Review of my purchases from domegaia
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Domegaia provides a great bit of information and inspirational ideas for building a cost effective, low maintenance, practically indestructible by nature haven/home and I thank them for that. Comparatively, yes, the ecological impact of an aircrete home is much less than the traditional North American home with all the toxic materials used. (eg: asphalt shingles, vinyl siding, other plastics, insulation, paints, stains, other manufactured materials, etc...) Domegaia has provided a better alternative but, not a true environmentally friendly option either, as they seem to tout. Take your time and understand where "cement powder" comes from. Please. Before you choose this option. With that said, I am a true fan of the cost, the time, labour, low maintenance, and the benefits to the environment that this option does offer. Personally, I would be much happier if Domegaia could/would have provide(d) some other ideas rather than commercially sourced cement powder, an organic fabric option rather the polyester fabric, and a more organic option than a latex bonding agent. I would then call this a truly eco-friendly option. Sorry for the strange rant. lol. Having been inspired by Domegaia, I went ahead and purchased a number of their products offered in their online store. I now have the Little Dragon, the mixer and foam injector, (none of which I've had the use yet) and I also purchased their digital student hand book. The Little Dragon DIY kit came as advertised but does not come with pvc glue and for the price they charge, it should be included, in my opinion. The paper instructions are fairly different from the video assembly tutorial. I used both. It looks great when finished and I expect will run without a hitch. The convenience of the kit was great but, I probably should have sourced the parts myself and I have saved a good amount of money. More time and effort though. It would be a trade off. The other cost prohibitive factors were the shipping and customs fees as I'm in eastern Canada. The tax and duty from customs for the two separate shipments required for the mixer and the Little Dragon cost me over $150cad plus the shipping costs. With the taxes and duty I should never ever have bought their mixer. I could have found one of equal or better quality in my local hardware store. The mixing wand appears to be great quality and strength (although hand built likely rather than machined precision) compared to other of the same size I have seen elsewhere. The student handbook, is way over priced and most of the information provided can be found, for free, on Domegaia's own website, forums, and videos. The floor plans that come with it are great for inspiration but otherwise nearly useless if you're not building that exact home. I meant to buy the master class instead and forgot at the time of purchase as I was do excited to start this journey. Lesson learned. Don't shop online when you're not focused. I look forward to starting my adventure with aircrete. I feel you are overcharging for your digital content and the other concerns mentioned above but, I do thank you Domegaia for what you have provided. Keep up the work. A cold weather Canadian dome workshop would be greatly appreciated. I have access to a beautiful farm where we intend to build in rural New Brunswick that would fit right in with what appear to be the companies morals and beliefs. This would be an exceptionally ideal location for your first Canadian workshop and I could use the help building my dome. Wink, wink.Thank you and good afternoon, good evening, good night, and good morning to you all.