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Re:Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable... by mNovak on Friday October 07, 2022 @12:44AM (#33117540)
Is concrete actually a good building material for homes? It doesn't seem like it'd be insulating, and you're definitely not getting internal plumbing/wiring. And concrete is actively bad for the environment. It all feels like the shipping container home -- seems great at a glance, but doesn't really pan out to be lived in.

Ikea style flatpacked prefabs still seems like a vastly better option to me.

Re:Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable... by peppertree on Friday October 07, 2022 @12:54AM (#33117591)
Having recently gone through an adu project, framing is one of the easier steps in new builds. I’m not an expert but I think they are solving the wrong problem here. A solid concrete wall doesn’t have the R value to pass most city codes. Not to mention all the complications with running electrical and plumbing. There are just so many things wrong with this.
Re:Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable... by codalan on Friday October 07, 2022 @01:20AM (#33117717)
Cement production is one of the biggest carbon emitters. There's also the issue of using PVC for the form. None of this seems eco-friendly.

Why not 3d print homes at that point? At least you can get the rebar and other forms in place ahead of the print, and you get more flexibility in the final design of the structure.

Re:Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable... by toast0 on Friday October 07, 2022 @01:44AM (#33117837)
It can be. Concrete isn't a great insulator, but it can moderate temperature changes, so if you have big swings between the day and night, it will keep things cooler in the day and warmer at night, which can be helpful. But if you get a heat wave where it stays hot at night, you're going to be real warm inside the next day too.

This article mentions 100 and 200 square feet buildings, so I don't think there's gonna be much in the way of internal structure. I could see an inflatable structure with 'tubes' at certain places for wiring and plumbing to pass through, which would save cutting holes later.

But like everyone else says, there's easier ways to get the frame up faster. What makes construction slow is coordination between the many different trades that need to work in the same area. With many parts in sequence, and each trade having high utilization, scheduling is difficult --- either you plan with large gaps between trades, or you blow up everyone's schedule when one trade falls behind for whatever reason.

Re:Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable... by francoisfeugeas on Friday October 07, 2022 @01:46AM (#33117854)
Well, the vast majority of Europe builds concrete homes. We definitely get insulation, internal plumbing and wiring.
Re:Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable... by inglor_cz on Friday October 07, 2022 @02:55AM (#33118216)
Individual homes in Europe are typically built from bricks, with concrete used for foundations/floors/ceilings.

The work around internal plumbing and wiring is messy, though. A lot of abrasive brick dust is generated. I wouldn't want to be the guy doing this stuff. In a 3D printed home, nice empty spaces could be left in the wall while printing for all the necessary networks.

Re:Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable... by pjerem on Friday October 07, 2022 @03:28AM (#33118373)
In modern european homes, plumbing and wiring is done via "octopuses".

Most of the time, every connection coming from the exterior are coming through the floor in a little room that we can use for storage and from there, everything is dispatched through inner walls which are basically empty (except around bedrooms if you want acoustic isolation). This allows to maintain everything from the inside.

I wouldn't call it a mess but I'll acknowledge I'm talking about modern constructions.

Re:Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable... by inglor_cz on Friday October 07, 2022 @04:20AM (#33118647)
I was just watching the construction of my new home and they drilled into the brick walls all the time. [0]

None of the walls were empty, all were solid brick with no empty space.

It was quite a mess, though the guys doing the job were very professional and handled the dust disposal very well.

[0] https://imgur.com/a/A3i1ANg

Re:Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable... by pjerem on Friday October 07, 2022 @08:15AM (#33120192)
wow ! In which country are you ?

I've never seen something like this in France.

Re:Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable... by inglor_cz on Friday October 07, 2022 @08:27AM (#33120276)
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.

Re:Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable... by pjerem on Friday October 07, 2022 @09:42AM (#33121153)
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... by inglor_cz on Friday October 07, 2022 @09:55AM (#33121360)
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... by toast0 on Friday October 07, 2022 @01:50PM (#33124682)
It looks like 'placo' is what USians call drywall or sheetrock. (pressed gypsum with a paper backing). We'd call those rails studs; low density residential construction is usually wood studs, but I've got a project going with metal studs because with current pricing trends it makes more sense; metal studs also require armoring electrical though, and there's some other issues depending on use case.
Re:Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable... by retrobrandcool on Friday October 07, 2022 @08:11AM (#33120159)
Isn’t it mostly aerated concrete block(i saw a video of somewhere)? https://www.thisoldhouse.com/platform/amp/masonry/21014916/a...
Re:Startup Builds Houses by Pumping Concrete into Inflatable... by bombcar on Friday October 07, 2022 @07:02AM (#33119667)
You can use something like ICF (insulated concrete forms) but then you lose some of the speed of pure concrete.