Plans FAQ |
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Answers to American Ingenuity'smost frequently asked building plans questionsClick on Plans to learn more. New & Improved Building Plans. Expanded Assembly Manual available NOW with each new dome order! That each customer pay for only what they need is Ai’s philosophy. Ai does not burden the price of the building kit with plan's pricing, engineer seal cost or energy report cost. Building plans are purchased three months to 1 1/2 years prior to kit shipment. About 50% of the building departments require engineer sealed plans and an energy report to issue a permit. As a result each customer pays for their plans separately from the building kit and pays for a seal and energy report only if their building department requires them. Q: What items should I consider when planning to build an American Ingenuity geodesic dome? Once your land has been acquired, blueprints are usually the first step.
Q: How do I view your stock floor plans? A: Click on Stock Plans to view the ones on this web site. Once you are on the page scroll down to see the hyperlinks to click on. At no cost to you, Ai will email other stock plans that are not on our web site. If you want stock plans mailed, call Ai at 321-639-8777 for printing cost and mailing cost. Q: How do we determine what size dome is best for my family? A: First review stock plans emailed to you or view Ai's Stock Floor Plan Booklet (which is in the Planning Kit) to see how the area within a dome is used.
Q: What size dome do I build if I do not want a 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 rooms for guests or for storage. Q: Can the dome be made handicap accessible? Q: How do I plan for expansion -building an additional dome at a future date? Q: Can the domes have basements or be built upon stilts or pilings? Also what do you use for floor joists? Wood, steel, manufactured trusses, whatever you prefer. How thick of a basement wall is required for the domes? 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. Ai can provide a design, which places the dome on concrete pilings. Sometimes Ai recommends an above ground basement with breakaway walls instead of pilings. Bear in mind that building any structure upon pilings will increase the cost significantly and require you to climb a flight of stairs each time you go in the house. If in your location, it is a requirement then you have no other choice. Q: Do you sell basement wall kits? Q: What is the standard foundation included with the stock plans? A: Concrete slab. For Ai to design a basement or concrete columns or stem wall or pilings, etc. an engineer fee is added to your Plans Quote. This is to cover the cost for a structural engineer to calculate the load of the dome and the load of the two floors within the dome and give joist/edge beam size/spacing and foundation design to our CAD department to incorporate within the plans. Call for engineer pricing. Q: Can I have windows above doors in an entryway? Q: Will l feel closed in, in the dome? Q: Do your Building Plans come with an Engineer's seal? Less than half of our dome owners need engineer sealed Building Plans to obtain a building permit and rather than adding the engineer cost to all plans or burden the price of the building kit, it is more economical to have the plans sealed as needed. Q: What format do I email floor plan drawings to you? Q: What programs can I use to read dxf format? You can use computer programs to draw your floor plans; although, we can use a hand drawn sketch that is faxed to us just as easily as a CAD drawing. We have to reenter all of your information into our system and we will likely agree upon some changes for your benefit. Q: What is a cupola? The topside exterior of the five panels of the cupola and the underside exterior of the eave are prefinished, while the topside and edges of the eave are stuccoed onsite. Cupolas are not necessary for ventilation and extra light. Domes do not need more light than conventional houses. If you build your dome without a cupola, we recommend installing a vent in an interior wall near the peak of your dome for ventilation. The electric fan vent has the added advantage of being easily controlled with a switch or timer. The outline of the third floor loft matches that of the cupola. In wind areas, you do not want the cupola windows to be more than two feet tall. Also taller cupolas just look out of proportion on the dome. For an observatory on top of the dome, you would not need a cupola. The top or any part of the dome will easily support the weight of people. All that would be needed would be a railing around the top and some way to access the top of the dome, i.e. sculptured concrete steps. Click on Building Options to learn more. Q: Why do the square footages on the Specifications Page differ from the square footages listed on the stock floor plans in the Planning Kit? The first floor square footages on the stock floor plans vary from the Specification Page because:
Residential Building Plan sets contain all the blueprints typically provided with any type of housing and include floor plans, exterior elevations, dome shell section view, top view showing panel placement, floor joist framing plans, structural details, and locations of plumbing and electrical fixtures.In the Planning Kit is a 60 page Stock Floor Plan Booklet that contains stock plans for the 22' thru 48' domes. If you do not see a plan that fits your lifestyle Ai can modify its stock plans or design custom plans for a reasonable fee.If you do not have the time or do not want to assemble the dome shell kit, American Ingenuity knows of a Kit Assembly Consultant that will come to your site, and supervise your laborers or your contractor's laborers and get the dome shell kit assembled. Click on Plans to learn more. A: You need to assure you have answers to the following questions:
Click on Planning Process to learn more. Q: If I purchase Building Plans for one size dome and later change my mind, can I get a refund? A: No Ai cannot issue a refund. Q: When should we purchase our dome building plans? A: Ai recommends that our clients design their floor plan when they are one to two years from building their dome. If you design your plan before then, you may see model homes or get ideas from other plans that may cause you to want to change your original floor plan ideas. Q: When can I move into my dome? A: If you have to obtain a building permit before you can build, then you have to submit a set of Building Plans. If you do not have to obtain a building permit then you can move into the dome once the shell is weather tight. But typically the building department will not allow you to live in the dome until the interior and exterior are finished per the building plans. Q: What are the contents of your Residential Building Plans?A: Stock sets generally have 10-14 pages per each set. Building plans include the basic drawings for the dome that are needed when acquiring a building permit. They are composed on our computer aided drafting system as stock plans, or based on your individual requirements and design. Some of the pages are a 3-D elevation and a 3-D perspective view. The Plans include:
These plans include all the structural drawings, show the placement of the electrical outlets, light fixtures, plumbing fixtures; however, they do not have the electrical, plumbing, HVAC layouts. We have found if the layouts are included, then the inspectors require the subcontractors to follow the diagrams when usually the subs like to do their own layouts. Q: Do your Building Plans include the electrical, plumbing and HVAC layouts? A: No. Ai has found if these layouts are included, then the inspectors require the subcontractors to follow the diagrams when usually the subs like to do their own layouts. Ask you building department if these layouts are required for you to obtain a building permit. If are required, contact us and we will quote you a price to include these layouts. Click on Electrical/Plumbing to learn more. Q: Why do you have to charge extra to modify your stock Building Plans? A: Quite often our clients send us sketches....we need to convert those sketches to actual building plans for the following reasons. Some of the footer locations in the concrete slab foundation are based upon the location of the first floor load bearing walls, which help support the second floor. Plus the dome riser panels set on a perimeter footer in the slab. Also parts of the second floor are suspended by rods into the dome shell. These rods are inserted and buried in the seam concrete during the shell assembly. So we need to design your floor plan per your sketch and then design the structural sheets that the slab person, shell assembler, framer, etc. need to follow. So yes you would pay us a fee for us to modify our stock plans per your sketch and produce sets of building plans. Q: I understand that you can suspend parts of the second floor from the dome shell so we can have an open first floor plan. Is this true? A: Yes, the second floor can be suspended from the dome shell and allow you to have as open a first floor as you desire. Keep in mind that it is more economical to use some of the first floor walls as supports. Long spans with floor joists will require more expensive materials to provide the strength for suspension rods that pass through the second floor. The suspension rods and plates are purchased from American Ingenuity. 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. 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.
Click on Square Footage to learn more. 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 to get to the second floor, or you could use a stair railing chair. 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 rooms for guests or for storage. Click on Lifts and Elevators to learn more. 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. To access the second floor you could install a lift instead of an elevator. Your contractor would install an electric winch powered lift, 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 plans 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:
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: The first two numbers are the dome diameter in feet, the next word is a Greek word (Omega, Alpha, Delta) and then we use two numbers (21, 22, etc) to complete the name. Ai has other stock plans not listed on our web site, please call and they can be emailed to you at no cost. These new plans are labelled with numbers not Greek names.
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