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  • 2007
    • December
      • And the master suite..
        12/18/07
        The bedroom turned out very nice, and is actually much more spacious than even expected.


        Here you can see the glass block window that faces the front of the house.


        Looking up, you can take in one of the four ceiling fans. It's also worth noting the rustic trow

      • Moving on to the kitchen...
        12/18/07
        Perhaps the nicest part of Trinity Dome, is the wonderful compact little kitchen.


        An efficient floor plan incorporates a small counter depth fridge, combination washer/dryer unit, range, built in microwave, and a dishwasher -- all into a very accessible "L" shaped design.

      • Living and Dining Rooms
        12/18/07
        Let's take a tour of the main living are of the house...


        Here's a shot of taken just inside the front door, looking back toward the garage.


        Off to the left, you can see the bedroom door. To the right of that you'll find the entry to the kitchen.
      • We're Done!
        12/18/07


        With a big THANK YOU to so many friends, family, neighbors, contractors, and the fine folks at Monolithic -- I am pleased to announce Trinity Dome is (pretty much) complete. We wrapped up the interior over the weekend, and received our occupancy permit from the city inspectors as well.<

    • October
      • Voice of America
        10/01/07
        I was dismantling the airlock in the back driveway a couple weeks ago, when a gentleman approached me and introduced himself. It turns out his name was Greg Flakus, and he was from Voice of America -- the international freedom-promoting radio and television network!

        He was a very nice guy

      • We have driveways!
        10/01/07
        Mike the Concrete Guy did a nice job of pouring all of our exterior flat work recently. In these photos you can also see how the windows and door trim ended up. It still needs staining, but it already looks good!


        On the front of the house, there is a driveway for visitors, in addi

      • Another nice article...
        10/01/07
        Thanks again to Loretta Sorensen, who wrote another nice article on Trinity Dome -- this time in Prairie Business Magazine.



        Click here to read the article on their site.

      • There's nothing like a little controversy...
        10/01/07
        From our local paper. One misguided person's letter, and my response to it.



        Click the paper image to read it larger.

      • Comment Spam - ACK!
        10/01/07
        It's been awhile since we've posted anything, and upon return it's obvious we're now being targeted with blog comment spam. For those of you who've been subjected to reading this junk, please accept our apologies.

        With no better solution right now, I've been

    • March
      • And, in local news...
        03/02/07
        Thanks to Loretta Sorensen of the Sioux City Journal for another nice article in the local paper.


        The full article can also be found online here.

      • We Want Spring!
        03/02/07
        Most of the activity on Trinity Dome lately has been inside details, and doesn't show up well on photographs -- so we thought we'd post some pictures of the last snowfall.





        Winter does have some positives -- sledding, snowmen, and... that's really abo

    • January
      • Thanks for all your help, Pat!
        01/30/07
        We are deeply saddened by the loss of Pat Meylor, one of Trinity Dome's owners, who died last month.


        Pat was very involved in planning Trinity Dome, and helped as much with the construction as his failing health allowed. He had attended the annual Monolithic Dome conference se

      • We're still here.
        01/30/07
        Recent life events have kept us from progressing much since the dome tour, but we are still here! In the meantine, we realized there were a number of updates we hadn't passed on -- so here you go:

        First we had the split A/C unit and radiant floor bolier installed by Steve's Hea

  • 2006
    • October
      • Monolithic Dome Tour
        10/19/06
        Although it's not finished yet, Trinity Dome will be part of the 2006 Monolithic Dome Tour. We've gotten so much out of visiting other people's domes during this annual event, we thought folks might enjoy seeing the home, even while it's still under construction.

        Some

    • September
      • Reduced Image Sizes
        09/14/06
        Since Monolithic's article came out we've had LOTs more visits to the site, and a couple folks pointed out that some of the large pics were hard to load. In order to accommodate them (and reduce our bandwidth usage), we've reduced the file size on the larger images.

        Those o

      • Split Air Ready for Installation
        09/14/06
        The Split Air Conditioner equipment arrived this last week and all looks in order. Steve Carlson from Steve's Heating and Air Conditioning in Akron will be coming later this week to install it.



        There's not a lot to these little systems. We bought just about the sma

      • Hey, thanks Monolithic!
        09/14/06
        There's a great article about Trinity Dome (and this site) over at Monolithic.com. It's very well written, and was certainly quite a compliment to have our work featured on such a respected outlet.


        Many thanks to Freda Parker for the excellent write-up and to the fine fol

      • More Interior Progress
        09/14/06
        Now that most of the behind-the-scenes work is done, we've been able to continue working on the drywall and other interior elements.


        Here you can see the completed main wall between the living / dining areas and the bedroom. The door is now hung going into the bedroom as well.

      • Rough-in Complete
        09/14/06
        There electricians finished up their work inside the walls last week followed immediately by the plumbers. They set to work on roughing in all the in-wall plumbing. This included all the supply lines, drain lines, and soil stacks through the dome shell. They were then able to set the tub and showe

      • A little more fame...
        09/02/06
        This week marked the one year anniversary of kicking off the Trinity Dome project -- and we celebrated with a nice article in the Sioux City Journal. There were a couple nice photographs in the paper, and it lead on their web site for a day as well.


        Thanks to Loretta Sorensen at th

    • August
      • Doors, Foam and More
        08/12/06
        It's been a productive couple weeks with lots of progress. First, we've installed a couple more doors.


        Here's the pocket door going into the master bathroom. In this view it's closed.


        This is the same angle with the door open. The pocket door

      • Electric and Drywall
        08/12/06
        The guys from Todd's Electric have been busy pulling wire throughout the house. At this point the electrical infrastructure is pretty much in place.


        Here's a shot of some of the wiring in the bedroom. You'll note all the wire is either encased in plastic "smurf

    • July
      • Hot, Hot, Hot!
        07/16/06
        Today was the third day of 100+ degree temperatures -- and in South Dakota that's HOT! But we're happy to report the inside temperature of Trinity Dome has been staying in the high seventies, with no air conditioning.



        The thermal battery aspect of the Monlithic Dome

      • Curb Appeal
        07/16/06
        Now that the interior of Trinity Dome can be turned back over to the plumbing and electrical folks, we've turned our attention to making the exterior a little more presentable.


        Here you can see the accent siding installed on the north side windows and front entry openings. The

      • Honestly, I was Framed.
        07/15/06
        Things have really started picking back up at TrinityDome. We're in the full swing of framing the interior with metal studs and starting to hang the drywall. The metal framing isn't completely solid until you sheath it with something, so we're hanging one side of each wall to give i

      • Houston, We Have Garage Door!
        07/15/06
        Those of you who have visited the jobsite may recall that the garage door hadn't been installed in the spring, and we had sealed it up for safe keeping until time allowed for installation. Well, now it's done.


        Here's a shot of the opening from the inside. In the end

      • Green Green Grass of Dome
        07/15/06
        A couple of the things we were able to get done are evident in this photo. First, we sealed up all the openings around the windows and doors to keep the weather completely out, then we relied on the heavy spring showers to help grow some "grass".


        Here's a shot of the

      • Time After Time
        07/15/06
        Several non-dome factors conspired over recent months to keep us from progressing much -- let alone post anything on the web site. But fear not! We're back in action and moving forward. More to come shortly -- please stay tuned!

    • February
      • The "Plaster Party"
        02/11/06
        Wanting to get a semi smoooth hand-troweled look on a tight budget, we turned to friends, family, and local volunteers for the Great Vermillion Plaster Party of 2006.

        About twenty guys from the tri-state area attended the six hour event, and here are the results. The Diamond interior fin

      • Windows, doors, and more!
        02/11/06
        There been lots of activity at Trinity Dome over the last month. For starters, all the windows and doors are installed. That is except the garage door, which was temporariy insulated with foam board until the weather turns a little better.


        Here's a shot of the house from the

    • January
      • Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
        01/01/06

      • Shotcrete Complete
        01/01/06
        The day before Christmas we wrapped up the shotcrete on the interior of the dome. Due to some adjustments in our available crew, this phase was handled as a two man weekend job over six weeks.


        This is what it looked like inside the domes lately. Interested broadband users can watch

  • 2005
    • October
      • We're Famous (Just a Little)
        10/30/05
        It's been a crazy week, and the project is getting a lot of attention. People continue to talk about the "new dome in Vermillion." And now we're starting to get a little press:


        Thanks to Judy Zwolak of the Argus Leader newspaper in Sioux Falls for talking with

      • Exterior Finish Plans
        10/30/05
        We've had lots of folks ask how the exterior will be finished. Since the airform can last ten+ years without coating, there's no rush to decide -- but we're currently leaning towards Permacrete or an elastomeric stucco -- both very low maintenance.

        There are some other op

      • Coating and Backfilling the Footing
        10/24/05
        Once the footing foam cured, Tom from Weather Guard returned to add a UV protectant on it. This will keep the exposed portion of the foam from breaking down in the sun.


        Here you can see the coated foam up close. You can also see where the sprayed foam overlaps and seals the origin

      • Rebar, Rebar, Rebar!
        10/24/05
        The biggest task in the process so far is cutting, bending and hanging rebar according to the engineering schedule. It's a time consuming, and the overhead work is tough.


        Trinity Dome calls for #3 bars every 12" on center at the base of the dome tapering to 10" on ce

      • Foam and Stickers
        10/24/05
        After priming the entire inside with a special "sticky paint", the dome was ready to foam.


        Tom from Weather Guard Urethane in Yankton came over and sprayed the first few layers of foam. After spraying the first 1.5", he wrapped things up for the evening.

        <

      • Window Bucks
        10/24/05
        Following inflation, the next step was to build and install the vinyl window bucks.


        The bucks themselves were easy enough to cut and assemble. However, the process had to be repeated after the first installation attempt -- as they were just a bit too big all around to fit with full

      • Inflation Day
        10/24/05
        The big day finally arrived. This was the moment the house went from a funny shaped concrete slab to a full size home in the round.


        Will is attaching the inflator fan to the airform. We did this using metal strapping and self tapping screws. This was followed by attaching the air

      • Preparing to Inflate
        10/02/05
        When the weather finally cleared, we were able to prepare for inflation in earnest. By the end of the week we were ready to go.


        The first step was to dry out the lot a little and get the area workable. A couple loads of gravel were brought into the back and spread out. These wer

      • Bending Plywood
        10/02/05
        One of (OK, the only) positive aspect of the wet weather is it makes it a lot easier to bend plywood into a curve. In order to keep the saddle intersections of the airform from coming too far out, the folks at Monolithic recommended we reinforce the areas with bent plywood -- which is easier said t

      • Rain, Rain, Go Away!
        10/02/05
        Rain delays and other obligations conspired to keep things on a slow pace for the last week. While shooting for the goal of inflating the airform, several setback occurred. Despite this there were some accomplishments to help prepare for inflation.


        After covering the footing with

      • The Other Homeowner
        10/02/05
        Lots have folks have wondered if anyone will keep the Homeowners company once Trinity Dome is complete. Here's a great shot of Frank, the family Cocker Spaniel who will be enjoying the new digs -- pun intended.



        Frank is looking forward to staying in a Monolithic Dome so s

    • September
      • Pouring the Footings and Floor
        09/24/05
        Today was a BIG day. Matt and the crew from Dakota Construction poured the footings and floor for Trinity Dome. Here's a rundown of the process:


        The day started out with the arrival of a concrete boom pump truck from Hartington Nebraska. Since the house is so long, and the l

      • Flowable Fill and Rebar Placement
        09/23/05
        Sour weather over the last week hampered some of our progress, but things have picked back up. The guys from Dakota Construction finished aligning the forms and brought in several truckloads of flowable fill.


        The fill is basically sand, water, and fly ash combined in a ready-mix tr

      • Setting Forms and Laying Tubes
        09/15/05
        Once all the foam board was laid out, the crew from Dakota Construction set the forms for the foundation. They did a nice job of getting everything properly aligned, so it should match up well to the airform.


        Here you see the view of the forms from the street. We’ve already had ou

      • Laying Foam Board
        09/15/05
        Paul's Plumbing began laying the two inch foam board to insulate under the foundation and the radiant floor heating. We had to stop calling it 'Blue Board" for obvious reasons once it arrived.


        The area being insutaled extends a least 4 foot past the structure on all

      • Under Slab Plumbing
        09/10/05
        Paul's Plumbing completed the rough-in for all the sewer and water lines that will be under the slab this week.




        They'll be replacing and packing the gravel fill, then laying down the foam board in the next couple of days. Then it's on to forming the found

    • August
      • And so we begin...
        08/27/05
        Things are underway in earnest now. The crew from Dakota Construction began by stripping off the sod layer and leveling up the building area. They are working with an extended portion of the lot so everything is properly graded for the insulated footing.



        When this was done,

      • Let's build a dome...
        08/26/05
        Well, the beginning is finally here. We've got our contracts in place for our foundation and plumbing and we're ready to roll. Tomorrow, the team from Dakota Construction will begin preparing the site.

        Speaking of the site, here's what the lot looks like from the street..