Revisiting Lennar & ICON's 3D Printed Neighborhood 6 Months Later
Matt and Will are at Wolf Ranch looking at some of the completed homes that Lennar & ICON has been working on in their 3D printed neighborhood. Will has some great insights as a firefighter as to the benefit of these printed homes and talks with Matt about remodilability.
Check out ICON :
www.iconbuild.com/
Community Lennar sales info:
www.lennar.com/new-homes/texa...
Watch Will King Videos here:
buildshownetwork.com/go/willking
Subscribe and follow my Podcast on Apple or Spotify!
Apple: apple.co/32AOwgU
Spotify: spoti.fi/3FXNg4X
Sign up for our twice-weekly newsletter:
buildshownetwork.com/newsletter
To sponsor a video or advertise with us visit:
www.buildproductions.com
Want to learn more about building? thebuildshow.com/
The Build Show on Instagram: / thebuildshow
Huge thanks to our Show sponsors Builders FirstSource, Polyguard, Huber, Rockwool & Viewrail for helping to make these videos possible! These are all trusted companies that Matt has worked with for years and trusts their products in the homes he builds. We would highly encourage you to check out their websites for more info.
www.bldr.com/
polyguard.com/
www.Huberwood.com
www.Viewrail.com
www.Rockwool.com
I love the idea of printed houses, and I love the appearance of these walls. I have to add, though, as a professional cleaner, even "smooth" drywall walls get quite dusty (most household dust is shed human skin cells). These printed walls, with their texture, are going to accumulate lots and lots of dust in time, and it may or may not be as easy as vacuuming to remove the dust. Anyway, not trying to sound critical, I just love everything about this technology, and I'd like to do it myself.
Good points. Don’t excuse yourself. I have a wood panel in my home which I have to vacuum once every 6 months. I imagine a lot of homeowners to plaster this evenly in the future, regardless the iconic look. I would.
Absolutely. When we bought our house we had drywall, but it was very textured. It accumulates dust like crazy.
Don't forget about accumulation of dirt/algae/moss on the textured EXTERIOR walls. I have to think that these houses are going to look pretty grotty after a few years.
There is no reason why they could not use something to smooth out the inner or outer walls and seal the concrete.
@@dennisaustin8145did you see the size of the overhangs! I'm sure that will help. Even a brick building would have the same issues and require occasional pressure washing.
Lennar should build homes in Lahaina Maui with this tech!
Could they make these houses on "stilts" to be more hurricane resistant too?
Good idea
Don’t think Oprah Winfrey is interested.
The wall system and metal roofs would be fire resistant as well.
Would love to have that here on the Big Island as well.
Great episode Matt! Please go back in another 6 months.
19:42 as an electrician I think it should be ENT or Smurf tube with cast in slab boxes. These homes will be very hard to retrofit or replace any wire without opening up the drywall ceiling, no human electrician will fit in that attic space. I bet there box mounting is proprietary. The custom boxes could be installed by the robot.
That’s something that designers never seem to consider. Everything needs to be maintained.
I was thinking the same. Impossible to add stuff afterwards without conduits.
For anyone worried about the walls being dustcollectors; It's Pretty easy walls to lay some stucco over them and smooth or texture in any other way you want.
that is a lot of stucco for those gaps . Might be better filling with a cement coat first but either way its a lot of labor
@@sanisidrocr Actully it's not much stucco at all depending on the mix. Especially if you compare it to the amounts one would use in old school lathe and sanded plasters before the days of sheetrock. 😉 Dampen and Shoot with a mortar sprayer and knock into a tight finish with stucco trowels.
Dust was my first thought
Other countries have been using block or brick walls with Stucco or plaster for a loooong time. America has got stuck with this cheaper is better crap.
@@turboflush The US is a very large place and I have seen a very large variety of building materials and designs. One difference I see typically in the US is the higher use of wood framing which makes sense from a cost and climate perspective and it actually is really efficient and is a good way to lock up carbon in a renewable manner. The higher use of cheap gypsum/drywall is fine too because their homes are all air conditioned so mold is less of a concern. In my country we typically would avoid these materials due to humidity , earthquakes, and termite concerns. With regards to plaster/stucco , this is fine but you have to admit those grooves/gaps are quite large so I would personally not use this method of construction if you wanted to make the walls smooth due to the amount of added labor finishing these curved wallets.
I feel like the biggest upgrade people will want is a few smooth coats on the inside walls to prevent dust. Also what happens if a pipe bursts in the wall? Or a wire burns out? Do you gotta cut that whole wall out?
Seems like do not put it in closed walls. It is in the slabs and pre-designed exposed wall cavities. They show a bit of it in his first video with Ikon. @benarizola6609
Should design in a modular wall system on the interior IMO
I'm assuming it's similar to a normal pipe burst. You gotta cut the wall out. You do that with drywall as well.
I think based on other videos I have seen about how these are built, they are able to access much of those components through the attic. In Texas builders often use PEX for plumbing which is apparently very easy to repair due to how it is designed and installed. PEX is also more energy effecient than copper. Wiring would not "burn" out since a breaker would blow before a wire could be damaged, at least in the extreme majority of the time. But either way it would be able to be accessed through the attic.
It’ll be interesting to see how these hold up. I have a 102yo cement brick house that has cracks and all kinds of issues. Cement doesn’t mean no future issues.
Awesome mostly address sheds that the author has built in the past and high-quality sheds at that. kzhead.infoUgkxzaRUJNcbypw-fRBDbqqz43ULIa-1EGP- He does have tips on specific aspects of the shed construction in each example. I get value out of this book by getting ideas on what features will work for MY sheds that I design myself. It has terrific photos, all are professional in quality. Book is quality coffee-table style--shiny, thick paper and a soft cover that is also high quality. I like it.
I’m currently staying in a 3D printed AirBNB unit built by Icon in Austin. Very interesting. The only limitation, I think, is that the lava crete construction is limited to a single story. The unit I’m staying has a second story, however, it appears to be conventional framing. The other consideration, I assume, is that the setup on the printer unit is far more efficient when building multiple homes rather than a single unit. I would certainly consider owning one of these homes.
No, not true.. They have two stories buildings already. Look it up, it is not limited to one story anymore..
Can you share the link for this Airbnb
not only does it look like corduroy, but with the patterns of the walls. it makes the walls look longer and the rooms wider, similar to how a pinstripe suit makes people look taller
On the first episode re: ICON's 3D printed neighborhood the project manager talked about reducing cycle time with the 3D portion of the build AND to reduce the number of people required during that process. He says they went from 30 days down to ~15, and their goal (on the previous show) was to be down to only 1 person overseeing the 3D process (if I remember correctly). Matt, how many people are currently required? Interesting technology, for sure!
Good question on the people. Unsure but I’d guess a team of 3-5 are needed per printer currently. Reducing printing time by 50% in 6 months is a big deal!
I'm sure a masonary "leveler", or a different finish could be applied maybe in the bathrooms for example...@@buildshow
I was curious about the "columns" that form with vertical steel ties. Surrounding the vertical tie, they pour in epoxy grout. Then, there are other elements like horizontal metal straps and u shaped to tie the structure. Within the lavacrete itself are probably fibers to prevent cracks. Slab movement and flatness over time... how, was that engineering challenge overcome? Are there piers in slab that align with the vertical wall columns. (English slab method?)
English slab method: drill, install rebar cage, pour concrete. This forms a pier, engineered location for load bearing. Slab is then poured and structurally tied to the columns/piers.
I've actually seen 3D printed one-bedroom houses for around 13,000 that looked pretty awesome but the look of this house is beautiful
Where? All the houses I've seen so far are over 400k.. I have yet to see a house sub 200k..
@@geogmz8277 I actually worded that wrong there's a company called Mudbots that has a $13,000 concept that they printed in their factory they estimated the price after materials and printing
Where??? I can’t find a house anywhere I can afford. Even the “solutions to the housing shortage” houses (and modular homes etc) are $100k for a studio or 1 bedroom.
Concerning lavacrete, how well does it stand up with earthquakes and foundation settling? Does it resist cracks? If there are crack failures, would they be easier to fix by adding some lavacrete repair?
Thanks for asking the question I had in mind!
Thats a good point, have my doubts about seismic performance.
Love to see this with SIP roof panels.
For owner repairability, incorporate plumbing and electrical chases into the design. When a pipe bursts or wire burns out - that chase allows a non-destructive access to the components. Think about cars for a sec. When we need to change the oil, we don't have to sawzall a hole in the body to get access. The designers thought about access ahead of time and made it integral to the ownership experience.
The chase could be in the floor system, with small stubs for electrical panels in a wainscotting. Plumbing stubs come up into cabinetry directly. Keep plumbing and wires out of the wall completely. Separate the functions. The floor access could be made very generous and make it easier to work on or change out utilities than is the case with typical construction.
Just look at 22:16 to see the support infrastructure required to make this 3D printed house get started. Power requirements. Machinery. Not to mention what is needed to break down, move and set this machine back up at the next lot. Time is money on a job site and there is a whole lot going on here just to 3D print some walls.
Someone mentioned the echo in the house, this is easily resolved by using a cork spray coating on the walls. The corded nature of the walls already acts as a light and sound diffuser, adding a cork coating would enhance that significantly. As to dust collection, most dust sits in the air for a good deal of time before dropping to the walls or floor, good ventilation and filtering that keeps the air moving will lessen it's collection significantly. What I would really like to know about is how do these homes stand up in earthquake areas, we live in an area that has lots of small tremors almost weekly, how well do these constructions stand up under continual vibration??
Love this innovation for home builders! Love the look and I also love the thought as you want to change the interior you could plaster over the texture and get a different look.
Great video, wealth of information - Thanks for sharing! Wish I lived in Austin, would definitely be in the market for an ICON home! Excellent that ICON is providing O&M (Operation & Mainteance) data to homeowners.
This is the most beautiful wall I have ever seen. I am obsessed with this construction. I am building a home in South Florida, and the exterior block and stucco is fantastic and cool but everyone has this feature. Plus, the interior walls are drywall. Yuck, drywall is getting old!!! Can I speak with anyone about our next residential build in Port Lucie, Florida next Spring???
That is so beauuuutifullll and warm and inviting 🥰
so cool, would love one of these homes.
The walls, rounded edges and concrete floors remind me of architecture from science fiction movies. I really like the technology. I would like to see this in my area.
This is amazing technology
Agree! It’s definitely going to play a part of the future of our housing industry.
Wonderful presentation 😊😊😊
I am just wondering about the cracking on the 3d printed concrete walls. is there any engineering on what's the capacity of the walls (compressive strength)?
Thanks for the update video on these homes Matt. I watched the first video you did and knew of these homes but your video's have great information on these homes.I live in Nothern Ontario Canada and would like to know how it would handle a good Canadian winter. We usually get at least a couple of months of -20 -30 and lots of snow. It would be interesting to know how this house would do up here.
This is absolutely a game changer!
I've lived in my house, built in 1967, for 18 years now. The exterior walls of the entire 1st level are 6" thick, formed concrete walls that look like brick on both the exterior and interior. The first thing I had to buy when I moved in was a hammer drill and a bunch of masonry bits. I've built up quite a nice collection of tapcons.
I bet you don't have stuff falling off your walls because the screw didn't stick.
@@JoeTaber Tapcons are kinda hard to get right too, pretty easy to oversize the hole and the tapcons won't stay in. As an electrician I stick a piece of copper wire in the oversize hole and just screw it in and it stays most of the time. Not an issue here I would think, but if the concrete is reinforced with gravel then it makes it even harder to drill through and the tapcons actually strip the thread when next to a rock, again, a piece of copper wire (or probably plastic anchor) remedies that though. Still stronger than drywall
Nice!
THANKS MATT🤗 FOR SHARING THE FUTURE,FOR MANY…but not all 😬💚💚💚
So cool! Great to see the progress on this one. Would like to see pipes in walls if you go back Matt 😊
Will do!
Would love to know how "settling" and foundation repair works for these houses....how do you patch layers? Not slaming this technology am just curious
Great Q. Clay / "Calache" soil in Texas & Okla....
@@martinp1544yes those clay soils known as expansive soil go clear into Canada and are a severe problem. I a home inspector in south Dakota and first thing I saw with the roof has no rain gutters that up here is a killer as water just collects around the foundation. Yes you can use landscaping to help, but the easier you. A. Get water away from the foundation is better. Also. First time someone goes to the with it raining will be pissed.
My question also, I live in Austin and the slab flexes quite a bit depending on the season and rainfall. Wood frame takes up a lot of the flex, but obviously the drywall does not and we get cracks that open and close, just have to deal with it. These would need a box basement or crawlspace of reinforced concrete or be built on piers and beam to bedrock to be stable for long term.
@@TD_YT066I would just go slab on pier. Cost isn't bad at new compared to fixing it later.
@@wojtek-33 You'd think they'd do that, but I see teardowns all over my neighborhood and never see them boring holes in the clay to pour pylons. Other than the house behind me , which was built on a 30degree grade of trash dirt and clay, they dug piers for 3 months for that home. The rest, the usual poured slab with a 2-3ft outer ring. But in about 20 years, it'll be flexing just like every other home built and they owners will be calling the foundation stabilization contractors. At least they dont put in cast iron drains anymore. Those last about 40 years before they rust out in the clay.
Absolutely super coooool!!!!!!!!! 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
Wow!
That seems amazing, not only fire resistant but could be hurricane proof also. And, if it gets flooded, i'm assuming just do a deep clean, get a good steam cleaner to really clean the floors and walls. And for dust on the walls, just do what I do to my current house - a leaf blower inside once a year, gets the dust off walls, corners, radiators etc.
love the idea of printed structures with so many inherent benefits. The potential seems limitless.
I really like this. I even like how it looks on both the exterior and interior.
Me too!
Quick question. What if a car runs into an outside wall and the wall gets damaged. What's the repair on those walls? How about if someone wants to remove a wall on the inside?
Hint: you’ll see the repair
I would imagine you could build a comb tool and a good stucco guy could fair it in pretty well, but it would be a tough match, just like any brick facade. Interior walls would be really tough and messy
Great question. You could easily stucco over an area to make it a smooth face. Do that wall-to-wall if you’re needing a patch and it would look pretty good. This is concrete after all. The marshmallow look might not appeal to everyone anyhow and this would be an option for interiors or exterior
@@buildshowwhat a sorry @$$ video production
Love these absolutely epic! What about retro fitting Ethernet jacks or putting outlets in different areas? I wonder how difficult it may be to run wires later
It is 3d printed, so you should be able to choose it all up front. Using 3d printing without customization is silly.
I completely agree with the comments about a dust, spiderwebs, etc. problem. I also love the 3D printing technology, and I also live in a concrete block house. I have severe allergies and I am also the one who paints and maintains the interior. It is extremely important to develop a floor to ceiling crevice device that you sweep along the wall. Probably not just vacuum, but a little moisture too. Not a lot. May light steam.
And living in a cement block house that is 80 years old, I had have to deal with broken water lines and electrical wiring inside the concrete. The water lines had to be "erased." We had to reroute some runs on top of the wall. The main line went through the cement foundation, and that was not repairable. So, now the lines go around the outside margins of the house in the ground. Quite honestly, plumbing change must be considered no matter what. Maybe drop-in cavities for updates. We had conduit, so the wiring was very doable. But without conduit, I doubt rewiring would have been easy.
Matt, I’m wondering if there is some way to remove using wood for the bucks completely so there wouldn’t be any chance of rot. Some type of plastic or polymer buck instead? Also, when watching the printer I can’t help but think of it as frosting a cake and wondering how long before they come up with different tips to change the look of the walls, lol.
The houses are so close to each other!! WOW!! Crazy!
0 room for any trees of any kind. Residents: "why is our neighborhood so hot?"
Welcome to suburbia. That’s actually a pretty good spacing. Here in Florida, some places only have room for the AC unit outside between houses and that’s about it.
Standard spacing for lennar and all the other national builders. Milk the land for all you can.
@@Omnis2 I'm in a new Lennar neighborhood in Fl. and we have plenty of room between houses. 20-30 ft. You are thinking of zero lot line homes. These are big homes though. Ours is a one story 3200 sq ft and we call it the baby house. Our neighbors are 2 stories and over 5000-6000 sq ft. Lennar does a lot of innovation for a non custom builder. We got in just at the right time. We signed just before Covid. People who came after us had a lot less choices in appliances and interior materials because Lennar couldn't get stuff. We picked a cheapie faucet for the laundry room and they ran out so they upgraded to the same one we had in the kitchen. We only ordered blinds for bedrooms they ended up doing the entire home no extra charge. Many of our neighbors came from a slightly older Lennar community basically across the street. So that told me a lot of people were very happy with Lennar. The only issue I had was after a year we had a roof leak in a valley. The roofers screwed up. Lennar plain as day gives you a year warranty. That was the only out of pocket expense. I built a custom home prior and I was the owner/builder. I had several roof leaks that were a lot worse. Eventually they all got fixed.
How do you hang a picture? How do you repair damage? How do you remodel? Add and outlet? Move a dishwasher? Can you paint the walls? This really seems to 'lock you into' the look. Fine if you like it, but you'd better be sure, and you can't change anyting...
Thank You for All that you are doing for our Planet Earth.... Peace.. Shalom.. Salam.. Namaste 🙏🏻 😊 🌈 ✌ ☮ ❤
Maintenance nightmare. People are hating on stick homes, but those actually cost the same, are better insulated, allow choice of finish and easy to maintain.
All hard surfaces and open floor plan, those houses are going to be loud!
Was the TV we see on a pat shot on mute? It was an insert edit with no sound. I suspect you're correct. Also, they didn't address maintenance questions, they just kinda blew the idea of it off with "we have no complaints...take our word for it... ho ho ho". So in 10 years, tinnitus lawsuits? All mold needs to grow is moisture, and organic material. Skin is organic material. Those are porous surfaces. Dust is mostly dead skin cells. So add Pets, the gunk they give off, ect ect. Seems like a nightmare. Now add that pipes burst, wires short, Shi$$ happens. I’m sorry I’m gonna need more than a 2 minute “ho ho ho, don’t be foolish with yhat question”.
Now Ali they have to do is go with metal roof trusses. They’re good for aesthetics if painted for the open floor plan but I’m not sure if they can have the sharp roof edges because I do like them.
Friggin awesome house. So easy to frame out for a ship lap accent wall or whatever you esthetic is, very cool.
What happens if you ever have to open up the wall to repair some pipe leak or something…..is there a way to patch this? I would think not very easily and it wouldn’t look great after it gets repaired/replaced…
So plumbing and electrical are in the walls foamed in. What happens when mineral deposits from tap water cause blockages in the pipes inside the wall? How to access for maintenance/repair at that point?
It would be interesting if they could develop a variable nozzle design. They could save some product on the inside walls that don’t need to be so thick. While not a Icon issue, I really don’t like how close these houses are built together. Might has well be townhomes.
oops, cut that box hole a leeeeettle bit big @19:27. No worries, just fill the gap with drywall compound.... oh wait. doh!
What about cleaning and dust collection on those rough walls? Seems like it would be a nightmare to keep clean!
Y'all brushed off the dust issue, pun intended. Cob webs and dust is a natural thing all over the earth. It's hard to clean off rough surfaces, so just be honest about it.
So, it's like a Frank Loyd Wright home, you better love the floor plan when you buy it, you can never change it.
Yeah I'm a little skeptical of doing the interior walls in concrete for that reason.
print quality is sooo nice...like layers of dq ice cream...
Bring in the plasterers and give those walls a smooth finish. The dust and dirt accumulation will be never ending and eventually impossible to clean. Think of grease from cooking over the years.
How would you deal with adding an outlet or moving an outlet? Or doing anything to cut into the walls? How would you patch a hole? Or would it void some type of warranty to do anything to the walls?
drop it in from the attic, one would imagine this gets an order of magnitude harder with a 2 story, which they aren't doing yet.
not to mention the spalling issues you'll have if there's a fire...
@@iamblainefulbut the walls are filled with spray foam insulation….so you can’t just drop something in from above either.
@@bdoginitit's foam, it should be feasible to drill or cut a channel down to an electrical box.
@@mgkleymI can tell you as an electrician this would be difficult or impossible in that roof. I’m sure technology could be developed however.
I really prefer affordable foam layers processing will be the eggshells texture needed to coat the 3 D print marked grooves !
It's probably still a no-go for most residential construction projects, but being able to build round houses will be a massive benefit in the future. The reduced surface area of round houses massively reduces heatloss or gain. And with some clever computer simulations you might even find a shape, that's much better in strong wind areas. Perfect circles are sadly not the best for high wind speeds.
This is a great method! Think of the trees that are not needed nor the waste. I see they used lumber for the ceiling joists and rafters. I doubt the method would be approved in high earthquake zones as there is no steel reinforcing in the process. Otherwise I see a bright future for this method of construction.
Earthquakes: Our wood frame home survived the 6.7 magnitude Northridge Quake in 1994 in Southern California (10 miles from epicenter). Everything brittle was badly damaged, interior and exterior. Only a single wood beam (supporting the roof) in the garage had to be replaced -- had a knot, which probably never should have been used. Easily replaced. How will the lava-crete hold up? Seems to me, not so well. Tell me I'm wrong. I love these homes and the 3D tech that built them. SoCalFreddy
Concrete houses are a good idea, but limited when it comes to rearranging them 10 years later. We went from sectioned off rooms (30’s -40’s) to open floor plans and slowly going back to sectioned rooms again. The problem with having concrete walls is tearing them down, also what if you decide you want to move a bathroom or move the kitchen sink to a wall or into an island?
Houses are getting bigger too. 1000sq ft houses built for a family of four are now considered to be only good for empty nesters, who want fewer but larger rooms.
I would love to see the walls as the concrete color... or inside walls, finish smooth and mimic preformed wall standupand with a super smooth finish with the color... But the 3D printed Grey crete color bare would have looked beter then painted wall to me. And the polished floor they have looks amazing in contrast... at least what I see in the cam... I keep yelling at my screen, look at the floor!! lol, but llooks like polished concrete. The corners you see the wall reflection in the floor.
While in proof of concept it makes sense to go with the easiest path of single level suburban sprawl type single family homes. The real challenge is for infill, small multi family construction where the benefits of the compact constructed footprint, durable materials, quick & relatively quiet construction can prove its worth. Maybe this is just an 80% technology that focuses on the easy, but I see potential for another 15% as described.
How do you plumbing and electrical without removing the roof or cutting massive access holes in the walls? Also I can imagine a pipe breaking and completely filling up the air gap between the walls and you’d never know until it finds somewhere to escape like a window or outlet. That would be a nightmare.
I remember when they said they’d be "affordable" but $450k for 1500 sq. ft is far from it.
How is the "remodel-ability" with regard to electrical outlets? Say I wanted a new outlet some place? Furthermore, what happens when you have a foundation "settle" and it ends up cracking and the whole wall cracks? How do you repair that?
If lavacrete is being compared to grout, any specific considerations to handle moisture/humidity? Or just a good exterior paint will provide the necessary "sealing" from moisture transmission through lavacrete?
I wonder how much dust settles on all those internal layers in the house. I would want it smooth inside.
Curious as to how well this will hold up in the Midwest think Wisconsin area. With a freeze thaw cycle?
this is cool where land is cheap. because its printing 1 storey homes. really nice look and preformance. can it be used on 2 stoey and basement?
This tech looks interesting, and I have soooo many questions about upkeep / repair / renovation.
They weren't about to adress it, they kinda chuckled the idea of any questions off. Verry upseting.
The modern Flintstone house . Love the idea of no siding maintenance and can you make the exterior a different color and add it to the mix. What's the seismic rating?
It'll be interesting to see how this does with movement. Would it just crack like old grout?
My issue is the large rounded corners and seeing the layers. Furniture is square not rounded 8" corners. I still like the build. Would just need some alterations for me to like it.
I wonder how this would compare to tip-up for cost, time to erect, durability, efficiency, etc.
I'd like to know more about how repairs to wiring and plumbing are done. What if an additional outlet needs to be installed ?
I would love to see an impact study. I’m sure it’s pretty indestructible, and what it would take to destroy a wall.
Pete Seeger song comes to mind, "little boxes made of ticky tacky, little boxes all the same, " and so close together, identical slab after slab.... That's gonna be one depressing looking neighborhood.
What about bringing these homes to hurricane prone coasts like the Gulf Coast and Florida? Seems like a perfect option for storm proofing!
Remodeled/restored a 1906 and three 1934 houses. They can be updated yet keep the original aesthetics. Now in some ways, the 1970s buildings hit bottom. Popcorn 8 foot ceilings, asbestos in several applications, hollow core doors, sometimes dreadful aluminum wiring.
I would love to see them print a basement foundation.
I like how the StArchitect B.I.G. was barely mentioned and not even in the description. I am curious how much they were involved.
They would be able to achieve passive cooling home if they skipped the foam and used Geo-thermal to pull outside air through the ground , through the walls and out the roof, just using the passive heating of the roof to draw the air through.
I like much more the idea of prefab homes.
Does it rain there? No gutters? Is that concrete rough at all on the interior? The dust issue occurred to me--glad to hear it isn't a problem. Is that an echo? Cool looking houses. Visually the walls seem more organic with the macro texture and rounded corners. Termites must be REALLY disappointed. I wonder what modifications are needed in high seismic areas.
I heard the builder say, they wanted to plumb all the electrical and plumbing inside of the walls. So how does anyone repair a leaking pipe or a broken wire after they pumped spray foam over all the pipes and wires?
I really love the organic look of those walls, and all the practical advantages cited. But I wish I could buy the dust cleaning argument. It’s just too early for the dust (that 100% is accumulating) to become a complaint-level issue. I wince when the argument is “no complaints yet!” Especially when there is a very clear, experience based reason for concern. It will require a brush vacuum as noted, over every inch to prevent gradual buildup to a hard-to-clean level. The 5-year cycle mentioned sounds about right, but it’s a lot of work. And the walls in/near the kitchen will need that more frequently (maybe annually) because that dust is mixed with atomized grease and if left for long, becomes impossible to vacuum off and just attracts additional dust. With the texture of that wall, I shudder to imagine cleaning with 409-type cleaners that are needed for kitchen grease. I’ll put a steak dinner that dirt on those walls is a customer complaint inside 10 years, I’d like to see some proactive thinking into the issue.
Questions: How brittle is the concrete surface? Can photo frames be hung using standard nail and hook hangers? If not, what is recommended?
So far impressive and interesting. My question is how do you replace busted plumbing or electrical or other utilities that are stuck in the concrete wall which is the structure also
I don't think the interior walls have insulation so perhaps the cavity in them is accessible from the attic space.
@@bothellkenmore yes that's what I figured you might be able to access from attic but still the plumbing would all have to be routed that high up to really have access to fix something for example. Unless there's some method for putting a big hole in the wall and then patching it but that's tricky since it's considered part of the structure. That would be a cool video to show how to make these kinds of repairs on these houses.
It seems like you could do some really creative builds
I have a plaster house but the floors are wood. That, I think, plus drapes and furniture absorb sound to some extent, but the rooms are kinda "live". Plaster's thick and heavy though, so the house acoustically isolates rooms better than about any drywall house I've ever been in does. I can hear the echo in that house even on the video -- sounds like a warehouse. What can be done to control that? Rugs, drapes, furniture? Maybe design room dimensions to avoid nodes? Could there be a sort of PumiceCrete that finishes like plaster but absorbs acoustic energy?
I love this technology. Can you guys address how much you save in utilities through energy efficiency in owning one of these homes?
"roughly the same costs" is where you lost me.
This is impressive. I have a question about this technique and technology. I live an hour north of this neighborhood (Fort Hood Texas area) and given that Central Texas as well as much of Texas is prone to foundation shifting and issues leading to damaged windows, doors and walls. How durable are these exterior and interior walls to cracking if or when foundation issues occur?
I like the roof , but I have a question about the traditional looking A frame roof they are using. Do they have to go with that design? Also I wonder if they could be looking at incorporating the printing into the roof structure? Besides that I think those homes look wonderful. I'm sold I want a 3d printed home.
it looks pretty as a model home but imagine the interior walls after some time living there with kids and pets how difficult it will be to clean those walls. They should have gone with 3-D printed exterior walls only and traditional drywalls on the interior which could have pre-fabbed in a factory to speed the building process. I truly want to see those walls after you apply 6 coats of paint over time.
I have a feeling that is what will eventually happen. If you look at LenX, Lennar is invested in several different modular/prefab companies. Right now, some of the prefab wall companies are saying that a house built with their wall/floor panels can be assembled in two days, and obviously the panels could be produced during the time that sitework and foundations are being done on-site, so I would not be surprised to see that become the dominant construction method used. Those wall panels also come with MEP already installed. Unless it gets to a point where they can print a house in a couple days, I think 3D printing will primarily take off in markets that currently require CMU walls to meet wind load requirements in building codes. Even then, the interior walls still might end up being prefab gypsum wall board panels to appeal to a broader customer base and reduce noise in the home. It's definitely going to be a really interesting next few years in homebuilding. These are all just experiments still, and I look forward to seeing how different materials are used together as builders scale them.
between minutes 3 and 3:30 the fridge got centered on the upper cabinet? It caught my eye when I first saw it, then seemed it got centered.