Aidomes.com - Domes from American Ingenuity, Inc.

To view our web site file that explains the Dome Construction Overview with detailed pictures, please click on Construction Overview. To purchase Ai's DVD for $7.00 includes mailing costs call our office at 321-639-8777 or click on Online Store.

An American Ingenuity geodesic dome home kit is purchased in kit form. About 30% of our clients assembly their kit while others hire a Builder who hires the Consultant.  The Component Panels, Building Plans and Assembly Manual come marked with panel nomenclature. If you do not want to manage the assemble of the dome kit, Ai knows of independent working consultants that travel around the country assembling the dome shell using your concrete workers or your contractor's concrete workers. If you are on the east coast Ai knows of a Virginia builder who can be hired with his crew to construct an ICF basement and assemble the dome kit.

By placing the component panels, locking the steel mesh, concreting the seams and concreting the entryways, dormers, link, cupola, you complete the structural framework, the exterior finish, the insulation and most of the interior shell wall board.

The American Ingenuity home kit construction process consists of placing a row of preconcreted panels, overlapping, depressing and locking the steel mesh from adjacent panels, installing the building options (entryways and dormers), concreting the exterior seams and building options, priming/painting the exterior and taping/joint compounding or applying cement/perlite mixture into the interior shell wallboard seams.  Ai dome owners recommend Ames Research Laboratories primer, tape and paint which can be purchased from ACE, Do It Best or True Value stores.  Or call Ames at 888-345-0809 to purchase directly from them and for info on their: Super-Primer, Peel & Stick Contouring Tape and Maximum Stretch Paint. Their web site is Ames.

Electrical wiring is installed within interior framed walls, within some of the 1/2" grooves between the interior shell wallboard and within grooves cut through the shell wallboard and EPS.  When wiring is inserted in the grooves, the grooves are filled with expanding foam and the area finished with tape and joint compound or a  mixture of cement and perlite. To finish the other interior shell seams, fill the 1/2" gaps between the wallboard with nonshrinking joint compound like "Gold Bond Pro Form".  Tape and joint compound the seams and then paint the wall board with a 50/50 mixture of joint compound and paint. 

Or you can apply joint compound to the DensArmor Plus gypsum wallboard in what is sometimes called a skip trowel finish, apply primer and then paint. 

Or to cover any wall board imperfections and blend the wall board to the sanded joint compounded seams, mix a 50/50 batch of paint and dry powder joint compound.  Apply the mixture wth a paint roller.

This advanced building system makes it easier to construct an American Ingenuity dome than a conventional house or a wooden dome.

• No exterior walls to frame
• No roof trusses to set
• No sheathing, tarpaper, or shingles to apply
• No soffits, exterior trim, insulation or siding to install.
  

A helpful book that gives you overall insight in building your own home is called The Complete Idiot's Guide to Building Your Own Home by Dan Ramsey.  We also recommend that you visit your local library and research construction books which cover the concepts on building your own own.  A helpful web site is rsmeans.com.  It has construction manuals, construction estimating CD's, etc.  

If you do not have the time or do not want to perform the shell assembly, we know of a working consultant that will supervise your laborers or your contractor’s laborers and assemble the shell. Click on Kit Assembly Consultant to learn more about this service.

For those who prefer to stick with what they do best and leave the building to others, we have help. Some previous dome owners and dome builders have expressed an interest in assisting others and have authorized us to give out their names. All of these builders have succeeded in the construction of their dome home and/or have worked to build a dome for someone else.

Although we would not pass on a builder who we know to be a problem, this list does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement. These individuals are not American Ingenuity employees and therefore we can not guarantee their performance. As with any builder, acquire references and recommendations from recent customers. Before selecting a contractor read our information sheet on Choosing a Contractor and before committing to a builder, call us for our latest review/input.

Once you decide on your floor plan, we can estimate the number of days needed to assemble the shell (entryways and dormers take longer to install than triangles).

You or your contractor will hire conventional subcontractors to do the normal jobs like forming and pouring the slab, plumbing, electrical, framing, drywall finishing, window and door installation, etc. We figure you should not pay some one to come in from out of state to do work that your local subs can perform. The subs follow the Dome Building Plans, Assembly Manual and call us when they have questions.

The Kit Assembly Consultant travels all around the USA and the world supervising the assembly of the dome shell kits. Call American Ingenuity at 321-639-8777 Monday through Friday, 9 to 5 eastern time for Consultant info.

A few years ago prior to the working consultants that would supervise the shell assembly, some of our dome owners had to hire contractors or individuals that had never assembled an Ai dome shell kits. As a result the contractor had to overcharge the dome owner because they did not know what problems they would run in to. Many times the contractor would charge as much as the cost of the building kit for the labor cost to assemble the kit.