New Dome Planning guide

The single most important thing you can do for your new Monolithic Dome home is plan well. Good planning is more than important, it's critical. The best possible ending of a project can only follow the best possible beginning.

We would like to help you off to a good start with your planning. Even if you are an old pro at this, you are likely to find a few notable items in our suggestions. The tools needed are some paper, a pencil or two, a ruler and a big eraser for making adjustments along the way. A computer, like the one you are using now, is also handy for research and making lists. If you're ready, let's go to it.

First and foremost, know what you want.

As silly as this sounds, it is commonly incomplete. Midway through construction or later, our memory improves and we remember what we forgot to include. The best way to do this is with a "Word Picture".

The Word Picture

A word picture is simply a group of written statements that describe the finished product, your new Monolithic Dome home or other structure. After reading through our suggestions here, you may find it interesting to read through the Word Picture description on MDI's web site.

Your Word Picture should be the nucleus of your planning. Do this part carefully, consider everything, sleep on it, check and recheck it. At this point, we are not concerned with the design of the dome, only its function.

Let's go to the paper or computer. Begin by listing all rooms you would like and what they will be used for now and later. Think of future situations like a new baby coming and/or the kids growing up and leaving vacant space and what that space might be used for.

Along the way, make a list of questions that you are sure to have. These should be discussed with your contractor when you get to that point.

With the rooms listed with the intended usage, note major inclusions for each, such as a big screen TV, wet bar, special lighting, computer connections and the like. Include more details if you like as they can be thought provoking to prevent missing something.

Sizes are very important for planning. The best way to determine room sizes is to actually measure existing rooms that are similar to those you would like. Remember to measure and allow for future needs as well.

Consider your financial situation along the way. Naturally, fewer and simpler requirements will cost less to build.

Finally, make notes for special arrangements, such as areas to be adjacent or distant from each other, entry locations, views of the pool or other things. When finished, your Word Picture will comprise the specifications used to design your new dome with.

Real Estate

Several items must be considered when selecting the location for your dome, or if you already have the property. The first item would be size, to determine limitations and position for a structure.

Additionally, you should check on any restrictions imposed by deed restricted communities, or city and county building authorities. There are areas where only conventional construction is permitted, regardless of the Monolithic Dome's safety qualifications.

Design

With your word picture complete, it's time to work on designing the dome. With paper and pencil, sketch the floor plan as a circular shape with one or more domes. Then add lines for interior walls to create the rooms to the approximate size indicated in your word picture. Compound domes, two or more, will have a portion of the circles overlapping. Or, compound domes can be connected with a passage way.

Continue sketching and comparing against your word picture, adjusting and correcting as needed so that everything in the word picture is accommodated in the sketch. Now you have a general idea of what your new Monolithic Dome will look like.

Here again, consider the financial impact of simple versus more complex designs. A good idea is to note some areas as optional for addition or omission, depending on costs.

Estimate Cost

For further evaluation of your dome, we have a cost estimator to calculate a very rough cost and size of the dome. Please note, this estimator is NOT equivalent to a contractor's estimate and does not include many items such as real estate, sidewalks, local cost variations and more.

Find a contractor

Up until now you have worked on your own to decide what you really want and put it in a form for communication with others. So the next step is to find a contractor to build your new dome.

It is best to have a contractor who includes Monolithic Dome construction among their routine services. Dome-Homes.Com, LLC is a good suggestion. At this time, there are a relatively small number of Monolithic Dome contractors, although the number is growing rapidly. We can handle your project anywhere in the Continental US. If you are outside of our local area and prefer to seek a local contractor, the MDI website has a list that may help.

Arrange a meeting to present your word picture and sketches to the contractor. He will appreciate your hard work thus far and will have answers for your list of questions. This is the time to consider your list of options, if any, and their cost. Your contractor can now determine the actual cost of building the Monolithic Dome and estimate a construction schedule.

Meet the neighbors

By this time, you're pretty familiar with Monolithic Domes, and that's handy. Because domes are not common yet, you are sure to get curiosity questions from lots of people.