Basement Walls

The forms for the basement walls arrived this week.  We are using Logix ICF (insulated concrete forms).  There are a number of companies making ICF, but none of them have an easy system for non-regular corners.  They all seem to be set up for 90 or 45 degree corners, but nothing to handle any other angle.  Another company, ARXX showed me a system, but when it came to the final planning stage, I was told that they no longer make that block.  So, we will stay with Logix.

They look like man-sized (grunt-grunt) Legos and I still have another week of teaching before I can go.  They will be all done before I get to the sandbox job site...*sigh*

Pictures coming when I get them.

At long last, the building has started.  

Well, at least there is a hole in the ground...

and some 2X4s in the hole...

and monster machines dumping...

mud between the 2X4s...

The footings are a bit slow at getting finished.  We have a lot of experience in construction.  However, this is the first geodesic dome any of us have worked on...what did our geometry teacher say about angles x and y being congruent adjacent hypnosis if the square is made of steel...?  There are no square corners!

Speaking of experience, (around 100 years worth, one of us with many years working with concrete, the rest general construction) we have seen what the cold winters will do to houses built on the recommended footings sizes up in the soils and climates of northern Minnesota.  So, we decided to beef up the footings by about two inches in each dimension.  We have a healthy respect for Mother Nature and we know that no man-made object can defeat her, but we hope to at least show that we can put a good fight.

The Dome Begins

The well is dug, the plans are finished, the site is prepared, and the top soil has been carefully removed and set aside for reuse.  The house and garage are being staked out as I type.

It didn't fit!.  Well, not exactly as I had hoped.  I had wanted my bedroom window to catch the morning sunrise and the dining/living room windows to catch the evening sunset.  That was a big task because of where I wanted the domes positioned on the side of the hill.   Planning such things when one lives a thousand miles away can be a challenge.  Thanks to Google Earth, I have a pretty good, though not real-time view of the site.

My brothers are laying it out as close to my wishes as possible.  A few modifications had to be made--move everything a bit to the east, rotate the house/garage unit counterclockwise a bit, re-design the driveway, etc.  In the end, it will be exactly as I want it to be.

Septic system is in the planning stages with permits applied for; electrician has pointed out his route to and into the house; well driller, who is also the in-floor heating installer, has identified the location for the water entry into the basement; and all of the concrete contractors said that they do not want to tackle this job.

I want to use ICF (Insulated Concrete Forms), a relatively new system for placing concrete walls.  We have a few people who use them, but none local that are comfortable working with so many corners, none of them 90 or 45 degrees.  ARXX had a system that I thought would work, but they no longer make them.

We will do it ourselves.  Actually, my brothers will.  We are all  builders, and since one brother specialized in concrete work have the skills to do this.  It's just that we are not so young anymore, so we are looking for some young-uns to do the manual labor.

And I am here and they are there having all the fun *sigh*.

I still need to talk with the heating folks to make arrangements for getting geothermal into the house.

 More later.

Plans are ready.

So...We heard from AI Domes yesterday that our finalized plans will be mailed today and should arrive Monday or Tuesday.  We couldn't find a good place for a dumb waiter or a potential future elevator.  I will study the plans once I get them and maybe as we build.  Once the walls and floors are in place, something might come to mind that we can then work with the CAD folks to modify the plans.

I hope to visit shortly so I can meet with concrete company and show them where it will be, so the basement can be done before the house arrives.  It is starting to look like we will have the shell done and sealed before the fall.

Now, we have water, the shell of the house, but what about heating and cooling, and windows, doors, and floors...

Classwork to do (both as a teacher and as a students).

Second Proofs

We now have the second set of proofs for the house.  The link now has a door to the south which will provide an airlock for people to come in and shake off the frozen north before entering the main house.  Still no roof on the link, though.

The elevator still is not located where I want it--might be an issue with supporting the first floor if it ends up there.  I guess I'll need to chat with the designers about it.

I'm also still not satisfied with the location of the dumb waiter--can't seem to find a place I like that will work both upstairs and downstairs, though.

I am still looking into in-floor heating with forced-air circulation for fresh air and cooled air in the summer.  This house might not need AC for temperature control in the summer, but humidity control will probably be necessary.

I have been in touch with an outfit that builds basements using styrofoam-block concrete forms which results in a concrete wall with styrofoam insulation both inside and out.

 More to come...

Don't tell professor

I am supposed to be doing my classwork, but DS says I/we need to answer some questions the designers had. Something about the elevator (place for a possible elevator to add later if the need arises) ending up in the middle of a bedroom. Not good, I suppose.


I don't like the support posts in the garage but the only way they see to make them go away is to suspend the upstairs floor from the roof. Oh yah, it's possible on these, but that will leave support rods running up through the upstars--an area we want to be free of such obstacles. I will look into solving the problem with a heavier beam across the ceiling of the garage--probably a much heavier beam.

Then there was the thing with an upstairs door where a door cannot be. Need to look into that.

And the link is too short. No room for an entry door on the south.

Speaking of the link, we plan on having the area over the garage to be a rec room or spare bedroom, so we need to have it linked to the main house both upstairs and down.

They put no roof upstairs.

From what I remember about MN winters, it gets too cold to run from the guest room across a twelve-foot, open, snow-covered breezeway to the bath in the main house.

Hmmm. Good view of the Northern Lights, though.

If Professor ever gives us a break, I will look over the plans with DS and see what can be done.

Designing the New

This week was rather busy:  organizational meeting for creating a technology club at school for students, help my daughter move, chaperon a dance, escort my wife to the Maryland Renaissance Festival, and contact concrete and heating/cooling contractors for our new house.  Do I need to get all these people to write notes to my professor excusing me from doing a good job on my college work?  They will, well maybe not the contractors, but the students will.  Then again, I don't know if my students will either--I was late to the dance because I was so wrapped up in my classwork that I almost forgot to go to the dance.  I wasn't really late.  It's just that I had all the decorations locked up in my room so not even the other chaperons could get to it.  Maybe I need a note from my professor to the students excusing me for being late.

Anyway, we sent our tentative plans to AIDomes and they are now converting our rough drawings into real plans. This where we stand today:

This is what we are currently

planning for the garage--not much change from AIDome's plan.

The house, however, turned out to be a compilation of a number of models AIDomes had:

 

I cut and pasted (which explain the odd shape) parts of the models to show where we want things, now the engineers will turn our ideas into usable plans.  However, before they can do too much more, they want to know what I will use for my basement walls so they can design that part of the house.  I'm not sure they need to do anything more than locate the support structures.  We will plan the rest as we determine what we need.

I have also been talking with Innovative Power Systems about what I can install for heating and cooling as we build.  We want to cut our reliance of fossil fuels as much as possible.  They gave me a price and estimated time it will take for me to recoup my investment (10 years).  I am satisfied, but I want to see what else is available in Minnesota before I decide.

A geothermal system is still under consideration, but I want to learn more about the IPS solar thermal.  More to follow.