Framing the Foundation

Today they worked on putting the frame around where the foundation will be. It is interesting to watch them laying the wood and then curving it to the correct shape and screwing it into the frame they have set in the ground. After they get the framing done they foundation guys will leave for a few days and let the plumbers and electricians in to do their stuff. Then the foundation people will return and clean out the beam footings and lay the rebar in place.

Also, the contractor finished taking out he dead trees today and getting those hauled off. We tried putting the wood on Craigslist, but only one person seemed to want it and they never came and got it. Sort of sad, but it had to go.

Day two of slab work complete

I don't have a photo for today, but I do have a nifty table to summarize the expected progress of building the slab. This is just an estimate and things may certainly shift by a few days depending on things like the weather and whatnot, but it is a fairly good estimate.

4/17/2012	4/20/2012	Break Ground, initial phase of digging the beams and building the frame
4/23/2012	4/25/2012	Plumbing and electrical in the slab
4/26/2012	5/1/2012	Complete frame, lay rebar, prepare to pour
5/2/2012	5/3/2012	Pour Slab
5/5/2012		Inflate the Airform

We also got the inspection for the power pole and setup, so in the next few days the utility company will be connecting our power and then the contractor will run a 320 amp circuit from the utility pole up to the job site (about 200 feet). He will also be running water up to the job site in the near future, since the water meters were installed recently.

All in all things are really starting to happen. The next few weeks will be exciting as stuff visually begins to happen around the job site.

Breaking Ground

Today was the ground breaking for our new home! Monolithic Domes came down and began digging the ring beam and working with the site. The plumbers will be working tomorrow and hopefully the construction phase of the foundation will complete early next week and then they can pour the concrete.

I don't know if I'll actually keep up with daily posts from here out, but I am going to try hard to give regular posts.

If all goes as planned, the airform will be inflated toward teh end of next week!

The house shell is manufactured

We took a trip up to Italy Texas today to look at the fabrication process of the dome airform (the balloon). The whole thing weighs about 1000 pounds and rolled up is about the size of a large dog house. That being said, it is finished. The rest of the fabrication should be done early next week and the whole job should be ready for shipment by the end of next week. It is amazing to thing that that roll of fabric is our house. It is sort of like a tent at the moment and anyone who has ever rolled up a tent and tried to get it back in the little bag they send with them understands the process the crew went through.

The only trouble is that Monolithic Domes is having a workshop next week, so none of the crews will be available until April 16th. They plan on sending an advanced crew down then to work with the basic foundation and digging out the beams on the 16th and 17th. Then the plumbers and electricians can have the rest of the week to lay the stuff they need which will be inside the foundation. Then the next week Monolithic will come back in force and finish what they need and pour the foundation by the end of the week.

If it goes as per that plan (which I hope it will) then the airform should be shipped here on April 30th and probably inflated on May 1st or 2nd! At this point in time all kinds of stuff will be happening on site and I hope I'll have more frequent blog entries.

Fountation Plans being setup

I think things are finally get started in earnest. In about 2 weeks Monolithic Domes will be coming down to start building the frame for the foundation. If that happens, then I hope the airform (the balloon) will be inflated somewhere during the first few weeks of May. I hope to visit them while they are making the actual airform and maybe get a few pictures for posterity.

The lot itself is really greening up now. The rains we have had and the beautiful weather make it look really nice. Except for the few trees that did not survive the drought last year. From the road it is very difficult to see the pad through the trees. Once there is a house there and when it is lit at night especially, I'm sure it will be visible, but we should still have a lot of privacy and sound insulation as well from road noises.

Lots of stuff happening

I really have to get better about keeping this blog updated. I know this is probably the most common problem with starting blogs, but we now actually have a lot of stuff happening and I need to get it down as it happens, rather than waiting weeks to finally write a post.

About 6 weeks ago we selected Brian German as our general contractor and he began the process of clearing the land around the site for the home. We met with him on site and walked around tying surveyors tape to trees we want to keep and ones we wanted to get rid of. (two different colors) We identified the path for the driveway. From there Brian started the clearing process and brought in stuff to make a temporary driveway. The house is about 200 feet off the road, so we now have a temporary driveway leading about 200 feet into our land.

We also brought several loads of dirt in to build the pad which the house will sit on. I knew that the land had an incline to it when walking on it, but I did not realize that by the time we had the back of the pad about 6 inches above the original ground level, the front would be about 4 feet up. This is causing us to rethink a bit about the shape and size of the front porch, since there will have to be steps leaving up to the house. Nothing we can't deal with, but like most people we were thinking very 2 dimensionally and did not think about the effect of an elevation change in the design of the house.

We have also been working with Brian to make some of the choices for the inside of the house. We went to look at appliances for the kitchen, sadly all electric since it is a dome home and using gas is not recommended for dome homes due there being little air infiltration/leakage. From a heating/cooling perspective this is a good thing, but from a vapors/smells/humidity point of view this can cause problems.

We also went to Houston to look at some recycled glass kitchen counter tops material. It is called Icestone and is made from recycled glass and concrete mixed together and the poured in slabs and polished and sealed. It is a really beautiful product and very environmentally friendly, but a bit pricy. We're still discussing whether we want to use ti or not. If not, we'll probably go with a granite counter top. Next week we will be looking at flooring options and lighting fixtures as well.

We've also been working with Monolithic Domes and have the airform (the balloon which is inflated) being manufactured and we are working with them to get a time table on when they will be coming out to actually work on the project. As usual it is taking longer than we hoped, but hopefully within a month we'll be building the actual shell of the home.

We have also been working with the utilities and the water providers and have those services set to be installed within a week or so, once the final building permit is issued. It should not be a big deal to get the permit as we've worked with the city closely in the design and documentation phase, so I hope that is more of a formality. I'll tell you all when it actually happens.

One big thing we have decided on is to install a solar hot water heater and a small Photovoltaic system. The goal is to be able to run critical systems for 24 hours should we lose power for whatever reason and to supply for those systems in a clean and environmental manner. During the winter months (when we won't be using the air conditioner) we can almost go off grid completely, maybe even selling some power back to the utility company. This in essences makes the utility meter run backwards.

We have also decided that since we cannot have a gas stove inside the house, that we need a nice gas grill/cook center on the back patio.

Engineering calculations complete

Last week the design plans were check ed by the staff engineer for Monolithic Domes and all looked good. This means that the set of construction documents is now complete (we had to submit the official plat from the city) and on Monday we will be giving a final review to them on Monday.

With the plans finalized the fabrication of the air form (the balloon which will form the outer shell of the dome) can begin. The actual design of the shape (similar to design clothes, you have to figure out what shape pieces of flat fabric need to be cut so that when they are sewed together they form the correct 3D shape) is underway and that show take a week or two. During this time they order the vinyl fabric and can begin construction immediately upon completing the design. I hope to visit Monolithic during the actual fabrication of the airform and get a picture or two.

Another benefit of having the construction documents in hand is we can take them to the city and get the necessary building permits. The only thing we still have to do is determine the window style so we can do an energy calculation to satisfy the city on the dome's energy efficiency. We'll talk with our general contractor next week to get this done.

We also now have a driveway and electrical power (or will in the very near future). Next week I am gong to call and request water service which should be installed within 1-2 weeks.

If everything stays on schedule now we should see the dome go up somewhere around mid-March and by early to mid April the interior work should be able to begin. The estimate is 5-6 months to finish the interior, so we are now looking at a move in date of early October. That makes it about 15 months from initial stages of planning to move-in.