Would You Buy a 3D Printed House?

For those of you looking to build or remodel this year, there’s no question material costs are up. With lumber prices up over 100% compared to a year ago, there’s a company called SQ4D and they used a 3D printer to create a 1,400 square foot house. This home is listed on Zillow for $299k in Riverhead, NY. Could this be part of the new normal in building homes? 

The SQ4D team set up a robotic system on the build site, which takes them about 6-8 hours. Then the printer gets to work, laying concrete in layers, building the foundation and then interior and exterior walls. SQ4D says it’s 50% cheaper to build homes this way, which helps further their mission of printing homes “fast, cheap, and strong.”

This particular home has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a 2.5 car garage, and it’s the first 3D-printed home to receive a certificate of occupancy in the United States. It is very exciting to see the concept of 3D housing become part of the building process. I wonder what a house like this would sell for in Minnesota? How much would it save home buyers in warmer markets like California or Texas?  

A 3D printed house is for sale in New York. View article on CNN

Lumber prices are up a staggering 112% compared to this time a year ago, and climbed 10% in the last week. The price increase is making already-high project costs even higher for homebuilders, contractors, and home owners with DIY projects. Business owners outside of the real estate industry and home building market, like shippers who use wooden pallets and crates, are struggling with the price hike as well. 

Mill operators and lumber dealers pulled back on their production for 2020 after weak housing starts and remodels in 2019. So as the pandemic-driven surge in home-buying hit new highs, lumber was in short supply. If lumber prices keep rising at this rate, these 3D-printed homes could start looking like pretty good options for home Buyers around the country.

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