Geodesic Dome Homes

The latest in architectural technology, brought to you at your doorstep by the ever emerging need for people to satisfy their quench for a change in lifestyle and home decor, geodesic dome homes are the new rage in home construction. We shall discuss further, a few aspects of this new concept as we read on, such as, how to build a geodesic home? And the making of a geodesic dome.

Geodesic Dome Homes
Any home built using the basic fundamentals and designs of geodesic domes are called geodesic homes. The term Geodesic, comes primarily from the study of the earth and its tangents. It can be defined in a broad way as the shortest distance between two points on a sphere. A geodesic dome consists of a number of geodesics (lines) running across its surface that intersect each other to form shapes, mostly equidistant definite triangles. These shapes are present uniformly across the sphere and thus help in keeping the whole structure stable. A geodesic dome home is constructed using a partially spherical dome on its roof, in place of a concrete ceiling or tiles that is common with present day home building. These domes can be made from materials ranging from soft fabric to hard metal.

How to Build a Geodesic Dome Home
With geodesic dome house kits readily available, it has become easier to construct one with the added advantage of you attempting to build it on your own. The kit consists of the main framework and the panels of the dome. In order to set it in place, the most basic components required are nuts, bolts and washers. Based on the size of the nuts and bolts in relation to the framework, the appropriate size wrenches, spanners and pliers need to be selected. However, if you would like to go ahead and construct a dome all by yourself without the help of a readily available kit, then following are few materials that need to be obtained, and directions to follow:

• Map out a blue print of the dome in order to refer to it while constructing, as measurements need to be taken based upon the size of the dome. There is no fixed measurement, hence, you can order in the panels of your choice, and according to that, build the frame.
• Make sure the surface area of each panel is a littler wider than that of the frame so that adjustments can be made.
• Depending upon the size of the dome; metal rods, preferably aluminum need to be purchased and cut into equal lengths to form struts or supporting bars, which constitute the mainframe.
• These rods need to then be flattened and bent at an angle at each end, in order to connect it to another strut.
• Holes then need to be drilled at each end in order to screw on the nuts and bolts, that hold each strut in place with the next.
• Finally, assemble the dome by attaching the panels to the framework.

This is the most simple form of a dome that you can construct. Make sure you make adjustments for internal applications such as, drainage, electric circuit points, ventilation, etc. Also make sure that the plans of the construction are handed over to the local building and construction authorities well in advance to avoid future hassles. Besides building geodesic domes connected to the actual house, you can also construct geodesic dome greenhouses. These domes are based on the same principle of the functioning of a greenhouse, and they work excellently in place of the regular structures and the framework that greenhouses are built of. On locations where the need to build a dwelling place is urgent along with the fact that it needs to endure, geodesic dome tents it is. These tents can be set up anywhere, anytime, and are convenient to build due to the size that a regular tent measures. These tents are often constructed in areas that are tourist attractions, where the climate is normally cold, as one feature of this dome involves the internal temperature to be evenly distributed by trapping the heat inside it.

The main advantage of these domes is that, due to their spherical structure, the air circulates around the dome instead of hitting it directly, thereby maintaining the temperature within the dome. A disadvantage of a geodesic dome house is that, due to the type of the material used in a dome, elements such as sunlight, smell, condensation and sound, penetrate the barrier which provides little protection against them.

However whatever may be the case, geodesic dome homes are a truly amazing invention that has changed the face and definition of home improvement and architecture. There is a huge demand as people are catching up with the concept of dome houses. Though there is some amount of expenditure involved, it is considered to be cheaper than building a concrete ceiling. So why not be the envy of your neighbors? Go, grab a geodesic dome kit and set to work upon it to build yourself a revolutionary geodesic dome home.