| Choosing a Contractor |
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Page 1 of 3 Choosing a ContractorAbout 40% of our clients assemble their own shell themselves, many with little construction experience. The Kit panels come marked with numbers and letters to match the Assembly Manual that goes with the building kit. The building plans also have elevation views with numbers and letters. Our best kit assembly success stories are owner builders who read and follow the assembly manual and building plans and call us when they have a question.If you do not have the time or do not want to assemble the dome shell kit, American Ingenuity can refer you to a Assembly Specialist operating out of Florida. He will travel to your construction site to supervise your dome shell assembly to the stage where your workers have applied the first layer of concrete in the seams and on your entryways and dormers. Then either you or your contractor's workers complete the second layer of concrete on your seams and entryways and dormers, applies concrete primer to the dome and paints the concrete.The Kit Assembly Manual that is shipped with the Building Kit gives guidelines for the mixing and application of the concrete, priming and painting of the dome, etc. To view info about the Specialist, please click on Specialist. You or your contractor's slab person have the foundation installed. After the shell assembly the subs (plumbers, electricians, drywall finishers, framers, cabinet installers, etc) complete the interior finishing and the installation of your locally purchased doors and windows. Prior to the availability of this Kit Assembly Specialist to supervise the dome kit assembly, Ai's clients had to hire contractors who generally had never assembled a dome before. As a result the contractor would tend to over charge because he did not know how long it would take or what problems would arise. The Kit Assembly Specialist can provide you with references from previous American Ingenuity Domes he has assembled to assure your building kit will be assembled correctly and in a timely fashion. This Specialist would work directly for you or your general contractor as an Independent Subcontractor. The Specialist charges a daily rate plus travel from his Florida home base to your job site and a return to his home base at the completion of the job. If you are interested in using the Kit Assembly Specialist, contact our office at 321-639-8777- Monday through Friday 9-5 eastern time.
A helpful web site is rsmeans.com They sell construction manuals, construction estimating CD's, etc.
The methods used for lifting the panels includes:
Small cranes that lift 400 to 500 lbs; 25 feet up and 25 feet out, Highlifts (all terrain scissors forklifts often used by roofers). Monthly rentals on transverse lifts also called Boom Lifts, Horizontal Boom Fork Lifts, Roofing Lifts, Shooters are available from National Rental Chains like US Rentals, Hertz Equipment Rentals, United Rentals, etc. The companies can be found in the telephone book.
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