Terra-Dome Earth Shelter Build

[hobie]

Sam, As a fan of this thread, I wanted to say how impressed I am with this undertaking of yours. I have 4 brothers, and we started a "prefab" contemporary ranch for my parents in '84. 3 of us had very limited construction experience, and two had been part of crews that built a house each. It took us over a year to finish it! I never saw any prefab parts, but I was there the least. Anyway, it really brought my family together, and I'm guessing your project has too. Seems like perfect timing considering the state of the country, and the world. Hang in there! All the best, Brian

 

[SamWalton]

Sam, As a fan of this thread, I wanted to say how impressed I am with this undertaking of yours. I have 4 brothers, and we started a "prefab" contemporary ranch for my parents in '84. 3 of us had very limited construction experience, and two had been part of crews that built a house each. It took us over a year to finish it! I never saw any prefab parts, but I was there the least. Anyway, it really brought my family together, and I'm guessing your project has too. Seems like perfect timing considering the state of the country, and the world. Hang in there! All the best, Brian

Welcome to TBN Brian and thanks for sharing your experience and encouragement. My wife, sons and myself have been pretty much an island to ourselves with little or no assistance from friends or family members. Also because I have always tackled the many challenges of life such as engineering, maintenance or repair of mechanical, electrical ,electronic and limited software I have continually put myself in challenging positions which force growth. I try to avoid feeling overwhelmed but I do occasionally feel sorry for myself but these times are short lived because I know I can always find a solutions from the internet. Both my wife Wendy and I would say perfect timing would have been we finished our earth shelter home project twenty years ago when we were young and strong. I do believe the timing is good as you said.

 

[SamWalton]

I've been reading this forum for years, but only just registered as I have extensive knowledge of acid staining concrete.

Sam- I think I see rough texture in some of your pics. That is abnormal and shouldn't be there. You don't say what's wrong with the stain job, but there are some things to consider with any acid stain job. The acid stain works by reacting with the free lime in the concrete. If the new slab is left unprotected, and things are spilled before staining, issues always arise. Things alike soda pop, tobacco juice, or even spit also react with the free lime in concrete. If something like that is spilled, the stain will ghost through as a lighter area. On the other hand, it's not unusual to have some white chalky, or crystalized residue. You may need to clean the residue a few times, but it will eventually go away as the concrete cures out completely.

I am a consultant to the commercial construction industry and whenever I'm involved in an acid stain project, I work hard to get the end user to understand that the process is pretty random and uncontrollable. I call it random coolness. I suggest you sawcut the slab into smaller sections. The sections should be scaled to the room size. Something like 1' to 2' squares on the diagonal might look good. You can then fill in the sawcuts with a colored epoxy for a tile effect. I suggest a dark color as it will darken over time anyway (like your pretty white joints will turn out black just due to use). I've been involved in several large commercial projects where we cut 4' squares on the diagonal and had people say "how did you get such big pieces of marble? That must have cost a fortune". I don't think an unscored, stained, floor would ever look very good. It really needs to be broken up.

I've been following you build for a long time- cool project. Thanks for sharing

Thanks for your much needed opinion. We contracted the same guy who finished our slab to do the acid stain. He wanted $2 a square foot to saw cut, stain and seal, but because we are lacking $$ we opted to just stain and seal. We purchased the materials and the they would stain and seal the 2744 Square foot for $1K. I was instructed to purchase four gallons of Brickform CS-700 Mission Brown and fifteen gallons of the Kure N Seal 25LV. They applied the acid twice with two parts water and one part acid. They left the acid on overnight and rinsed with water, shop vacuumed fan dried and applied two coats of the Kure N Seal 25LV with Walmart rollers the same day.
I don't care for the finish because it has dirt, bubbles and may inconsistencies in the finish. Also the surface of the floor broke away in a few areas allow the walls. These areas will need some repair. I don't trust these guys after this experience. What should we do?

 

[mjncad]

The roller marks and spalling are unacceptable; but unfortunately I have no experience with your concrete finish of choice. I hope someone else with the proper knowledge chimes in.

 

[arkbound]

Hey Sam,
Sorry you have had a bad installation of the acid stain on your floors. I tried to assist you by looking up stuff on the internet. Perhaps these guys can help answer your problem(s). Looks like the problem areas will have to be removed either by chemical or bead blasted and redone. It would appear the installers where inexperienced with this media. Anyway here a couple of sites I found which may be of use to you. I really like what can be done by experienced installers.
Fixing Acid Stains ? Tips on Staining Concrete - The Concrete Network

How to Repair Stamped Concrete | eHow.com

BTW a couple of sites said not to use mops, squegee, or rollers for acid application, only spray on. Good luck with the repairs.
John L -(arkbound)

 

[SamWalton]

Our concrete finisher did apply the acid with a sprayer. He has been great in working to correct our problems. Our floors need a third coat but the Kure N Seal 25LV needs to be thinned out to get a smoother, flatter finish. He removed the loose or delaminated areas and used a bonding agent with his patches. Which by the way are super smooth? I believe our finisher will do a great job. He put a third coat on the kitchen section.

We have been busy with the installation of more electrical circuits, a garage door (what fun) all PEX water lines through our previously installed 1-1/4" and ¾" electrical conduits. I was worried about getting the PEX through these conduits but we pulled and pushed and we made it look simple. This was well worth the extra effort. Any future failures can simply be replaced. I also build the custom 1-1/2 PEX manifolds for the hot and cold.

 

[mojoinco]

Sam, what made the garage door a pain? I have only repaired my doors and read the 'theory' of installing one. Does yours have a low ceiling 'frame'?

The floor looked like they tried rolling/spreading the material when it was too dry (or too thin).

 

[sajurcaju]

Hi Sam,
I think your floors are looking better. Good to have someone who works through the issues on their work with you.

I'm interested in what you can tell me about the copper headers. It looks like you formed the side ports (instead of Tees). I've heard of this, but don't know the details.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Damifino]

Sam, really like the pex pipe puller, simple, effective and only cost a crimp ring each pull.

 

[SamWalton]

Sam, what made the garage door a pain? I have only repaired my doors and read the 'theory' of installing one. Does yours have a low ceiling 'frame'?

The floor looked like they tried rolling/spreading the material when it was too dry (or too thin).

The instructions were written for 3 different doors with other options as well. We had many extra parts. Figuring it out was kinda like do your taxes. Our application made it difficult as well. I did purchase the low headroom kit for this door.

The floor sealent must be thinned to aquire a smooth finish.