Lazy Friday

     I wanted to cover the whole dome today, but with all the non building related chores and errands I had, it wasn't possible. I have been thinking about this plaster as sections and I hoped to do 2 sections, the back of the dome and the left side. I managed to do a pretty good job connecting and filling all the gaps in the dome section and making it smooth, but I didn't get to the left side entrance wall. Oh well, on Sunday, Raquel and I will crush the rest of the exterior.

Skinny dome's ribs are showing ... or is it a zombie dome? Baño of the Undead!
No, this is how I saw the dome after yesterday's plaster was mostly dry.

The gaps filled in 

CU fish forehead. 

Liberty Bell is under construction. Sorry Patrick Henry.  :(

Pre final smoothing, but this is about as far as I got.

Desert Conch, Sandocopia, Mojave Nautilus 

Primitive future skyline: Available location for Hollywood Sci-Fi franchise. XD

Smooth and Bumpy

    Smooth but bumpy, clumpy, natural. That sums up my plaster skills. Raquel is better at this than me. But I am going to do as much as I can this week before she joins me again. This only represents one wheelbarrows full, but that is 2 double batches. It's time consuming because you need to lob it on, and then come back and work it before it dries too much, but if you do it too soon it slumps off and too late it cracks and peels off.

The main dome looks cool from this angle. Like I know what I'm doing. 

In a Smurf village, this is the most common type of house after a mushroom.

The view when I walked up. All the cement plaster dried and blends together.

X-Ray bunny cloud?  3 carrots in her belly?

Pretty colors 

Before smoothing 

After smoothing.

Earth Architecture

Goat Mountain Eco-Village 

Still many things to do before the door can go on. 

Complete exterior plaster,  prelim floor slab, interior stucco, sink install, final floor, then door.

By next week if all is well, this should be covered and dry and looking uniform.

Tomorrow this side, and the back middle.

After the domes are complete, there will be a patio slab poured in between the two domes, maybe some seating and eventually a walkway going to where the cars park. It will be exciting to also think about some solar panels for small device charging and setting up the outdoor shower. But I am glad I decided to make the shower a separate project. One thing I have learned in SuperAdobe building is: "smaller is better" and the K.I.S.S. rule is always true. K.I.S.S. = Keep It Simple, Stupid!

Plaster Partners

Raquel and I crushed preliminary plaster on the whole dome and even did a solid second coat on the base of the dome. Yesterday was a huge thunderstorm and the power went out at home. 

Storms Comin'

Cricket Shell

Raquel inspects the dome plaster.

Back to work!

Raquel likes the mixer.

It was a cloudy day.

This thing is practically covered!

End of Day progress

Raquel is cleaning barnacles off of the giant fish head.

Giant fish is happy.

Raquel sees Homer Simpson.

Inside will be all lime stucco.

Sand Blob

When it's all dry it won't look like a face.

Raquel is about to get eaten.

At a fish cleaning station the guest gets their shell, teeth
and fins cleaned and the cleaner fish get a tasty meal.

Look into my fishy eye!

This stick is keeping the hole unclogged. The hole will support rebar for the sink.

This ain't for babies. XD

I like this angle, you can see how much plaster is already on!

5 minutes later was biblical.

Chill Friday

     I came to the Domes today and was pleasantly surprised how the plaster had dried. There was a little cracking due to evaporation and settling as to be expected but it looks really strong and smooth.

    I had to do some chiseling around the lower window because the pipe had settled pointing down to the inside. It must point down toward the outside to prevent any possible water coming in. That meant I had to chisel out a groove on the row below the window. which I should have set when that row was still wet. Oops. I remembered on the upper window. Well it all turned out fine and it set nicely, especially after I added the 80/20 Earth/Cement mix in the gaps. I started using a big orange Homer bucket to carry mix to my plastering spot because the other buckets are disintegrating and I am staying on the ground for the next few days. Okay, maybe I'll need to get on the scaffold the next build day, which is most likely Monday, unless Raquel really really wants to plaster on Sunday, I think she'd rather go day trippin' in the canyons somewhere.

You gotta plaster in between the rows first, rough is good, it gives the next layer something to stick to.. 

I din't wan't to cover it all in one go because it could slump off easier and I wanted to cover more area in the cracks.

This was the well set window, and look at the standing ledge above it. 

This is the window after I fixed it. 

Inside view of fixed window. It will get lime stucco over it. 

This was my progress.

It was a chill day. I don't think I hurt myself once. (knock on wood!)

Plastics, my boy!

    Plastic Cement that is. This stuff smells like a pool, I can't describe why, but it does. Well what can I say, I made 2 super batches and pored it onto the top of the entrance arch and top of the dome. A bucket at a time, big quad day, its like doing squats on a cliff. Climb up, dump, pat, smooth, climb down, repeat. This wet cement mix is very heavy, so heavy that my buckets tore along some cracks that had been developing for a while. 

I think this is a rabbit hole.
It's in the hole dug from the first dome, the future site of the brewery/cellar.
Notice the practically perfect lancet arch, and the angle of repose.
That is what gives the dome its strength.
A dome is an arch ROTATED around it's center!

Plop! I smoothed a bit more after this. After half an hour or so, you can smooth it and work out the cracks. But don't fear cracks. 

From this angle it doesn't look like I covered a lot. It's 2 full wheelbarrows worth!

Same, all those nooks and crannies ate up the mix!

I want it smooth, but there is this little ledge I want to keep.

I climbed the big dome :)