Lennar subdivision in Georgetown. I'm not necessarily sold on the look, but it's pretty damn cool to see the future applications of this type of construction.

My first cousin's husband is one of the main guys in this group. They are Ags and live in Austin. They are securing contracts with lots of foreign countries to build mass housing. They will make billions of dollars. Pretty crazy.

Theres one of these being built in spring branch in Houston, literally right behind my office.

What I don't understand - shouldn't concrete all be poured at the same time for the best strength? So like if they're using concrete - it dries and then they add more - will there be weakness?

Adding an electrical outlet somewhere 10 years from now won't be possible with this type of construction.

why have the cement interior walls. If you had a cement house, wouldn't you want 4 exterior load bearing walls, so that you could place walls wherever you want. ie. 4 bedrooms when you have kids, two bedroom and more entertaining space when you are older.

Assume this concept is for mass produced houses in poorer areas. Great innovation

I just wrote some research papers for my masters on this technology and the possibility for its use in making habitats that are radiation-resistant on the moon. It would be pretty cool to use moon dust (Lunar Regolith) with this type of technology to create a moon base some day.

This is so school and should bring housing costs down and quality up!

A company has already attempted one of these subdivisions in Austin 3 or 4 years ago, and it didn't exactly go as planned from what Iunderstand. It's a really cool concept and hopefully they have improved their technology to complete this project.

The first day they started "printing" I watched for at least two hours. Pretty neat stuff and if they can expand it to mass production, it would be pretty exciting.

EMY92 said:

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Adding an electrical outlet somewhere 10 years from now won't be possible with this type of construction.

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I don't see why. The concrete walls are hollow. Just gut to cut out an opening in the concrete and concrete anchor the boxes to the concrete. Drop down the electrical. Instead of cutting a top place, your cutting a square for the electrical box.

At the 15 minute mark the conversation was renovation would be easier and cheaper.

I cannot wrap my 61 year old brain around this…….

In the concrete industry here. I've now visited 3d printed houses in N. Cal, Phx, Houston, and this site in Austin. This is really cool stuff and is evolving really fast. The supply chain on this will definitely evolve with it. Thr materials and innovations that are coming are going to be fun. The way we build homes is going to change. There is almost zero waste, the homes will be much more resilient and energy efficient. We are learning a ton through all these projects that are happening.

Didn't watch the whole thing, but scanned through and did not ever see the actual printer in action. It would help me visualize how this happens and how much time is involved. Amazing stuff.

Care to chat about it? Email?

They show the printer in action and give a time line to full print in the 2nd half of the video.

SupermachJM said:

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I just wrote some research papers for my masters on this technology and the possibility for its use in making habitats that are radiation-resistant on the moon. It would be pretty cool to use moon dust (Lunar Regolith) with this type of technology to create a moon base some day.

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They can call it Moon Base Alpha.

SupermachJM said:

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I just wrote some research papers for my masters on this technology and the possibility for its use in making habitats that are radiation-resistant on the moon. It would be pretty cool to use moon dust (Lunar Regolith) with this type of technology to create a moon base some day.

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When people post things like this I realize that I am basically a caveman.

Start at about the 20 minute mark to see the printer

Sea Speed said:

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SupermachJM said:

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I just wrote some research papers for my masters on this technology and the possibility for its use in making habitats that are radiation-resistant on the moon. It would be pretty cool to use moon dust (Lunar Regolith) with this type of technology to create a moon base some day.

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When people post things like this I realize that I am basically a caveman.

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Don't sell yourself short.

If one of us had to guide a supertanker up the Ship Channel or to the other side of the world, we would probably end up on world news for a week.

This is definitely interesting. I had no idea this was applied to building on a large scale. While
I don't care for the aesthetics (both interior and exterior) I see the application opportunities that exist.

This kind of construction makes me think of scorpions and poor acoustics. How does one hang a deer head on the wall?!

With concrete anchors almost identically to sheet rock anchors.

I'm not sure the aucustics will be that bad either. With all the texture being left the way it is, it may break up the sounds waves pretty well.

I think the key is for them to figure out how to get the printers to work on multi story projects. Otherwise they'll never truly see the economies of scale that is the point of going this route. I do think this has the potential to be huge in developing places in hot / arid climates.

A) If they are looking for investors, I'm sure more than a few of us are interested.

B) Anyone know if they can do 2-3 stories?

C) I agree about the aesthetics - personally, I'd want the walls smoothed out.

AgLA06 said:

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EMY92 said:

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Adding an electrical outlet somewhere 10 years from now won't be possible with this type of construction.

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I don't see why. The concrete walls are hollow. Just gut to cut out an opening in the concrete and concrete anchor the boxes to the concrete. Drop down the electrical. Instead of cutting a top place, your cutting a square for the electrical box.

At the 15 minute mark the conversation was renovation would be easier and cheaper.

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Even if you needed to move walls around? I've inherited a couple of really screwy floorplans that I've had to redo.

The Fife said:

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AgLA06 said:

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EMY92 said:

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Adding an electrical outlet somewhere 10 years from now won't be possible with this type of construction.

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I don't see why. The concrete walls are hollow. Just gut to cut out an opening in the concrete and concrete anchor the boxes to the concrete. Drop down the electrical. Instead of cutting a top place, your cutting a square for the electrical box.

At the 15 minute mark the conversation was renovation would be easier and cheaper.

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Even if you needed to move walls around? I've inherited a couple of really screwy floorplans that I've had to redo.

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Gutting a house isn't adding an electric outlet which was specifically what I responded to.

You could add walls quite easily. Same principle to demo an interior concrete wall as wood framed. Going to require a jackhammer instead of a sledge hammer. It looked like the roof spanned the exterior walls for load, so none of the interiors should be load barring unlike in wood frame.

Marfa got a 3-D printed hotel

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas/2023/05/03/coming-to-marfa-the-worlds-first-3d-printed-homes-hotel/

maroon barchetta said:

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Sea Speed said:

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SupermachJM said:

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I just wrote some research papers for my masters on this technology and the possibility for its use in making habitats that are radiation-resistant on the moon. It would be pretty cool to use moon dust (Lunar Regolith) with this type of technology to create a moon base some day.

---

When people post things like this I realize that I am basically a caveman.

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Don't sell yourself short.

If one of us had to guide a supertanker up the Ship Channel or to the other side of the world, we would probably end up on world news for a week.

---

I know him. He is right.

Brutal

AgLA06 said:

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The Fife said:

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AgLA06 said:

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EMY92 said:

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Adding an electrical outlet somewhere 10 years from now won't be possible with this type of construction.

---

I don't see why. The concrete walls are hollow. Just gut to cut out an opening in the concrete and concrete anchor the boxes to the concrete. Drop down the electrical. Instead of cutting a top place, your cutting a square for the electrical box.

At the 15 minute mark the conversation was renovation would be easier and cheaper.

---

Even if you needed to move walls around? I've inherited a couple of really screwy floorplans that I've had to redo.

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Gutting a house isn't adding an electric outlet which was specifically what I responded to.

You could add walls quite easily. Same principle to demo an interior concrete wall as wood framed. Going to require a jackhammer instead of a sledge hammer. It looked like the roof spanned the exterior walls for load, so none of the interiors should be load barring unlike in wood frame.

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I know, I figured I'd tag along with a question of my own. No interior walls being load bearing does open up possibilities though. I'm not moving or even live in TX so it doesn't matter to me personally. Just curious.

This isn't an idea that I'm against; it sounds a lot like my friend's house in Austria. It was really solid and heating the place through the floor was a nice touch.

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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maroon barchetta said:

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Sea Speed said:

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SupermachJM said:

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I just wrote some research papers for my masters on this technology and the possibility for its use in making habitats that are radiation-resistant on the moon. It would be pretty cool to use moon dust (Lunar Regolith) with this type of technology to create a moon base some day.

---

When people post things like this I realize that I am basically a caveman.

---

Don't sell yourself short.

If one of us had to guide a supertanker up the Ship Channel or to the other side of the world, we would probably end up on world news for a week.

---

I know him. He is right.

---

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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maroon barchetta said:

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Sea Speed said:

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SupermachJM said:

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I just wrote some research papers for my masters on this technology and the possibility for its use in making habitats that are radiation-resistant on the moon. It would be pretty cool to use moon dust (Lunar Regolith) with this type of technology to create a moon base some day.

---

When people post things like this I realize that I am basically a caveman.

---

Don't sell yourself short.

If one of us had to guide a supertanker up the Ship Channel or to the other side of the world, we would probably end up on world news for a week.

---

I know him. He is right.

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This is exactly what friends are for.

B-1 83 said:

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I cannot wrap my 61 year old brain around this…….

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My brain is even older and I am sure I won't live long enough to ever like how these look and want to live in one.

Sure!
Username at gmail.
Our report was more about the efficacy of the technology for radiation shielding and ease of construction on the moon than the actual manufacturing process, but there are some companies in Houston that are already using simulated martian material to make habitats!
Here's a couple of sources:
https://www.foxweather.com/earth-space/nasa-awards-houston-company-67-million-to-develop-3d-printed-lunar-habitats
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/releases/2020/nasa-looks-to-advance-3d-printing-construction-systems-for-the-moon.html

This shows them working on one version for Mars:

So I take it you won't live in a stucco, tilt wall, or CMU house either?

In some cases that limits your ability to live in the state of Florida.