Terra-Dome Earth Shelter Build

[mjncad]

OK, see if these are better.

Much better, thanks!

 

[sajurcaju]

That's going to be a nice place ND.
I'd be careful about your earth tubes. I don't know much about them, but keep an eye on what TD proposes and make sure it is going to work. Pretty hard to do over. We had problems in flat roof extension areas with sagging forms leaving spots that collect water. I've also seen some rats nest (poor concrete mixing) at another TD site. You'd think TD would know how to do all this stuff right, but they don't.

We didn't understand the roof penetrations issue well enough when designing the house--apparently neither did TD, since they knew what we wanted to end up with. The problem was in our master bath. We wanted a sun tube and tubes for a house ventilator. The ventilator unit takes two tubes, in and out, and the points where they go to atmosphere need to be separated by 10'. What we ended up with is one 8" penetration and one 13", plus a 10' long run of 6" PVC. Ran the sewer vent, ventilator in and out, and there was no room for the sun tube. Kind of hard to add it in later.

It doesn't sound like your ventilation setup works the same, maybe your setup doesn't need the same piping. I'm not sure how it relates to the earth tubes.

I really like the 24" sun tube I put in the shop. More sun tubes out there would be a big plus, but I had never seen them before and didn't realize how nice they are. Tracy from TD described them as "about a 40W light bulb" but they're way more than that with the sun on them. We have had guests stay in the other bathroom (that does have a sun tube) for awhile trying to figure out how to turn off the light..

"There must be something for the exhaust fan in the garage.." Don't count on it, make sure.

Waterproofing--Paraseal is bentonite clay attached to plastic sheeting, comes in a roll. TD recommends it. It works well, you line valleys and work it around roof penetrations. It's also expensive. I suspect (but have no experience) that you could do something similar much more cheaply by lining the valleys with a thin layer of bentonite and put heavy plastic over the top. Still need some of the pre-made sheet for the vertical parts.

We dig in this week to try and fix the one remaining leak at the cold pour between shop and barn.

Steve
Maine

I've been preoccupied with getting the plans finished and contractors organized and didn't get to posting. It has been painstakingly slow getting the plans revised and back. We have definitely jumped on in! Half the footings are poured and we are to pour the first of the modules in another week. Ran into trouble already because a concrete truck was late and we had a downpour just as they arrived. Couldn't get the truck close enough to pour and it had to go back. Now we need more gravel and a different route because of all our rain. Usually dry as a bone here this time of year! Well we don't have your heat problem Sam. It is 49 at night and cools off nicely. Cameron is the TD guy on site right now. The forms are supposed to arrive Monday.
I know Steve said he didn't have enough roof penetrations and I wanted to run by you what they have proposed for us. There are 5 of the 12" sewer pipe penetrations for the 4 solar tubes and the 2 bath exhausts, dryer vent, plumbing vents, satellite, phone, antennae or anything else coming into the utility room. There are 6" pipes in module 2 for stove hood exhaust and module 3 for bath exhaust & plumbing vents. The chimney flue liner is 8' and there must be something for the exhaust fan in the garage but I don't remember him saying anything about that. The earth tube sleeves are also in modules 1 and 3. It comes off the side of the skylight in module 2.
What experience does anyone have with Quickie vents for sinks?
BTW we are putting Penetron in the concrete on the domes, parapet and retaining walls. It is $25/yd so does get expensive to put it in the whole thing but we don't plan on using all the Econoline. We should only have to seal the penetrations and cold joints.

CW

 

[ND Vet]

The pipe has a rubber seal on one end which slips into the bell shaped end of the connecting pipe. Solvent is not used. The SDR 35 is usually light green in color and should be available at most plumbing supply houses. See fig. 1 in this link. http://pwpipe.com/literature/f/mkt-f-750.pdf

That looks like the answer I've been looking for. I'll start asking around. No one else has mentioned this option. Thank you, Bob!

 

[carpolisher]

That looks like the answer I've been looking for. I'll start asking around. No one else has mentioned this option. Thank you, Bob!

You bet.... good luck with your build.

Bob

 

[patrick_g]

That looks like the answer I've been looking for. I'll start asking around. No one else has mentioned this option. Thank you, Bob!

Our rural water district used a lot of pipe with the belled ends and rubber gaskets. I don't know the largest size they used but I gave right of way to lay a 6 inch for a half mile next to my highway frontage fence-line.

I have a two inch version from my water meter to my house, about 800 ft.

Here in Oklahoma we often have expansive soil that shrinks and expands considerably with moisture. This can, and has in my personal situation, caused leaks with conventional glued joint PVC. We have had no problems with our gasketed joint 2 inch water line. Likewise a neighbor a mile down the section line whose water supply line is 2 inch gasketed from the previously mentioned 6 inch.

Our lines are schedule 40 PVC (white) not green. IF you go for the gasketed pipe don't forget to get the joint lubricant which is applied liberally to the gasket and pipe to be inserted. It helps the gasket go on easily and make a nice seal. It is water soluble and washes away easily when the pipe has some flow.

I think the stuff works well.

Pat

 

[SamWalton]

We have been busy as usual and have lived in our new home close to two months. It has been quite of a hardship due to the heat and limited facilities. We have made good progress. I do regret not having the house covered with soil before moving in. This year in Sallisaw has been very hot and dry. We haven't had a real rain since May. I would like to know the cost to water proof insulate and cover with soil others have paid because my estimates were way off. Please send a private message if you don't care to post. We have spent somewhere around 4K for EPRO materials and also had help from carpolisher with his donation of 50 gallons of EPRO materials. We choose to continue using the Stego 15 mil barrier as a secondary system on portions. We are also going to use Paraseal bentonite and EPROs ECOSHIELD-EB, 6 and 12 POLYESTER and ECOTAPE. We will clean and reapply the ECOLINE-R with the POLYESTER in trouble areas. We will also apply granular bentonite to the valleys where it is pitched incorrectly and the drainage system will be placed. We will cover this granular bentonite with the Stego then the drainage pipe. We are using more of the fill dirt than I thought. Since our home was build at grade we rely on trucked in fill dirt. We had 54 loads delivered after the highway project has a steep grade collapse within a mile of our home. We are going to purchase a bunch of the 1 extruded polystyrene insulation. We will apply in two layers. This stuff is very costly about $14 a 4'x8' sheet. Anyway we are working at getting covered to save us from cooking in the sun. We have made other progress in our kitchen with placing our base cabinets and installing the first two interior doors. Please for the safety and well being of you and your loved ones you should begin storing food and other necessities because the dollar is very close to a collapse and the earth changes will pose a very serious threat to all in it way.

 

[ND Vet]

Wow, that kitchen is looking good! Did you get a touch up on the floor? What is visible here looks very nice. Glad you are in your house.
CW

 

[ND Vet]

Our build is going well except for the thunderstorms every night that turn the site into a mud hole. This is a record breaking year for moisture in ND. We got two modules poured this week so thought I would let you see some pictures.

 

[SamWalton]

Our build is going well except for the thunderstorms every night that turn the site into a mud hole. This is a record breaking year for moisture in ND. We got two modules poured this week so thought I would let you see some pictures.

I am glad you aren't in the flooded zones and that your build is going well. I noticed you are using large water supply lines for roof penetrations, We used a 6" water supply line at three locations. Are you doing any of the work or are you subcontracting it out? Keep posting you progress and photos. Who's is running the show from Terra Dome? It looks like they may have two builds going at once because the sky window forms are now wood.

 

[mojoinco]

Sam, I can only imagine what a black colored concrete house sitting in the summer sun all day must be feel like at 4 am (hot). Did you loose some trees? They look brown/red.

In a few years, while holding a grand child, you'll look back at this with your family and say 'I can't believe what we did'. Lots of effort there!

It has been an inspiration as we do our (very) small addition and remodel. The next one we will GC ourselves (which will likely be a new home instead).