{
  "id": 9172179,
  "title": "Homebuilders Turn to Robots as Crews Run Short",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/22/homebuilders-turn-to-robots-as-crews-run-short",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-22T17:22:17.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "PYMNTS",
    "slug": "pymnts",
    "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/real-estate/2026/homebuilders-turn-to-robots-as-crews-run-short/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The rising cost of homebuilding has led some families to turn to robots in Texas. The family in Collin County found a 1,700-square-foot, 3-bedroom home built by a robotic concrete printer cost about $200,000, compared to over $300,000 for a similar conventional home. This price difference came from using a machine that three people can operate, instead of a traditional framing crew. Labor shortages in the construction industry have cost builders around $11 billion annually and added about two months to the average build time. Builders, like Phil Crone of the Dallas Builders Association, predict that labor-intensive construction will increasingly be replaced by less labor-intensive options in the next 15 to 20 years. On-site robots, such as Dusty Robotics' FieldPrinter, are taking one task at a time to address this challenge. By printing digital plans directly onto slabs, Dusty's FieldPrinter allows framers, electricians, and plumbers to work from a single layout, with one operator capable of covering 10,000 to 15,000 square feet a day. Another approach, Oh Snap Layout, combines layout standardization with precut lumber and prefab wall panels, reducing the shell construction timeline to about 11 to 12 days, down from roughly 21 days. While the financial benefits of these robotic solutions are still being proven, investment in this technology is growing. Reframe Systems, for example, has raised $40 million to expand its network of robotic microfactories that frame and assemble walls before shipping components for on-site assembly.",
  "summary": "Building a house has gotten expensive enough that a family in Collin County, Texas, found even a smaller conventional home would run more than $300,000. The U.S. is short about 1.2 million homes, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) estimates, and builders can’t find the workers to close the gap. So, in 2023, the […] The post Homebuilders Turn to Robots as Crews Run Short appeared…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}