LIMA, Ohio — With rising home costs, a company is fighting the affordable housing crisis by printing homes.
They are using a 3D printer, and they can have a home up in as little as 60 days.
News Center 7’s Mason Fletcher saw the very first 3D-printed home in Ohio.
He said he may have never known it was 3D printed if he hadn’t been told ahead of time. The house is being used as an Airbnb near Lima. The owner of the company that built it took News Center 7 on a tour and showed some interesting custom features for home buyers as well.
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It’s hard to believe that a home came from a piece of machinery, but it could be the way of the future.
According to Zillow, the average cost for a single-family home in Dayton has increased by more than $50,000 since 2020.
It’s created a need for affordable housing in the Miami Valley. Some builders are trying to take advantage of the situation home buyers are in.
John Smoll, CEO of Sustainable Concrete Innovations, said, “You have builders that are absolutely building them as cheap as possible.”
Smoll has been a builder for three decades and saw this problem firsthand, and began working toward a solution.
“So, the obvious thought is automation because whether it’s this industry that’s been manufacturing or any other type of industry, automation always brings the cost down,” Smoll said.
Smoll bought a giant, 16,000-pound 3D printer to make houses. The printer is impressive and has special features.
“Once the foundation and the floor are poured, we come in with a printer, we set it up on the slab, and start printing. And literally within about four to five days, we’ve got the house printed and ready for a roof on it,” Smoll said.
They print one element at a time. With breaks usually occurring around windows and doors. Once the 3D printer is done with walls, builders install plumbing and electricity.
The interior walls are then filled with foam insulation similar to fiberglass, and add concrete columns in the walls for reinforcement.
“It’s essentially a perimeter poured of concrete at the top with rebar reinforcement to fasten the roof to. When that’s done, we’re ready for paint and for the homeowners to move it,” Smoll said.
It’s a process that Smoll says only takes 60 days. “I think everybody is completely blown away when they realize how fast the print is,” he said.
3D-printed homes have not hit the market yet in Ohio, which makes it hard to come up with a price estimate. Smoll said even if the price is the same as an average home, a 3D-printed home gives you a bigger bang for your buck.
“The homes are engineered to commercial specs. So, the homes, themselves, are engineered to a different level than most any home that you’re going to compare it to.” Smoll said,
He told News Center 7 the concrete columns in the wall make the home stronger against the elements, like a tornado.
“Our safe room will not have any of those hazards of having things fall on you. You’re not going to get flooded out because you’re above grade. So, our safe rooms are absolutely safe. I would put my life on that,” Smoll said.
He said the building codes are still catching up to the new technology, but his company has even more durability tests scheduled for later this year. He hopes to further demonstrate the strength of these houses.
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