Airform Inflation and Insulation

We FINALLY rise out of the dirt!

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A 6 MINUTE VIDEO OF IT INFLATING

Everything is happening so fast! It is both exciting and daunting because this means we have a ton of work to do to be able to get it closed up for the winter. This is awesome progress and we are totally wowed by the space that is created! It is much bigger than we imagined. The square footage is a little over 2700 sq feet (certainly not a huge house) but having it on all one level with high ceilings makes it feel HUGE!

The builders attached the airform to the ring beam with all the needed equipment under it.

It is attached by metal bands with concrete screws directly into the ring beam.

Next they built all the wood bucks that go up against the openings. The bucks are large flat wood exterior support walls that push back against the balloon like airform. This gives a nice flat edge to work against. This helps get sharp edges for all the openings on the otherwise soft airform.

After the fans are turned on the house inflates in just 5 minutes.

The interior of the inflated airform is translucent and an orangeish red. Walking in through the airlock was amazing! It was our first look at the physical space we are creating.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A QUICK INSIDE TOUR OF THE AIRFORM

Things continue to progress quickly and this view of the airform was only visible for 2 days before they began spraying the insulation. The entire inside of the dome is sprayed with urethane insulation at about 4 inches of thickness. It is done it two layers of 2 inches. In the first layer the buiders insert rebar hangers.

These hangers are then secured under the next layer of insulation and the rebar installation begins.

They also began installation of the spray block for our large opening. The cement will only be sprayed up to the inside edge of all the wood. We chose a design element that we saw on another completed dome because we thought it was a simple and interesting way to add a little something extra to our feature wall. In the end the small arc on top will look like a little bite out of the top of the arch.

It is really exciting to see this all coming together in 3D after looking at it so long on paper. Stay tuned as I try to keep up with the rapid pace!

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