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Monolithic Domes...Submitted by Doug on 28 March, 2008 - 00:24.
 came through with the 10 x 10 airform and inflaters. All you do is inflate, place reinforcing steel, add concrete, wait, deflate, remove airform -- Vualla, concrete dome. Well there is a little bit more to it but they are affordable and strong buildings. Bump up the rebar size and they can be buried too. These are the same ones that will be used at the world famous Geek Ranch. In the back ground the trusty trailer that will bring all of our "must have" items to Nicaragua, oh yeah the log house is for rent too, if you want to live in the rural Pacific Northwest send me a PM ;) ( categories: )
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This is exciting. I hope
This is exciting. I hope you'll post lots of pictures when you start building the first domes.
I can envision several 10' domes connected in different configurations to make a small dwelling...two 10' dome bedrooms, a 10' dome LR, 10' dome bathroom, etc.
A ten foot room needs lots of cross ventilation to not be stifling inside.
I was thinking of a ...
roof vent or a coopala sort of arrangement. Ideally I would like a larger one for a home, the 25 foot with a couple of 10 foot 'bulges' might be nice. They can make the airforms in many configurations.
Pictures?
Hell Yeah!!
Even if it flops and I have a concrete monument to initial failure.
-Doug
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate
Does 10' work?
My plan for the 10 foot ones is storage buildings and such. While a 10 foot dome could be a bedroom, I think it would be more work to connect a bunch of 10 foot ones than build a 25 foot one. It would take six 10 foot ones to have the same floor space as a 25.
As the interior walls are not structural, partitioning a 25 should be pretty easy. The Geek Cabina, for example, will be a 25. It gets pretty much divided in half with one size being a open living room/mini-kitchen. The other side will have a bedroom and a partitioned off bathroom.
the 10 footer...
does seem a good choice for storage, very secure, and a less intimidating (and cheaper) first step to maybe larger ones as you have going. I think they will work well partially buried into a hillside for a cooler place for storage of heat sensitive things. One of the folks at the factory mentioned that thatch is often put on the top to shade,a good waterproof coating would be needed in any event.
fun times ahead.
-Doug
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate
For A Dome Cabana
I was thinking about skylights and/or potential sliding Glass doors, not just for light but also to get away from any "Cave" effect. The surroundings and the views would beg for some kind of design that allowed this. I like the idea mentioned here regarding outside covered porch,(Balcony?) some kind of overhang that permits sitting outside after a meal with a coffee or such, day or night. I realise you could go crazy and have a design "Madness Moment" contrary to budget concerns. It's just sensible to make use of the outdoors and the light in such a great spot.
and
clay tile roofs....to do otherwise would not honor the culture of the people. we must fit in with their culture.
when government grows, liberty yields, thomas jefferson
A couple of 'em...
side by side with a wall to fill in, then a tile roof over the front for the overhang to keep the rain off the hammock zone
-Doug
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate
can i say
can i say i like the log house? domes, i don't know? i like the dome on the movie, "cars." you know, the one owned by the vw bus. what? you haven't seen the movie? you don't have kids?
You may...
and of course it is a carbon sequestering structure with $0 in transportation associated cost as the trees were cut on site. Even the roof is green ;)
-Doug
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate
way to go!
i am happy for you bc you saved money! but bc of temple mountain energy, i am carbon positive!
when government grows, liberty yields, thomas jefferson
Dome Photos
Check out http://static.monolithic.com/gallery/homes/index.html to find links to lots of dome "stories" with photos. The one thing you will quickly figure out is that domes can end up being very creative in design.
I love thier factory...
looks like a giant centepede
-Doug
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate
i enjoyed looking at the site
then i started thinking of my son's favorite show, teletubbies! have you seen that dome? it has grass growing on top! and yes, i worry bc that is my son's favorite show....
when government grows, liberty yields, thomas jefferson
isn't one of those...
tubbies, the purple one, a..ah..don't ask,don't tell, sort of character ? Very liberal of you ;)
I was thinking along the lines of a Hobbit Home, Lord of the Rings, sort... nice cool place to lager beer, age cheese or hide from Ollie North
-Doug
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate
is this?
is this liberal of me: i love the sinner hate the sin? or is that conservative? ;)
btw, is that how you do a wink? and can you do that when discussing that topic? ;)when government grows, liberty yields, thomas jefferson
A man..
can wink when he wants to, just none of that limp wrist stuff ;)
-Doug
P.S. I was gonna say a 'macho man', but I knew you would find that song lyrics.... and things would spiral out of control into the mega-hundred post count.
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate
I'm Jealous
Ours are ready as of a week ago but the lady that figures the shipping cost has been out sick this week. Groan.
For those wondering about what you do with a 10 foot one, we are getting a 10 foot and a 25 foot one. The 25 foot one becomes the geek cabanas and probably the mushroom factory. But, 10 foot domes become the "I need something here" option. That could be a storage building, a guard shack, my separate "office" away from my house and the people who don't understand what thinking is work, ...
For our actual house on the property, I have been looking at the monolithic dome plans for layout (these are insulated and stuff) for ideas but would use the ecoshell like we are using for the other buildings. Sizes that make sense are either the 30 or 34 foot diameter ecoshell. That works out to 706 or 907 square feet of floorspace. There are quite a few plans for a 32 foot monolithic dome (804 sq ft) with from one to four bedrooms including one 2-story design.
While four bedrooms and two bathrooms in 804 sq ft sounds very small by U.S. standards, with a reasonable outdoor climate year round, it becomes a reasonable choice. Note that it isn't my favorite--I will probably end up with a 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom design if I get my way or probably a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom one if Ana gets her way.
I guess I have a bit more to say on this but it is not specifically about domes so I am going to start a new thread.
I figured...
you might be, I just couldn't resist ;)
Nothing like the smell of a new Ecoshell airform, mmmmm airform....
Yes Monolithic is a bit...casual with time lines or they are super busy, I'm not sure which. I took me a month to get a proforma invoice and at least a month to get it shipped.
I can't wait to play in the mud,
-Doug
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate
more power to your elbow
as they say. 10 x 10 is relatively small, what are you using it for? Another question. Where in the Pacific Northwest is the Log House?
I was planning to use...
it for secure storage and one either buried or partially buried to use for a cool room, sort of a big refrigerator. Then I started to envision them in a cluster with attached walkways, maybe a central covered area with two or three around the perimeter, they make a nice storm shelter also, stand up real nice to hurricanes and earthquakes. Another thought I had was a cistern, block the door and a hole in the top...bingo
The log house in south of Olympia WA, near a small town called Yelm, sits on 5 acres
-Doug
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate
N-S-E-W , Indoor Bathrooms and Water
Honey we are actually a bit North of Oly ; )
I don't understand why folks want bathrooms indoors. Maybe in cold climates, but why in someplace where the temperature is mild year round ? My vision is a sort of Japanese style outdoor bathhouse. Something that blurs the line between in and outdoors. fyl please weigh in on this as you mentioned indoor baths.
FWIW, I think Global climate changes will make/are making clean water the most valuable commodity, and that folks should be thinking ahead about methods to insure they will have enough storage capacity for themselves and their neighbors. Using the domes to build cisterns might be a fairly cheap way to do that. Gotta look into sealants/liner.....
Indoor bathrooms
It depends on the audience. Gringos that want to pay expensive rent for a hotel room want indoor bathrooms. So, that is a consideration on our "commercial" building.
Traditionally, houses here seem to have evolved from outhouses to indoor plumbing. But, the most common house layout is with most rooms having an outside entrance. Thus, an "indoor" bathroom is just another outside door. That makes sense.
As for what we build for our house, just not sure yet. I do realize that as I have been "thinking round", the bathrooms in all the plans are indoors. I need to re-think this to make something that is sane.
In my current house, we have (almost) four bathrooms. The house originally had two--one "inside" from each bedroom. One of those remains but the other three (ok, 2-1/2) are accessible from outside doors--the two downstairs ones off the patio and the upstairs one adjacent to the (also outside) hallway.
Removing the bathroom(s) from the construction plan is a plus. I am going to see what ideas would work.
i like the idea
of indoor/outdoor bathrooms. i only plan to have airconditioning for 3 rooms and only use that part of the year. but please explain what climate change has to do with water. i don't believe the case for man-made global warming has been made. i posted where hanson was wrong, 1934 is still the warmest year on record and another where 2008 is cooler than normal so far....
until there is scientific certainty, the global warming stuff is a power grab for more of your liberties, please see jefferson's quote.
when government grows, liberty yields, thomas jefferson
The planet cycles thru
The planet cycles thru climate changes naturally, as part of a very normal pattern that is influenced in part by sunspot cycles, among other things. This a scientific fact. Part of that change is a shift in rainfall patterns. Aquifers get recharged (mostly) from rainfall. Therefore a wise person will take care to insure their access to the necessary is not compromised.
I said nothing about Global warming, man made or otherwise. This is in fact what I am more concerned with:
http://www.spaceandscience.net/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/Press...
Go back a little further to 1793-1830. Cold, very very cold. Crop failures, mass starvation.
Maybe the powers that be can use "Global Warming" to alarm the ignorant masses. So sorry, I know their tactics and find them amusing. Like watching a 10 year old boy stirring an ant hill with a stick. From their False Flag Operations to their Media Spin Doctors..."Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" jejejeje.
I do think the domes could also provide (pest proof?)storage for beans/rice etc. Part of the fluctuation in prices of those items in Nicaragua may be the lack of adequate dry bulk storage at the farmer/local level ?
i like you sue!
you are one smart cookie!
i do want a cistern and agree with just about everything you say....well, except i do not like domes...well except the one at monticello....
yea, i thought the geographic records indicated that it was warmer from 1000 - 1400 ad.
i am tired of chicken little, the man from tennesee, "the world has a fever." give me a break....
when government grows, liberty yields, thomas jefferson
sue...
you impressed me so that i looked at your bio. do you know that doug fellow? he is one smart dude. but don't tell him that, he may get a big head....
when government grows, liberty yields, thomas jefferson
He Is My
Darling Husband, who is very patient with all my little quirks and Abo tendencies. I'm afraid I'm a bit of a Luddite... a neoprimitive if you will.
He speaks very highly of you, too.