how water proof are md's?

[angelofdodd]

can the dome homes be built to withstand leaking.my property is on the edge of a 100yr flood plain,75ft above the highest point anyone in the area has known the river to overflow.i dont really want stilts,but have to build 2ft above the flood plain.this property didnt flood even after 3 hurricanes in a row.i figure if i put the doors/windows higher and can seal the shell watertight that i might be able to squeese around code.i cant afford stilts on a md.

[hitssquad]

Sealed houses float. If you are expecting floods, you might want to chain it down and use flexible utility connections. An alternative would be a circle of outward-angled piles securing the foundation to the earth.

[angelofdodd]

Not worried about flooding.trying to appease the county code office.

[hitssquad]

You are talking about building a submarine. You should ask the code office first if they accept submarines as code-variances. Here is a related article from the Monolithic website:
http://www.monolithic.com/disaster_resi ... hurricanes

I recently had a representative from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an agency of the US Department of Commerce that conducts environmental research, contact me. The NOAA wanted to know if a Monolithic Dome could be built that would survive a 100 foot tsunami. My answer was an absolute Yes with this provision: a rock that I could anchor the dome to.

Assuming the code-office will accept your submarine idea, a reputable company named Zero International makes a temporary outer-door-sealer (Flood Barrier Shield) for flood situations:
http://www.zerointernational.com/benefi ... shield.asp

[Ula Oh]

Hitssquad, you always come up with the best links!

In response to your question angelofdodd - Is it an option to build a two story Monolithic? The bottom could be used for storage, a work shop, art studio, covered patio, whatever.

Links to two story MDs:
http://www.monolithic.com/disaster_resi ... index.html
http://www.monolithic.com/gallery/homes ... index.html
http://www.monolithic.com/gallery/homes ... index.html

If that is cost prohibitive would it be an option to build a double stair/landing? What I mean is put the doors at the specified height, build a stair way and landing on the out side to walk up to the door and a stair way and landing to walk down to the floor level of your house.

I'm fairly positive that an MD can, or inherently is, water proof. I think the it's the openings that cause the problems. Does any one who would know better disagree?

Ula

[hitssquad]

I'm fairly positive that an MD can, or inherently is, water proof. I think the it's the openings that cause the problems. Does any one who would know better disagree?

Cold joints (e.g. non-monolithic -- such as the joint between the shell and the foundation) are supposedly not waterproof. I believe any civil engineer would tell you that any cold joint (that does not have extra waterproofing on the outside, such as built-up bituminous membrane) with hydrostatic pressure behind it will leak water.

[angelofdodd]

I think I'll go with the raised doorway/stairs,pillings with feet,and sealing the cold joint with bitumen.i have a couple of heavy rubberized truck tarps i could cut,poor the foundation over,then lap over the air form and glue it to it as well for gp.this property is pretty high compared to most around it,and the highest flooding any one(even after3canes)has seen in100yrs in the area,the road in front went 5ft deep.the house will be aprox.60ft higher than that.just trying to appease the code nazi's.if this property actually did flood that high,most of the florida panhandle would be in the gulf,

[hitssquad]

I neglected to mention that there is not much sense in sealing the shell-foundation cold joint if the floor of the dome is not also designed to withstand hydrostatic pressure. Otherwise, the floor might leak or break apart. Here is what was left of the ground-floor of Dome of a Home after a hurricane raised the water level higher than the floor (scroll down):
http://www.domeofahome.com/gallery2/mai ... temId=9097

http://www.domeofahome.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=9125&g2_serialNumber=2

[Nanos]

The impression I get is that there are products out there which can do the job;

http://www.waterproofconcrete.co.uk

http://www.buildingtalk.com/news/grs/grs102.html

http://www.hycrete.com

http://www.cementaid.co.uk


As such my new home design will be based on using only waterproof concrete for its waterproofing layer, cold joints particularly interest me in whether these can or cannot be made waterproof without additional materials. If necessary I will be building a prototype to test in practice such an approach if insufficient expert opinion is lacking.

[rbissett]

I neglected to mention that there is not much sense in sealing the shell-foundation cold joint if the floor of the dome is not also designed to withstand hydrostatic pressure. Otherwise, the floor might leak or break apart. Here is what was left of the ground-floor of Dome of a Home after a hurricane raised the water level higher than the floor

I was very involved with that dome doing the design development and working drawings. The garage floor was designed to be frangible as was the double curved stairs to the upper floor. The problem was not hydrostatic pressure. During the storm surge, which was 16' during Ivan, all the sand under the slab was scoured down 6'. The slab was made of separate five foot square sections which are easier to remove than a one piece slab would be. The ringbeam was built on top of piling 17' into the sand so the dome was fine.

[mkrepel]

How much do you need to build up the floor to be above the flood plain? I see 2' in there, but I do not see the actual figures that you need to raise the building to get above the 100 year flood. If is is only 2', why not bring in enough gravel to get above the water line? This would be much easier (and cheaper?) than trying to seal the water out. As someone else said, sealed houses tend to float...even concrete ones. After all, people build boats out of concrete and they float very well indeed.

The next best way to approach this is to keep all items, that can be water damaged, above the high water mark. I read this as contents, since the concrete and insulation are basically impervious to water. Whether than means putting it on concrete pilings or building more shell than you need and putting the living floors above the high water mark, I would think it would be worth it if there is any chance that the water can reach you. My sense is that we can expect to see more storms that are more violent as the earth continues to warm up...if you believe in Global Climate Change. That means higher flood waters (and more often) too.

[Mountain View]

Consider a design like the eye of the storm dome. (find it illustrated on Monolithic site) The lower level is all open and used for parking and a storage room for all the outside tools etc. During a hurricane the water can rush under the dome and worst case just wash away the tool room and its contents. Everyone is safely on the upper two floors.

[angelofdodd]

This post was ages ago.I'm amazed people have actualy brought it back up this far in the future.Matt

[mkrepel]

Did you build your dome? Are you close to any of this year's flood areas? If so, how high was the water on your property?

[angelofdodd]

I got scammed on the property,and ended up loosing it.Use the search feature,and look up"A skeem thats put a kabosh on my dream".That will give you the full story.If it's in the cards,I may end up building an earth sheltered ecoshell hybrid barrel vault,where I'm living at now.I will be using an earthform,instead of an airform,and using a 14"outer layer of pumicecrete in the place of the poly foam.At the moment its just a dream in the planning stage,that might never happen.The money is just to tight right now.Matt