is a much more effective strategy for this segment of the market. Perhaps 3d…

> I fail to see how this will address affordability in any meaningful way Especially since it's unlikely that we can address the housing shortage by building single-family homes.

Why is it unlikely?

Not enough physical resources?

People working in the wrong jobs?

Or just, we won't?

Re: The world's largest 3D printer is building cozy homes from wood

#33

Post by tombert »

Mountain_Skies wrote: post #25
tombert wrote: post #9

Maybe it's just the fact that I don't know anything about material science, but I am not sure I'd feel safe in a wood+resin house; this just seems like it's going to end up as extruded particleboard, which I wouldn't even consider building a house out of it. Honestly, maybe they're getting better, but when I researched 3D printed houses about a year ago I was a little disappointed to see how little the 3d printing ac…

Reminds me a bit of the Shed-to-House projects or shipping container house projects that end up costing nearly as much as a site built home once all of the non-shell costs are added in.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking as well. It's obvious why something like this would be appealing; stuff like shipping containers are abundant and cheap and modular, so it seems like a no-brainer, but I think a lot of people forget that building codes actually exist for a reason.

You need a foundation if you don't want your home to sink, unless you want to larp as the unabomber you'll need electricity and plumbing installed, in the case of shipping containers there's a risk that the paints and metals inside there aren't really meant to be inhaled by humans for prolonged periods of time (which is not an issue if you're only in there for a few minutes a day to load and unload boxes, but might be an issue if your plan is to sleep there). There's a cool novelty to some of this stuff, and that might be worth it for some people, and I don't really want to tell people how to spend their money, but it just doesn't seem worth it to me.

This isn't to knock prefab homes as a concept, there are plenty of really good ones and they're not necessarily overpriced, but those are basically still just regular houses with pre-cut and pre-measured materials, and there's no delusions that it'll lead to a house being built overnight.

Re: The world's largest 3D printer is building cozy homes from wood

#34

Post by pragma_x »

tombert wrote: post #9

Maybe it's just the fact that I don't know anything about material science, but I am not sure I'd feel safe in a wood+resin house; this just seems like it's going to end up as extruded particleboard, which I wouldn't even consider building a house out of it. Honestly, maybe they're getting better, but when I researched 3D printed houses about a year ago I was a little disappointed to see how little the 3d printing ac…

I agree on all points.

I think where automation would really shine for this tech is to incorporate conduit, plumbing, doors, and windows to the wall construction. I'm imagining something like a massively scaled-up pick-and-place crane carriage on the printing gantry. So the print head sweeps out of the way, parts and other sub-assemblies get placed where needed, crane sweeps out of the way, then printing resumes.

Re: The world's largest 3D printer is building cozy homes from wood

#35

Post by tombert »

bluGill wrote: post #30
tombert wrote: post #9

Maybe it's just the fact that I don't know anything about material science, but I am not sure I'd feel safe in a wood+resin house; this just seems like it's going to end up as extruded particleboard, which I wouldn't even consider building a house out of it. Honestly, maybe they're getting better, but when I researched 3D printed houses about a year ago I was a little disappointed to see how little the 3d printing ac…

Wood is cheap. I wouldn't be surprised if the materials of this are more than a wood frame plus labor to put it up. At least when I compare HDPE 2x4 to wood 2x4s the cost difference is massive.

That's what I was thinking too! I am not super handy, but I have purchased pine 2x4's and plywood at Home Depot before and I do know roughly how much this stuff costs, and it's not expensive.

While there could be, in theory, technically less human labor involved with the printing (though as someone who has spent way too much time fixing 3D printers after they break I'm skeptical of that), it might not actually save any time compared to just having a contractor or handyperson just do the actual labor.

Re: The world's largest 3D printer is building cozy homes from wood

#36

Post by mikeg8 »

najarvg wrote: post #22
organsnyder wrote: post #2

As a 3d printer enthusiast, I think this is really cool. But as someone who built an ADU a few years ago, I fail to see how this will address affordability in any meaningful way. Building a structure is a lot more than framing. For our project, the framers were on site a few weeks out of the six-month total. I think modular pre-fab building is a much more effective strategy for this segment of the market. Perhaps 3d…

I remember reading on a related reddit thread (more about container home costs) that structural costs account for only a small portion of the cost of home-building and that ground and electrical work, plumbing, finishes etc add a big portion

In light frame residential construction, the structural envelope (foundation, framing, roof, and exterior doors/windows) will usually be about 50% of project cost, if not a little more

Re: The world's largest 3D printer is building cozy homes from wood

#37

Post by tombert »

pragma_x wrote: post #34
tombert wrote: post #9

Maybe it's just the fact that I don't know anything about material science, but I am not sure I'd feel safe in a wood+resin house; this just seems like it's going to end up as extruded particleboard, which I wouldn't even consider building a house out of it. Honestly, maybe they're getting better, but when I researched 3D printed houses about a year ago I was a little disappointed to see how little the 3d printing ac…

I agree on all points. I think where automation would really shine for this tech is to incorporate conduit, plumbing, doors, and windows to the wall construction. I'm imagining something like a massively scaled-up pick-and-place crane carriage on the printing gantry. So the print head sweeps out of the way, parts and other sub-assemblies get placed where needed, crane sweeps out of the way, then printing resumes.

And maybe we'll get there, I'm not a complete luddite. If we can get the entire process automated (or at least most of it), I think it would get to the point of actually saving money (though I would still be a bit concerned with the material itself).

If we could, if nothing else, get all the plumbing installed automatically I think that the value add of 3D printing might actually start being worth it. As it stands right now it kind of just feels like a novelty that doesn't actually save time or money.

Re: The world's largest 3D printer is building cozy homes from wood

#38

Post by Swizec »

dghlsakjg wrote: post #21
yardie wrote: post #17

I watched a warehouse go up over the last few months. Everything above the floor was pre-cast concrete shipped in on flatbed trunks. For the size of the warehouse it was fascinating to watch just how fast it got built. The big time sink wasn't even the warehouse superstructure. Majority of the project time was leveling, compacting, and foundation. When I see 3D printing construction compared to precast modules I simp…

I feel the same way. Especially with a promo piece like this so short on details. If you’ve watched a house, or any structure, go up, you know that building the basic structure happens remarkably quickly. This seems to replace framing, roofing and siding. Maybe drywall too? But you still have all of the expensive/slow stuff like plumbing, electrical and finish carpentry that still has to be done.

> But you still have all of the expensive/slow stuff like plumbing, electrical and finish carpentry that still has to be done.

I did some research on modular construction recently to use in a talk about modular software design. This tech is getting really cool!

You can nowadays get hotel modules that are full pre-built suites. Comes with all the plumbing, electricals, even furniture. Bed and everything already bolted into place. You just lift it to your hotel’s superstructure, plug in a water pipe, an electric connection, and a sewage connection. Boom. New suite added.

I’m sure similarly pre-fab modular family homes exist. We have the tech, question is whether we have the demand.

Re: The world's largest 3D printer is building cozy homes from wood

#39

Post by mikeg8 »

tonetegeatinst wrote: post #15

Technically, humans are also 3d printers....we just are super slow at assembly of large structures.... However we are able to design and build and "print" more complicated structures as we work in 3 dimensions and are only limited by our strength. Side note: 3d printing is awesome tech. While its not exactly super eco friendly, its a big help for rapid prototyping. I currently have an ender 3 pro which I upgraded wit…

> we are just super slow at assembly of large structures…

The Amish would like a word with you lol

Re: The world's largest 3D printer is building cozy homes from wood

#40

Post by SamBam »

throwaway22032 wrote: post #31
SamBam wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I fail to see how this will address affordability in any meaningful way Especially since it's unlikely that we can address the housing shortage by building single-family homes.

Why is it unlikely? Not enough physical resources? People working in the wrong jobs? Or just, we won't?

For one reason, fixing the 4-5 million unit housing shortfall by building endless sprawling suburbs is not at all environmental or energy efficient.
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