MUSCATINE, Iowa — Last December, News 8 told you about how Alquist 3D is working with the City of Muscatine to start constructing 3D-printed homes this year.
"The benefits of 3D printed homes are to try and get the American dream to come back," Alquist CEO Zachary Mannheimer told News 8's Joe McCoy five months later.
His company is beginning to build 10 3D-printed homes in the southeast Iowa town. Those homes will bring a multitude of benefits to the area.
"It's basically the same as any other concrete home with a few exceptions," Mannheimer said. "Number 1: we can do it faster. We can print the walls of a home in about 20 hours. Number 2: we only need two or three laborers on sight to do the print."
After 28 days of letting the material cure, the walls will be solidified at full strength. It's important to note that the printing is only done for the exterior walls of the home — the interior and roof are done as usual.
After just two days of curing, little damage is left with a swing of a sledge hammer.
"These homes are incredibly strong," Mannheimer said. "They can withstand most hurricane- or tornado-level winds at that strength."
Additives in the concrete mixture help the substance reach a PSI of 6,000 to 8,000. That's two-to-three times stronger than traditional concrete, according to Mannheimer.
These homes are being built at a critical time.
"Muscatine, like many communities, is critically short of affordable housing," said Muscatine Housing Initiative Manager Ron Monahan.
Monahan said he hopes these homes will bring more people to his town. But, where will the homes be?
"Four houses [will be] in a subdivision. And then six houses funded by the state of Iowa will be in downtown Muscatine," Monahan said. "Those six homes will be for first-time home buyers with a preference to teachers."
The houses are already on the market and are expected to be completed by this fall. Their cost is between $200,000 to $500,000.
Watch News 8's previous coverage of this story on its YouTube channel