@Bridges I don’t know what APOC is, but if it is a strong porous fabric yes, give it a go- lone the firms before you pour, then wrap the ends over the top of the pour to seal the structure.

@Traveller 04: the clay soils have been classified as “highly reactive “ - which can experience “extreme ground movement” of more than 75mm when wet. I don’t know what this would be like for a rocket mass heater but it’s a bugger for foundations. My footings will have six rebars top and bottom to create one bloody solid raft to support the domes.

Hello,
I'm developing a DIY round 3.5 foot window kit for domes. My question is, are there any folks here that would be interested in receiving all the parts and instructions to build on site a round window jam and frame? The only thing necessary by the customer would be to assemble the form, buy the glass cut to fit and mix/pour the cement for the jam. The Windows can come in all sorts of sizes and functionality. Most to all of the woodworking would be done for you with minimal skill necessary for assembly.

@Cellie Please do! I love to hear what your ideas are.
Talk soon,
-nate

@fire Earthbag construction is so labor intensive but not as labor intensive as packing tires. I personally am going with the Monolithic Dome airforms. You could make your own airforms I have not done so myself, but i visited a home in CO where the home owners made the airforms. On there website they sell a book on how to make airforms.

Here is a video I made of the home i visited and I have a link in the description to the website with the book.

Good luck.

@Martin10 if my calculations are accurate then you should need about 2800 blocks. This is assuming a consistent block size as your estimate for a 16 foot diameter dome. I simply took the square footage of a sphere of that diameter and divided that to get a per block ratio (.867 blocks per sq ft of sphere surface area calculated at some diameter) and scaled it. Assuming that you have The same fraction of the dome above the ground as in a 16 foot diameter dome that should be a rather accurate prediction. I could model it on CAD very quickly if you want to get a more accurate number. The fact that it is nearly 4 times the quantity also gives me confidence because the surface area quadruples as the diameter doubles...

Hi, im in baja now 2019 la ventana, are you located in baja, do you have little dragon etc and experience with domes? If so plz contact me

I have been thinking of this topic allot being that it seems to be the primary method of forming domes. The compass arm, and how one one chooses to use it, is a direct influence on the shape one ends up getting. Are there any more ideas by you Domies on how one could get interesting and structurally sounds dome shapes?

I hear you at 54, 62 here. But the air crete is way better than Adobe blocks or cinder blocks. I have some old, repurposed stainless steel solar battery trays I line with plastic drop cloth to pour into. Cut chicken wire to fit the form as reinforcement. Form is thick as a fist, as wide as elbow to knuckle, as tall as most women (don't remember metric to US)

😞 Dam you will be missed bro.

According the rocket mass heater theory as I understand it, the best place and time to get power for your system is the riser itself. The force of movement generated in the riser will draw in the fresh oxygenated air and push out the exhaust. After the exhaust gas has cooled, it is considered counterproductive to direct it upward against gravity. The power of the riser is significantly increased by every inch of its height and by each additional 100ºF. The more power a riser produces, the longer it's horizontal exhaust can be, the more heat can be extracted into the mass.

Great inspiration. There are many conversations on this forum on this topic. Here is one of my favorites: Aircrete and earth-berming

@annesley said

Cochise county AZ...has an alternative builders program...you can opt out of all inspections and build whatever you want.

This is remarkable. Here is the link to the building code referred to.

Annesely, it does say that this "does not exempt owner-builders from statewide codes such as the plumbing and fire codes and regulations regarding smoke detectors, nor does it exempt owner-builders from fire codes adopted by fire districts or the County."

How did you deal with these state codes?

@zander Thank you for info! Will contact him.

@brian-spooner Later after I get the journey dust off me rofl I will post some links to other pioneers who like me are doing good work in this field. Maybe I will tell the story of how I came to know of this process. Air Crete and afordable sensible housing and free energy Its an honor to be involved in every way

@marwan-k
What are you wanting to protect?

@zander Just think of all the replacement fireproof housing needed in California!

@zander
Yes. That's right when only including materials for shell construction with the cement. That's not including labor, water, tools, and finishes like doors windows, lighting and cabinetry. This is why I priced $100-150. Finish is generally at least triple in cost...

the finished dome might not be perfectly rounded

Perhaps perfectly round is over rated. Well defined geodesic domes can be very artistic. I suppose the rounder it is the stronger it is though.

Hi KatherineAirDoug, I am in the same situation that you are. Our HOA requires us to build a min 1500 sq ft home. No other restrictions other than that so I can pretty much do what I want. The wife and I are hip on the geodesic style type home and really like the simplicity of the aircrete system. I was doing some research and came across a website called Domearama.com. This site has a section, (calculators) that you can input any different parameters and it will give all the information automatically. In our case though we want the geodesic type style, and on this site it instructs you at what lenghts to cut conduit, and what angles to bend the ends before assembly to create a open shell if you will on any size or V frequency that you desire. Once the shell is completed the we are going to attach a rigid mesh on the outside of the conduit frame then heat shrink plastic on top of that. Then we will commense the standard aircrete block laying procedure that these fine folks do at the workshops, however there will be angles to cut but still same process. Once the dome is complete, and the skin is on the outside, then begin dismantling the frame inside, and lay the skin on the inside walls. Our plans is to reuse the conduit frame to build the other domes that will connect to each other. Our home needs to be 1500 sq ft so we plan to construct (3) 500 sq ft domes to satisfy the HOA's request. The property we have is similar to what you are describing, a lot of trees, so we will build around, next too, the trees how ever we want, but the trees stay. They where there before we where. I do not think that strait wall will work, but I am not an expert, or claim to have knowledge in this area, but some on this forum could prolly guide you whether or not is is feesable to do that. I hope I was some help. I want to use aircrete for the foundation, but I myself need to know how much hard concrete on top I need to apply to make it stable when one walks on it to keep it from collasping. I hope I was some help, this is the wife and I's plans on how we are going forward, it is a little different from the norm the way the domes are constructed on this site, we are always up for a challenge.