answers to our most frequently

asked building questions

  Q: What does my American Ingenuity dome kit include?
A: Your American Ingenuity dome building kit contains all of the component panels you need to build the basic dome shell and one entryway. These panels consist of triangular panels, the four foot high vertical riser panels and one set of entryway panels. Click on Building Kit Contents to learn more.

The Building Options include: Additional entryway panels, window dormer panels, door dormer panels, skylight panels, cupola panels and thicker insulation. Click on Building Options to learn more. Once you select a floor plan, we can give you more specific pricing for your building kit with building options.

The component panel includes: the seven inch thick R-28 insulation. On the exterior of the insulation is ½” to ¾” thick steel reinforced concrete and on the interior of the insulation is adhered a ¼” thick Georgia-Pacific wall board. Onsite the kit is assembled by concreting the entryways, dormers, cupola, link and seams between the panels. You do not concrete over the entire dome. For the interior shell finish, fill the wall board seams with tape and joint compound just like you would do sheet rock.  

The component panels do not come with any paint on them. We do not add any color to the concrete. On site you concrete the seams so if we painted the panels or added color to the concrete it would not match your painted seam concrete. The concrete shell is painted after the entire kit is assembled. The painting should include a concrete primer and two coats of good quality latex paint. The dome can be painted any color, tan, blue, green, etc. preferably a light to medium color to reflect the sunlight.

Our dome building kit does not include doors and windows. There is such a variety and varying price points, we leave that up to each client to purchase locally. The floor plan you select will determine how many entryways or dormers you will have. Within the entryways and dormers {eye brows}, you or your framing subcontractor installs a vertical wall to frame in what ever standard doors or windows you have purchased locally.

No interior items are included. We believe you should not pay shipping on items you can purchase locally such as: plumbing, electrical, framing, flooring, kitchen cabinets, kitchen appliances, bathroom fixtures, lighting fixtures, etc.

Q: What determines the type and number of Building Kit Options I need for my Building Kit?
A: Your floor plan selection determines the type and number of Building Kit Options. On the first floor of our residential house domes there can be as many as five entryways. On the second floor there can be as many as five window or door dormer in our house domes. On our web site we have displayed a few of our stock floor plans which illustrate different numbers of first floor and second floor options. However, in the Planning Kit we have a sixty page Stock Floor Plan Booklet that contains stock plans for the 22', 27', 30', 36', 40', 45' and 48' diameter domes. If you do not see a plan to fit your life style, we can modify the plans or you can provide us with your sketches or ideas and we can provide you with a custom floor plan. Plans for the 60' dome are custom. Click on Plans to learn more. Click on Building Options to learn more.

Q: Does the Building Kit contain any interior items?
A: No. We show furniture within the floor plan because most individuals are not used to visualizing a dome home. The furniture allows you to compare the dome room arrangements and the room sizes to a conventional house. Plus the furniture assists you in seeing how conventional furniture will fit within a dome.

We show the room arrangements because your building department usually requires a set of Building Plans showing the room arrangements, etc. for you to obtain a building permit.

Q: What size windows and doors will fit in the Window Dormers and the Door Dormers?
A: Click on Window Sizes to get this answer.

Q: What is the component panel's composition?
A: The component panel consists of steel reinforced concrete adhered to one side of the rigid expanded polystyrene (E.P.S.) foam insulation and wall board adhered to the other side. Your American Ingenuity dome kit is affordable, strong and assembles quickly because it is engineered as a system of prefinished component panels. Each panel is cut at a computer-generated angle so that it fits flush with the adjacent panel. The edges are precisely beveled at the seams where steel mesh and concrete will unite to complete the structure.

Concrete: The panel concrete is a special formulation containing synthetic fibers and liquid admixtures. You purchase bags of Portland cement and sand locally. We ship these same fibers and admixtures with your building kit so the seam concrete that you mix on site will have the same properties as the panel concrete. These ingredients improve the concrete's characteristics, create super toughness, extend durability, make concrete impervious to water, give higher tensile and compressive strength, provide elasticity for expansion and improve freeze protection. The concrete in your dome out performs other exteriors because of its specially developed formula. Because of its exceptional composition, it actually gains strength over the years. The exterior panel concrete, which is 1/2" to 3/4" thick, adheres directly to the steel mesh and E.P.S. insulation without the need of a bonding agent.

Steel: A one-inch grid, 16 gauge galvanized steel wire mesh is encased in the concrete of each component panel and extends out over the insulation's beveled edges. As your dome panels are assembled the mesh of each panel overlaps and is hooked to that of the adjacent panels with C-rings (commonly called "hog rings"). The dome then becomes completely encircled by steel mesh.

E.P.S. Insulation: Except for the 22' which has R-14 insulation, seven inches of sturdy, rigid R-28 expanded polystyrene (E.P.S.) foam insulation forms the core of each component panel. The E.P.S. we use is closed cell with a 1 lb. per cubic foot density. The insulation is permanent, chemically and thermally stable, resistant to mildew, provides no nutritive value to animals, plants, microorganisms, non-irritating to skin, Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) and formaldehyde free. Our insulation will not rot, shrink, absorb moisture, compact, or deteriorate due to age or the weather. It also acts as a vapor barrier for your home, providing stable performance year after year.  Click on Insulation to learn more.

Wall Board: Consists of Georgia Pacific ¼” Dens-Deck Roof Board adhered to the E.P.S. insulation with nonsolvent latex adhesive.

Q: If I am not ready to assemble my dome, can it sit out outside?
A: Yes. However if you expect to have your kit outside for more than two months, when you order request that the E.P.S. edges be painted. If you expect freezing rain you will want to tarp the panels.