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804 s.f. Starter/Prepper Dome

A home can begin life modest in size and grow as a family grows.

Conversations with dome-owner
Earnest Common Sense

Spring, 2021

DomeBuilder
Hi Earnest, how is life on the ranch?

Earnest C Sense
Fine, DB, the grass is green, trees tall and full of leaves. I love Springtime.

DomeBuilder
Lots of folks had a rough time in North Texas during the record cold in February. You have a big conventional wood house and close to it your prepper dome. How did you manage the cold?

Earnest C Sense
Well, as my Daddy used to say, “It were a hard time for thee, but not for me.” Heh.
Here’s what me and the Missus did to stay comfy. We shut down the house pretty much completely when we saw that the temperature would reach into the single digits. I mean, I turned off the water to the house, drained and blew out all the pipes, drained the water heaters and commodes. You know how that is, like you were telling me HUD winterized their vacant houses.

DomeBuilder
Very smart.

Earnest C Sense
As my Daddy also said, “You done learned me that.” Heh.
Anyway, we completely locked ‘er up and then hunkered down in the dome. Now, I have to say, I didn’t have any trouble spending a few days in our gorgeous eight hundred square foot prepper dome; but Earnestine, she likes to roam around the big house.

DomeBuilder
How cold did it get at the ranch?

Earnest C Sense
We actually hit zero one morning. We don’t like to use heat when we sleep, so we turned off the heater that night. It was 53 degrees in the dome the next morning. I gotta tell you, we were beyond delighted with the little dome. I really thought we’d be under 40 but the little building keeps its heat.

DomeBuilder
They really are efficient. So tell me, how are you handling the heating and cooling in the dome.

Earnest C Sense
You remember the ton and a half unit I had installed when we originally built the dome. Well, I gave it to my brother-in-law for his fishin’ cabin because it was much larger than what was needed for the dome.
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At that point all the finish work is done in the comfortable environment of a completely insulated structure. Partitions, interior trim, mechanicals and finish work can be completed in comfort whether in the cold of winter or the heat of summer; rain or shine does not slow down the finishing process.

You can personally finish those tasks that you feel competent handling, and then subcontract jobs like electric and plumbing to skilled tradesmen.

We are located in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and build anywhere in Texas. We can design and help those wanting to build a Monolithic Dome in nearby States. Give us a call anytime.

The Monolithic Dome

...is a steel-reinforced, high strength concrete dome covered with closed-cell insulation which is in turn covered with a permanent, impermeable airform. It is the strongest, most energy efficient, low maintenance, affordable home you can build.

American architect, Louis Sullivan—who’s assistant was Frank Lloyd Wright—in 1896 wrote that “form ever follows function”. That means one must first consider function and only then consider the aesthetics of a building.

The Perfect Home

A home’s primary purpose is shelter; that is what’s most important, everything else is secondary. The Monolithic Dome is the perfect shelter because:

It will not blow away in a tornado.
Will not burn.
Takes half the energy to heat and cool than the typical same size wood house.
Insects cannot eat it.
Is not damaged by water.
Small arms bullets do not penetrate the dome.
It does not have to be insured for most perils.

Monolithic Domes can be built as small as 10’ diameter; one can also build large domes that cover several acres. Here’s an introduction to a modest dome that can be the ideal:

First home
“Bugout” home for “preppers”...

who want and appreciate the advantages the Monolithic Dome offers.

A modest size first home is affordable, easily available to those who do not want to go deep in debt for a home. Owners will appreciate a home that is easily expandable. As a family grows, the home can be enlarged with additional domes that are connected to one another by way of separate hallways.

Ideal for DYI Owners

The modest size dome you see here is perfect for individuals who are on a limited budget, or who are handy and wish to finish out their home and save a substantial amount of money in the process.

You get to build your own dome home inside of a completed building. Here’s how it works.

The most challenging part of the dome building process is the dome structure itself. Once we complete the dome structure, we install exterior doors and windows and then turn the building over to you for completion.

Safe—Affordable—Energy Efficient

Our goal is to make the best building in the world affordable.
The best way to do that is to follow the example of kit-built aircraft.

Kit-built aircraft

If you’re familiar with kit-built aircraft, you’ll understand and perhaps get excited about why building a home using the kit-built aircraft method can make the dream of owning the best home in the world a reality for those individuals or families who are just starting out, or folks who don’t want the typical “blow away, burn away, maintenance hog” home; rather, they want a practical home with all the qualities we’ve outlined above.

If you don’t know kit-built (also known as homebuilt aircraft), we’ll explain the fantastic success of the kit-built system of airplane construction so you can see why the best home in the world can be available to you at a very affordable price going the kit-built way.

Most airplane kits are produced by exceptional companies run by, and staffed by aeronautical engineers and experienced airplane builders. Kits are shipped to the builder’s home where most of the planes are built in garages and even living rooms.

RV-6 two seat kit-built airplane

...built at home from a kit sold by Van’s. It has a 200 hp aircraft engine, cruise speed 200 mph, service ceiling 23,000’. It was built at a fraction of the cost of a comparable factory-built plane.

Let’s look at a comparison of kit-built to factory-built aircraft. A Cessna Skylane (the typical wood framed house of the sky) costs well over half a million dollars, cruises at 167 mph and carries 4 people.

A Van’s RV-10 (the Monolithic Dome of the sky) can be built for well under a third of the cost, carries 4 people and cruises at 194 mph with the same size engine, and outperforms the Skylane in most other respects.

Note that this is not a criticism of factory-built aircraft; they’re good planes. We simply show you that with effort, for a lot less money, a person can produce a superior product. So as with airplanes, you can do the same with a home: A Monolithic Dome home.

From plan to finish we can guide you through the process

While we can build your dome home from design to finish, our primary goal is to give the average person the means to build and own the best home in the world without getting into lifelong debt, paying exorbitant yearly insurance premiums, avoiding constant exterior maintenance and living in the safest possible structure. Here’s the best part: You can build the entire home yourself, including the foundation and dome structure itself. We can guide you through every step of the process. If that home ownership plan appeals to you, Go Here For Details.

Not everyone wants a starter home.
We can also design and build,
Or guide you through the building process of any size dome home.