3D-Printed Home Can Be Constructed For Under $4,000

These guys are building small houses with a thing that prints in layers just like a home 3D printer, using mortar instead of plastic. [VIDEO] It looks like there's manually placed metal mesh for reinforcement. Dunno what the quality's like, but it's there. It does seem like it would be tricky to scale to structures larger than the practical footprint of their printer, but maybe the thing could be mounted on wheels.

Already have: [VIDEO] (The workmanship isn't as good as a conventional contractor, but you can't beat the price, and they're being aimed at people who would otherwise be homeless or living in shantytowns.)

FWIW, they show the mesh in the first few seconds of this video: [VIDEO] Personally I think they should emphasize the manual labor requirements. One of the strongest criticisms of 3D-printed and prefab housing technology is that it reduces demand for low-skilled labor. For the past 80 years home construction has been a major pillar of the American labor economy; likewise for China and many other countries. Free or reduced cost housing is great, but to the extent it comes at the expense of a sustainable labor economy, then it's problematic.