Aidomes.com - Domes from American Ingenuity

Q: Tell me about the Floor Planner Kit that is included in the Stock Floor Plan Booklet. Can I modify your stock plans or have you design custom plans for us?

A: Yes we can modify the stock plans or design custom plans from your sketches. Included in the Planning Kit is the Stock Floor Plan Booklet. In the booklet is a Floor Planner Kit so you can experiment with different floor plans as you modify a Stock Plan or develop a Custom Plan. Sample elevations of each size dome enable you to visualize your home in three, not just two, dimensions.

Make copies of the floor planners for the size domes) you wish to build & then you can make as many variations & design changes as you wish.

Scaled furniture symbols & ruler may be used with either the Floor Planner Kit or any of the Stock Plans, since everything is the same scale. You can use the ruler to measure the width & length of each room to compare the size to the size home you currently live in. Be sure when placing tall furniture on the second floor to note the ceiling height.

VERSATILITY: American Ingenuity's Stock Plans have been developed over many years & have proven themselves to be comfortable, economical & adaptable. Within this selection you will find plans that will accommodate almost any lifestyle, decorating taste, size of family, budget, and building site. You may find just the right floor plan for your new home in the stock plans. The building kits for Stock Plans are priced including the options as shown on the Stock Floor Plan Price List. Additional options will create a Modified Stock Plan.

SIZE & SCALE: The first two number of the floor plan name reflect the diameter of the dome For example, 45 Delta 21 is a 45' diameter dome. All the floor plans are drawn to the same scale, 1/10 inch = 1 foot. The furniture symbols & ruler contained in the Floor Planner Kit are also drawn to this scale & may be used with any of the Stock Plans. Compare these to the measurements of your own furniture & make symbols for those pieces not represented, like your antique hutch or your son's aquarium.

SQUARE FOOTAGE: The square footage of living space shown with each floor plan indicates the total space inside the dome. The square footage of each room is included to help you visualize the size of the space, & does not include any closets or utility areas. The second floor square footage consists of all the usable floor space to the knee wall although part of this space will have reduced headroom, as shown by the ceiling height lines.

BUILDING CODES: Our blueprints have been accepted by building departments which use many different Building Codes including the Universal Building Code, the Standard Building Code & the B.O.C.A. Code. Our personal service may include communication with your area building officials to assure the acceptance of your blueprints for issuance of a permit. If required in your area, blueprints can be certified by a registered engineering firm. Professional fees will vary state by state.

MINOR CHANGES: Most building departments will allow you to make simple non-structural changes to Stock Plans by noting them on the blueprints. This might include such minor changes as:

1. Adding, subtracting, or changing the location of skylights or a fireplace
2. Substituting a high profile entryway for a standard entryway
3. Shifting the location of interior doors
4. Altering the size of the windows or doors located in the entryways
5. Substituting a door for a window in an entryway
6. Substituting a wall for an open rail
7. Switching the placement of the kitchen sink & major appliances
8. Linking additional domes (i.e.: garage dome, screen dome, extra bedroom dome) to the main dome
9. Adding a cupola & loft
10. Changing the location or type of the main staircase
11. Substituting a staircase for a loft ladder

MODIFIED STOCK PLANS: Modifying a Stock Plan that is close to your dream dome allows you to adapt a plan to your needs. While it does incur a charge, it is much less than the expenditure of custom design work. Any of the Stock Plans may be modified to provide for such structural changes as:

1. Building a Mirror image
2. Rearranging rooms, moving walls, or adding closets
3. Combining the first floor from one plan with the second floor of another
4. Adding or subtracting entryways, door & window dormers, or balconies
5. Adding bathrooms
6. Adding a full or partial basement
7. Fortifying a floor structure to accommodate special furnishings such as a waterbed, hot tub, or weight room.

We will be happy to quote a price for blueprints & a building kit for your Modified Stock Plan once we review your sketches or Floor Planner

CUSTOM PLANS: If you are seeking more than what is reflected in the Stock Floor Plan Booklet, then perhaps you will want to go a step further to a Custom Plan. It will encompass all your thoughts for your dream dome & will be drawn by our technician especially for you, yet at a reasonable cost. Using our state-of-the-art computer aided drafting system, our CAD technician will translate your concept into a set of blueprints.

1. We will work form any combination of ideas as you express them:

• Completed floor planner kit
• Rough sketches
• List of items to include
• Written descriptions

2. The cost of the blueprints for your Custom Plan, as well as the cost of the building kit, can be ascertained after review of your concept. You can mail your sketch or fax it to 321-639-8778. Please include your complete name, phone numbers and best time to contact you.  Please call our office at 321-639-8777 and assure we received your fax.  After Ai reviews your sketch, we will call you with questions and then email a Plans Quote. For us to start the plans design, we take payment in full for the building plans. Then you receive rough drafts via email or fax or mail.  You review the drafts and make any changes and return them to us. Once you approve the final draft, then we take that and complete the structural pages of the blueprints.

3. Design Factors: All plans may be built on your choice of foundation including: Concrete slab, raised, stem wall or pier foundation, full or partial basement. Just to clarify, we can design for a concrete stem wall with a wood floor, but we cannot provide you a design that uses wood as a foundation material.

4. When planning the location of entryways, door dormers, balconies & window dormers please note their specific locations.

5. When planning room sizes for your second floor, remember that the headroom decreases as it approaches the knee wall.

For example our 48' dome has an interior radius of 24'. That radius is from the center of the sphere to all of the geodesic corners measured on the inside. We do not know what your chord length or measurements are referring to. We use the most standard geodesic dome geometry of a three frequency icosahedrons for our 30' through 48' size domes.  The 22' and 27' are two frequency and the 60' dome is four frequency.

For laying out the floor plan designs, you only need to work in two dimensional form and the pages in our floor plan booklet will give you everything you need, including ceiling heights on the second floor. Ai can provide you AutoCAD format for the floor plans, but it will not contain any three dimensional drawings.

Q: Can you provide Dome Garage Plans?

A: Yes. Since every building site is different, Garage & Basement Plans are priced separately from Stock Plans. We have included several Stock Plans for garages which may be linked to any dome where indicated or may be built separately. Click on Dome Garages to learn more.

Q: Tell me some about the 60' dome and I don't see any 60' stock plans, are they custom?

A: Ai's largest size dome is 60’ in diameter with an interior height of 26’. It has 2,552 sq.ft. on the first floor, if you max out the second floor, the second floor can have 1,910. If you purchase the cupola and install a third floor loft there can be a loft area of 620 sq.ft. for a total of 5,180 sq.ft. If you need a larger dome than this, contact Monolithic Dome in Italy Texas.

We do not have any 60' stock plans. All the plans for the 60' are custom. As of January 2009 the 60' custom plans start at $3,500. Once we see your sketch or ideas we can quote you a price to design your custom set of Building Plans.

Q: Do you offer stock basement plans in addition to the ones in the plan book? And do you have or can you develop plans for different types of basement?

A: Some of our stock plans have stock basement plans designed with them.  Ai can design custom basments from your sketches.  The walls can be designed using concrete block, Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) or poured concrete walls. Basement walls are usually 8" thick when made of poured concrete but will likely increase depending on the height of the basement wall and the height of the backfill.

Q: How is the square footage determined in the Dome Plans?

A: Remember in a conventional house you have an attic that cannot be used for useable rooms.  Because of the dome shape a second floor can be installed that is useable. So even if some square footage around the second floor perimeter cannot be used there is still more useable square footage in a dome than a conventional house with an attic.

• Building Plan's second floor square footage includes the area starting at five feet. The Tax Assessor uses these numbers, so taxes will be less.

• The Second Floor Square Footage on the Price List includes the area starting at three feet.

• The Second Floor Square Footage on the Stock Floor Plans includes the areas starting at three feet.

Q: I am concerned about having a second floor and using the stairs. What do you recommend?

A: Because of the shape of the dome a second floor is a natural. To access the second and third floors instead of an elevator, install an electric winch powered lift in a 4’x4’ area or an elevator or a stair railing chair to access the second floor. You could design all your living space and master bedroom and bath on the first floor and put a guest bedroom and bath on the second floor and use the second floor rooms for guests or for storage.

Q: I understand that very few of your clients ever sell their dome. As a result the dome ends up becoming a retirement home, should I make it handicap accessible?

A: Yes. It is a easy modification to the plans to make the entire downstairs area wheelchair accessible, (32" doorways minimum, handicap accessible shower stall, etc.).

Any of the small domes could be built without a second floor. It would not be cost effective to build a dome and not install and use the second floor rooms. Because of the natural shape of the dome, a second floor is a natural. Your contractor would install an electric winch powered lift or elevator or stair rail chair. This way you can easily access the second floor rooms.

Q: How are two domes joined together and should I plan extensions onto my Entryways?

A: If you are planning a complex of domes, the domes are joined at entryways or door dormers to form a link. The link will vary in width according to the size of the domes' entryways and can vary in length from 2 feet to 10 feet.

While many companies offer the alternatives of large links and room extensions to the dome, American Ingenuity feels they are not in your best interest.

Among the reasons:

1. When floor space is increased using an extension or link, the exposed surface area is greater than for the square footage within a dome. This results in less energy efficiency & a higher cost per square foot.
2. Construction is more involved & time consuming
3. The overall scale, relationship between elements & proportion of the home are adversely affected.
4. The visual impact of the design is lessened.
5. Good chance of leaking where the extension long flat roof butts into the dome shell. The expansion & the contraction associated with temperature changes produces the flex or separation at the link. We have considered expansion joints but they are not trouble free either. We have concluded the adding of spandex cloth at the seams covered with elastomeric paint. Once or twice a year apply a couple of thick coats of elastomeric paint to the problem area is the best solution. The fall is the most likely problem time.

Ai recommends simply moving up to the next larger size dome or arranging your space differently to increase the efficiency of your design. It will save time, energy and money.

Q: What do your building plan names mean?

A: Ai uses Greek words (Omega, Alpha, Delta) and numbers (21, 22, etc) along with the dome diameter to name our plans.  Ai now has additional stock plans not on our web site and not in our Stock Floor Plan Booklet.  Those plans are labelled with numbers.  Please call our office at 321-639-8777 or email  and let us know what diameter dome you are interested in and we will email you the new stock plans.