A row a day

It ain't easy to keep this pace simply because I am by myself and all the variables. The heat is crazy, regularly topping 100 degrees and the UV index is very high, so you burn fast. No excuses, and I will be building every day. It is remarkable to think that a dome can be build by a single person as long as they have a few common yet vital tools, a mixer (and power) access to water at the job site, cement and a sturdy wheelbarrow. In fact many structures were built at Cal-Earth without cement and some are DECADES old! I am building with 10% cement like the previous dome. It makes the structure incredibly strong.

A look inside the bag 

WIP

Completed row with pvc sink drain tube installed.

Autopilot creates perfect shapes, compasses help

The Hole 

Close up of pvc tube

Tube must be at downward angle to outside to prevent water coming in, but in this case it's a tube to send sink water out. The sink will just be a large fancy jar that goes to a faucet. Totally off grid.

Summertime Spring Line

The Spring Line is the point where the dome starts to curve. With superadobe structures you can build the dome atop a cylinder. With very small domes you would bump your head unless you were in the very center and a 6 ft dome, some folks (not me) would bump their head even in the center. The spring line gives you appropriate headroom. I am one or two rows from the spring line, but I screwed in the chain so in a few days we will be getting smaller and smaller toward the center.

Above ground like a BOSS!

Solo building isn't as fun as building with friends, or even strangers, but with the right music it's doable. This week the right music was Iron Maiden, Pink Floyd, Misfits and 311.

I only built Tuesday-Friday this week but managed to get tto the row above ground level. That row seals the liner into the structure. So many butterflies and crickets but I couldn't shoot them all!

Making progress 

Sneaky lil guy follows me all day long 

crust

Familiar Things

Wise gregarious hopper

Ground level

Phat rows

Angelic music playing

Status Update

Tired and Hungry

Why?

I guess it is satisfying when it's all done.... 

End of the bags!

Friday EOD

Badassical!

So niice

Nice work

Keyhole dome?

Life's a peach 

I just like this shot

I am feeling the momentum.

Being alone all day long in the desert makes you a bit loopy!

Thanks for visiting!!!!  

Doorways define domes

When you get the door frame in it becomes real. You can see where the dome will be and the angles start to really appear.

I got a door, made a frame, dug supports and cemented them in. Screwed the supports to the frame, and put in the first row that butts up against the frame.

Proximity

It gets in your blood and then you become the desert

Storm shelter door goes down to a doomsday bunker 

Framing the door 

Perfect fit

It was pinker than this

It will all work out in the end

These boards on the rows will be sandwiched between the rows and the frame will be screwed securely to them. 

The plank is nailed into the bag, the 2x4 is screwed into the plank, they will both be sandwiched between rows of sandbag and barbed wire.

Joy of SuperAdobe Season 2 Episode 8