Geodesic Dome Homes (houses, construction, earthquakes)

[Magnolia Bloom]

I wish we would have gotten a pix of the location- it is zero lot line- maybe 10-12 feet from a conventional house. Although I use the term "conventional" loosely. This is the funkiest neighborhood with lots of strange homes side by side with newer, nicer homes. A lot of individuals live n this area!

It's a huge lot, so I am wondering if they intend to replicate the buildings on the other half of the lot.

Beside the smaller "garage" is a pit that appears to be filled with black, plastic tubing about 6" in diameter. The tubing is snaked back and forth forming a rectangle and is covered with some type of cloth. The end of the tubing goes into a cement platform with a manhole-like cover. Does anyone know what this could be?

[LA-VA-FL]

Originally Posted by Magnolia Bloom

I wish we would have gotten a pix of the location- it is zero lot line- maybe 10-12 feet from a conventional house. Although I use the term "conventional" loosely. This is the funkiest neighborhood with lots of strange homes side by side with newer, nicer homes. A lot of individuals live n this area!

It's a huge lot, so I am wondering if they intend to replicate the buildings on the other half of the lot.

Beside the smaller "garage" is a pit that appears to be filled with black, plastic tubing about 6" in diameter. The tubing is snaked back and forth forming a rectangle and is covered with some type of cloth. The end of the tubing goes into a cement platform with a manhole-like cover. Does anyone know what this could be?

I think that could be a solar water heater for either a pool or the house water. Usually the pipes are coiled to retain the heat from the panels above it (or the house).

If not, then maybe some sort of septic tank...

[Robyn55]

Boy - another bunch of stick slab-on-grade houses - and ugly to boot. Just what we need here. Robyn

[LA-VA-FL]

well different strokes for differet folks. I think its kinda cool, but not too fond of the paint job...looks like something from willy wonka (the original)

[PokerPlayer1]

I think the domes are cool and the paint job is great. I'd love having those people as my neighbors- matter of fact, I generally tend to *only* get along with people who posses some degree of unique human spirit.

[pinetreecity]

I like the way they look from the inside. They are using steel beam floor joists too!

I wonder how hard it is to make those domes water tight. With all of those seams, I would imagine that it would be tough to make sure there are no leaks. I wonder what type of material they are using on the roof.

[Sensei Han]

I'm into the eclectic but those paint schemes are hideous

[fastninja500]

When I thought I was going to stay in Jax for a long time, and I couldn't find a house to my liking, I started researching dome homes and picked the Monolithic dome home, which I think is slightly better than geodesic.

Monolithic — Home of the Monolithic Dome

Check out the Homes tab.

I still want to own/live in a monolithic dome home. Just not sure what state yet.

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by LA-VA-FL

I think that could be a solar water heater for either a pool or the house water. Usually the pipes are coiled to retain the heat from the panels above it (or the house).

If not, then maybe some sort of septic tank...

I suspect it's some type of drip septic system. Solar water heating panels generally go on the roof. Robyn

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by LA-VA-FL

well different strokes for differet folks. I think its kinda cool, but not too fond of the paint job...looks like something from willy wonka (the original)

As long as all of us wind up paying for lousy construction in the form of assessments on almost all of our insurance policies (including our auto policies so it's not just homeowners' policies) - I think all of us have a right to complain about construction techniques. Here - I see no evidence of things like hurricane straps - the most minimal stuff to decrease the chances of wind damage. One reasonable gust of wind - and this thing is history. I've seen double-wides with better wind protection.

Also - if this is a drip septic system - good luck. I live on a marsh (with a lot of wildlife) - and fought with other neighbors for 3 years about a new house on the marsh that was going to use a drip irrigation system. They are a difficult to use/prone to failure cheap way to try to deal with human waste - and have no place in urban/suburban areas IMO. FWIW - we won some battles in our sewage dispute - didn't win the war - but the economy has left the speculator in bad shape (half built house which he hasn't been able to sell).

Also note that the monolithic dome construction mentioned above is a totally different animal (I had occasion to investigate it when I was on the building committee for a synagogue that wanted a dome). Much sturdier - often concrete - construction. Pretty pricey too. Robyn