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 printing techniques can increase productivity there, but I'm not quite show how.
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
Agreed; we looked into building one, and the actual construction wouldn't have been the problem - getting permits, paying to have surveys done, and drawing up architectural drawings and such would have already been pretty expensive - and that's the bare minimum required to even get an answer from our city as to whether we can plop one down.
That was a study done by an industry group and included all fees and taxes in a contrived scenario. Not just permitting fees.
So things like property tax during the build period, as well as sales tax and service tax charged by the builders contractors. The study assumed a 5 year build period and multiplied all yearly property taxes by that amount. It also tacked on things like the vacant home tax and speculation tax which are not applied to properties under construction. Many of the taxes and fees are also scaled to the square footage of the house. Lastly they also included things like sewer hookup fees, which is really not an unnecessary cost for a builder to pay.
Permit fees are too high, and maybe we should exempt a lot of them given the current crisis, but this study is aiming for a quick headline. If you dig into their analysis it is a worst case scenario for what a house would cost for a foreign speculator who left the house vacant before flipping it and didn’t qualify for any homebuyer tax exemptions.
A lot of those taxes and fees wouldn’t apply to a sandcastle is what I’m saying. The $250k figure is the number they quoted for a $900k 2-bed new-build condo in a transit corridor. Even in their own study the lower cost housing units were coming in at half that.
Sheds and small storage buildings seem like they could be a good use of the technology. Dwelling units and production spaces need utilities, which complicates things. Sheds need a solid base, good walls, a roof (which might be 3D printed in stairstep fashion), and a door. There's a big gap in the market between the metal/resin DIY kits from big box retailers and the prefab sheds delivered by flatbed truck.
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 printing techniques can increase productivity there, but I'm not quite show how.