So 3D printing is legal now!?

Montana has become the first state to prove 3D printing as an alternative to traditional concrete block structures. This is a big step because even though 3D-printed houses have been around for a while, they've kind of been looked upon with a certain amount of reticence because people don't really know what they're able to do. That makes sense because 3D-printed houses have only been around for a few years. They haven't really been able to be time tested the same way really old building methods have been like bricks and wood, which have been around for hundreds of years so we know how they last and how they hold up as a structure. This new regulatory approval from Montana now proves out 3D printing is a legitimate alternative to traditional manufacturing.

The machine that has been approved and the process that has been approved was created by Apis Cor you may have heard of them they're the ones who have created the largest 3D printed building in the world over in Dubai. The gentleman who actually pushed for this approval up in Montana wanted to use Apis Cor to produce a small development inside of Billions, Montana his name is Tim Stark. He is hoping that the new process will reduce the cost to build houses by about 30 percent both from the reduction of labor and the simplification of the processes and the material. He also hopes that it will reduce the time to produce new developments quite substantially as well which has been really important in the current kind of housing crisis that has existed. This is a big step for them regulatorily but it also proves that their materials and their processes have finally reached a point where they can be considered reliable. 

3D-printed houses have always had the same sort of material challenges as other types of 3D printing. They are not able to run standard concrete through their nozzles as they're laying down these layers for a wall. The companies that have created these machines have had to create custom machinery and custom cement mix that are stable enough dry quickly enough and flow well enough to be able to be put down in layers and not have the whole thing melt as it's going up, which traditional concrete would do. 

This is a great step forward it has proven out the technology and it has proven out that these are now ready to kind of be deployed. It'll still be a long time before 3D printed houses are really really commonplace but it is a good step. Let us know down in the comments about other things that you'd like to hear about and let us know about what you would use a 3D printed house for! 

Have a great day everybody!
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Happy Printing!