Wood House burns in California Fire – home owner rebuilds with Ai concrete dome home kit.
The California Silver fire started on August 12, 2013 in southern California just south of Banning. By the time firefighters had contained the blaze, it had burned about 20,000 acres, forced thousands to evacuate their homes, injured eight people, and destroyed 46 structures.
One of the homes destroyed was a wood dome owned by the Berres’s. Because they loved the advantages of living in a dome home, strength, energy efficiency, etc. they chose to rebuild another dome; but this time instead of a wood dome with shingles they chose to rebuild utilizing an American Ingenuity dome building kit because its exterior is noncombustible steel reinforced concrete.
Below the photo gallery of the Berres dome under construction is an image of the burn scar left from the Silver fire and a YouTube video of the fire.
Photo Gallery of Berres 48′ Concrete Dome Kit Under Assembly
48' in diameter Aidome being built.
View from their hillside.
View from property at 4,000 elevation. Site is 5 miles from San Andreas Fault Line. The American Ingenuity dome could easily meet the building code design criteria of 110 mph wind, 40 lbs snow load and Seismic D Zone.
Concrete slab with footer. Rebars extend up from footer in specific locations per the building plans to connect the dome to the foundation. The soil compacted at 74% - 90% instead of 98% so the monolithic slab thickness was increased to 6" from standard 4" and the footers were increased to 20"x20" from standard 20" tall x 16" wide size.
The riser panels are installed on top of these horizontal hook tie down rebars and will be concreted into the bottom seam of the risers.
Temporary wooden rib system has been assembled. It temporarily supports the panels until the seams and entryways and dormers are concreted with two layers of fiber concrete then the dome is self-supporting and the rib system is removed. The steel hubs are returned to Ai and the deposit is refunded. Most wood can be recycled in the interior framing.
First row of 4' risers are being installed. To the right of the front entryway a 44" tall riser panel is installed under where a window will be installed. This allows for fire egress bedroom window to be installed at correct height for code. To view a you tube video about the temporary support system, click on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCCjGzcQJsw&feature=youtu.be
Worker connecting lifting chains to lifting spikes so panel can be removed from stack and installed onto the dome. Four lifting spikes are purchased from Ai and connected to chain harness built on site per instructions. One spike goes on each side of the panel. The spike is inserted between the EPS and the bottom of the concrete.
Four foot tall Riser Panel being lifted from stack. 4' vertical riser panels come standard with each building kit. They are installed first before the triangle panels. The riser allows for more vertical space on the first floor. In the 3 freq domes (30'- 48') a custom 2' tall riser panel and taller entryway base panels can be ordered to increase first floor ceiling height in rooms where a second floor is installed from 7'6" or 8" to 9'6" or 10' .
At front is the footer that the base entryway panel will be installed on. Where the back of a base entryway panel meets the side of a riser, a vertical rebar extends up out of the footing and is bent horizontally into the top of the riser seam. Later a cable will be clamped to this horizontal rebar and installed on top of the overlapped, locked steel mesh.
The six entryway panels of the standard and high profile entryways have a scratch coat of concrete applied on the bottom side with a preformed concrete lip edge. On site the lip edge is folded to the front to make the front of what will be become a 4" x 5 1/2" rebar reinforced concrete trough/beam. This photo is of the base panel being installed and propped up.
Rear view of the base entryway panel. You can see the preformed lip edge folded to make the front of the beam. A rebar comes out of the footer that will extend thru the entire 4"x 5 1/2" trough/beam that is poured around the front edges of the entryway. Trough diagram is in the Assembly Manual. Assembly Manuals can be shipped to the Buyer after deposit and signed order forms are received by Ai.
Entryway panels for the 3 freq domes are 3 1/2" EPS wrapped with galvanized steel mesh. The exterior side of the entryway panels are not concreted. There are certain places that studs, headers, metal straps and bolts extend thru the mesh and Eps so that a pocket of concrete is poured to secure the PT wood or hardware. The pockets are filled with concrete when the exterior of the panels are concreted.
In the seam the galvanized steel mesh from one panel is overlapped a minimum of 2" to the steel mesh of adjacent panel. The mesh is then locked with C rings and pliers every 2" and depressed into the seam. Worker is applying bonding agent to the side of the flat bonding ledge prior to the first layer of fiber concrete being applied. Before concrete is applied the prefab concrete around the area is watered down. Fibers and two liquid admixtures are shipped with the kit for the first layer of concrete. The items are mixed with your bags of Portland Cement and masonry sand per the recipe. The concrete is mixed in a mortar mixer NOT a cement mixer and is hand troweled into the seams. The recipe is in the blueprints and the Kit Assembly Manual.
First layer of fiber concrete applied in the seam. Note the first layer of concrete does not cover the flat bonding ledge or the sloping bonding ledge. After all the panels have been installed. Start at the top of the dome and install the second layer of concrete in the seams. Prior to the second layer of concrete being applied, the first layer of concrete and the prefab concrete around the seam is watered down, bonding agent applied, wait 30 minutes and then the second layer of fiber concrete is applied to cover the seam and ledges. Blend the top layer to the panel concrete with a sponge to produce a sponge sand finish. The seam can be finished in a curved or flat appearance.
Base entryway panel is installed when the riser panels are installed. This is considered the first row. Then the second row of panels is installed after the first layer of concrete passes the scratch test. On the left you see one of the triangles installed for the second row.
Second side panel of the standard entryway being installed. If an entryway has a door dormer installed above it, the top two panels are named different. The top panels will have an S in them. There will be a See the A-6 in your blueprints.
Entryway second side panel being installed.
Triangle panel being installed.
Worker checking that supports are securing all entryway panels. Front edge of preformed beam can be seen.
Standard Entryway top panels being installed.
Worker is checking that all rebar is installed correctly in the entryway front trough/beam.
Supports shore up the bottom of the entryway panels while the panels are being concreted.
On site a 2 1/2" x 4" groove is cut in the EPS along the back of the entryway panels to contain #4 rebar that is continuous in the seam to the footing. Overlap rebar from footing minimum 24".
After groove is cut at back of entryway panels, the steel mesh from dome panels overlaps mesh from entryway panels and is locked with C rings and then depressed in the seam.
Header with Simpson MASAP strap installed thru top of entryway panel 24" OC max. Cut a pocket in the EPS around top of each strap and thicken with concrete. Bottom of strap is nailed to header. Each end of PT header extends into side of entryway panel EPS and is nailed to top of the mesh. A 15" by 9" tall pocket is filled with concrete flush to outer edge of EPS to cover the end of the header.
After framed wall PT studs, header, hardware, rebar, etc are installed thru the entryway EPS panels, the first layer of fiber concrete is applied to exterior of the entryway panels.
Top of entryway panels. At Ai factory this 4" wide groove is precut. On site #5 rebar is installed in the groove and the groove is filled with fiber concrete.
This photo where the rear of top entryway panels will have door dormer panels installed above. On site a 2 1/2" x 4" groove is cut. A galvanized cable is installed in the groove. This cable is continuous around the dome and runs between the second and third row of triangles. The ends of the cable overlap min 24" and are secured with six Crosby clamps. In the groove a #4 rebar is also installed that is continuous to the footer.
In the groove you can see the rebar and the cable.
Another view of the cable and rebar. Remember all rebar and cable placement must be inspected prior to concreting.
In the dome two cables are installed if there is only the 4' riser panels. Photo is of the top continuous cable. The other cable goes in the seam between the top of riser panel and the first row of triangles. If there is an additional two riser panel installed above the standard 4' riser panel then a cable is installed in the seam between the two risers. The bottom two cables are secured to rebar that is continuous to the footing with Crosby Clamps. See your S-6 blueprint.
Photo of six Crosby clamps securing ends of the top continuous cable.
Third row of triangles being installed.
Third row of panels being installed.
Panels being installed.
Standard entryway on the right. High Profile Entryway on the left. To the left of the standard entryway, please note a preformed seam is cut in the triangle. When there is a second floor door dormer, the triangle on each side is labeled PR or PL. These panels have a preformed seam to accept the continuous cable that comes from the base of the door dormer and curves to continue around the dome.
Dome is built on top of a mountain.
(Click the left/right arrows to change pics)
Silver Fire Area
Dark red color shows the burn scar when the California Silver Fire of 2013 burned about 20,000 acres,
forced thousands to evacuate their homes, injured eight people and destroyed 46 structures.
On August 10, 2013, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 captured this false-color image of the burn scar left by the Silver fire, which burned in southern California, just south of Banning.
The image was made with a combination of shortwave infrared, near infrared, and green light collected by OLI. Shortwave infrared is between near infrared (seen in infrared photography) and thermal infrared light (used by temperature sensors) on the electromagnetic spectrum. Shortwave infrared light is reflected by some surfaces (like bare soil), and emitted by very hot objects (lava or fires). Burned areas appear dark red. The lighter red area in the upper left of the image is a burn scar from a previous fire. Dark green areas are forests; light green areas are grasslands, golf courses, or yards.
Over the last decades, California fires had charred an average 5.7 million acres by August 22, according to statistics published by the National Interagency Fire Center.
Dark red color shows the burn scar when the California Silver Fire of 2013 burned about 20,000 acres,
