Terra-Dome Earth Shelter Build

[patrick_g]

Well... I did see one PEX failure involving properly installed materials. One of the finish carpenters drilled holes in the slab floor to put in "blue screws" (Tapcon) to anchor a newel post for the banister railing. He didn't pay close attention when told where not to drill and hit a PEX run in the slab for hydronic heating. Had to get a demo hammer and chip out the floor at the site of the oops and repair with crimped fittings. No problem, all is fine now. It was not the fault of the PEX and no fittings failed.

I have used two kinds of crimp rings, the ones that look like a tarnished copper wedding band and the stainless steel ones. I prefer the stainless steel because the crimpers for them fit multiple sizes and the others require a separate dedicated crimper for each size and they aren't cheap.

One thing I do avoid now is copper tubing for water lines. I have seen two MAJESTIC failures of that: 1. a run in an attic to get to an ice maker on opposite side of the kitchen from water supply. and 2. copper tubing inside a plastic tube to protect the in-slab run from chemical attack by the concrete.

In the first case the tubing ran across ceiling joists and for no discernible reason developed a pin hole that resulted in all the ceiling Sheetrock falling down or needing replacement and two carpeted rooms had to have the carpets taken up as they were saturated. The pin hole was just spraying a fine mist but over time while the homeowner was away for a week the damage was considerable.

In the second case the copper tubing developed a pin hole leak for no discernible reason. The copper tube was inside a plastic tube to protect it from the concrete slab. Anyway the plastic filled and overflowed at the lower end which happened to be in the wall behind Sheetrock. I had to use my tractor to pull the copper out of the plastic tube. I replaced the copper with PEX which went in pretty easy as it was only a 10 fr run with few bends.

I no linger trust copper tubing to carry water in a location out of sight.

Patrick

 

[mjncad]

It's not as secure as an abandoned missle silo, but definitely more liveable!

Nat Geo's Doomsday Preppers had a Kansas couple on tonight that bought an old Atlas missile silo for $40k. What made them a paradox is that they are old hippies stuck in the 60's. They have 20,000 square feet of underground bliss. Peace, love and tie-dye man.

A tool you know how to use well is often faster for you than a better tool you aren't used to BUT... often the way to progress is getting out of your comfort zone and learning a better tool.

Good point.

I used to prefer Firefox over IE (version anything) and still sort of do BUT...Google Chrome is THE BEST in my professional opinion (yes I'm entitled to a PROFESIONAL opinion.) Still to do something RIGHT NOW someone used to Firefox or Safari or... whatever will probably probably git 'er done faster/easier with the tool they know.

When I was dabbling in website creation, I had IE, FireFox, Opera, and Chrome on my system. FireFox was OK; but nothing said use me over IE 8. Opera sucked. I had a first generation version of Chrome, and wasn't impressed, so I've never had a need to try it again. IE 9 sucks big time.

So I'm happy with IE 8.

Racolton describes a pretty good way to handle multiple pix and as suggested by others a more modern full featured interface would be appreciated but it isn't for me to complain as I have no idea what constraints the sysop is working under.

My guess the site owner is constrained by possible site outages and glitches as the VBulletin software and database are upgraded, along with time and money to do the work. From what I've seen on the VBulletin web site, their software is incredibly affordable unless I missed some fine print somewhere.

I PM'd Muhammad asking for a modern photo handling interface for TBN. Whether he's read it yet, or will reply to me is anyone's guess.

Pat

 

[SamWalton]

mojoinco;2753562]For picture display (using Firefox) I usually right button select and open in a new tab. Will have to remember the 'ctrl + left button' left button method.

Okay Sam, a couple of questions.

I see a lot of sock material on places like elbows and such. Is this the covering for the drain pipes, or some sort of attempt for the pipe to slip against something

The socks prevent dirt from entering an clogging the drainage system

Why not use more PEX? It would seem easier and cheaper to install (once you've made the pex commitment).

I wanted something rigid to connect to the manifolds, filter and valves.

I have used the Shark connectors. Except for valves, they were the same as solder in connectors, but obviously faster. Any drawbacks?

I like the old school solder method and don't trust the shark product.

It looks to me like you have applied a lot of your work experience with the CoE. Sounds fun. And nothing like teaching your kids skills, especially thinking and solutions skills. Keeps them thinking of the end point before the start point (sure saves a lot of points that way).

My experience is self taught using imagination and learning most everything is much more difficult than envisioned in my head. I have learned much the hard way and like to employ mass over kill and or multiple system for redundancy. Basically I only want to visit it once. My professional experience is mainly 34 in electronics industry mainly engineering but also maintenance.

 

[DefEddie]

Still following progress sam,ignore the other guys.
Anything can happen,and it's just smart to prepare.
When you factor in that your prepping is also giving you much higher efficiency and lower bills and allowing you to be dependent on yourself then who's the ignorant ones?

I'll hopefully be purchasing a tractor this winter if I get the cash raised.
First project planned is digging the backyard (we're on a ridge) for not only a flat yard area but an underground shelter approx. 80ftx40ft.

We are in town off redwood,past jt stites.
My plan calls for completely underground,and if your willing i'd love to send a pm and have you come share some ideas based on your experience when we start gearing up.
We share alot of common ideas,though so far i've only prepped my skills.
Anyway,fine job and can't wait to see it finished.

If you still need some dirt and happen to be close by feel free to come dig out some of the backyard
Top foot or so is rocky,nothing but good clay under that if previous digging is any indication. Got a pond that could use a few feet of silt dug from it as well-help yourself

 

[SamWalton]

It has been some time since my last post but things are moving slowly on our end. We just finished burying our home. We have been mainly working on the west end and also the dome window area. We got it done just in time for the summer heat. We are very please and thankful we have been healthy, inspired, motivated able to do all these outside of the box things by ourselves without any accidents or injuries.

I am sure anyone of you can achieve the same or better. We all are in the mist of unthinkable challenges as our money junkies rob any remaining wealth from the real people. Remember to prepare for the worst and manifest through the heart the world you wish to live in where Love is the answer.

We plan to move our efforts inside like these light we hung last weekend.

 

[forgeblast]

Wow looks great Sam. Are you going to paint/stain the inside? or will it be framed out like a traditional house?

 

[tony Cecil]

Sam, you and the family have done a masterful job....alot of time has passed, but it would appear that the seepage problem has been dealt with....It is nice to get things done, in time before the weather turns on you....Tony

 

[SamWalton]

We will frame the walls in he bed room areas but the rest is wide open.We will spackle the cement walls and drywall then paint. Some day

 

[woodlandfarms]

Boy that tarantula looks ticked.

Did something come up that slowed you down other than finances? I am only asking as we haved looked at this type of building and wondering what construction issues you have come up with

 

[forgeblast]

"Some day" I know the feeling that list never gets smaller. Looking at the dome I was thinking instead of painting the cealing white, going with a light blue might make it feel like you were outside. Unless you know a mural artist who could come in and paint clouds etc Sam thanks again for posting more pics its such an impressive build.