DIY Network

Sedona Dome-House: Framing, Roof and Windows From "Be Your Own Contractor: Vacation Homes" episode DBCV-101

Spectacular views of the red-rock formations make this area of New Mexico an ideal spot for a vacation dream home.

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In this episode of DIY's Be Your Own Contractor: Vacation Homes, we meet homeowners David Walske and Rick Goldstein and get a close look at the unique geodesic-dome house they built in Sedona, Arizona. In this segment, the do-it-yourselfers discuss preparation of the building site and the foundation.

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Red Rock Fever

The Oak Creek area just outside Sedona is home to some of the most spectacular scenery in North America (figures A and B). It's located about two hours north of Phoenix in Arizona's high desert. Though there's a cap on the amount of new construction that will be allowed in the area, it's a spot that is heavily touristed for the spectacular views.

Figure A

Figure B

"It's just unlike other places," says Rick Goldstien. "The look of the red rock is just otherworldly. That's what really attracted me to the area. You just don't get tired of it."

"There are a number of reasons that people would choose the Sedona area," says David Walske. "There's what used to be called a New Age community, with people interested in the sort of metaphysical aspects that have been ascribed to the Sedona area -- the 'vortexes.' Other people are simply drawn to incredible beauty of the area. Others are drawn to the fact that it is well-positioned for a retirement or vacation area that is not going to become too overcrowded in the near future."

Figure C

Building the Unbuildable

Because of the unusual and drastic slope of the land where they chose to build, quite a bit of excavation was required. Around 300 cubic yards of rock and soil had to be removed, initially using a back-hoe and front-loader. Things went well until the crews hit bedrock (figure C). Since they could go no further following that strategy of excavation, an alternate plan had to be developed. They then tried the slow process of chipping away rock with a hammer-jack attachment on the back-hoe, followed by controlled blasting using an expert who worked with explosives. Construction was delayed temporarily while the located the foremost expert they could find in this field and scheduled his services. The sacrifice of time and budget was ultimately deemed worth it for the quality and precision of work.

Figure D

This particular house and location presented quite a building challenge in terms of the geography and slope of the land. In fact, the slope was deemed by some who saw it as "unbuildable" by several people who had technical expertise in the area. Ultimately, however, David and Rick found a civil engineer who had experience building in this area. He helped in the precise planning and placement of the columns that would support the house structure (figure D). Significant engineering went into planning how the house itself and adjacent decking would be supported.

David worked closely with his local building inspector throughout the process. Though the relationship between inspector and contractor can sometimes be somewhat adversarial, David was able to involve his inspector in the process by asking relevant questions and allowing the inspector to act effectively as a mentor and instructor in elements of the construction.

Although it was a challenging process, the builders got through the processes of excavation, foundation and procuring the dome materials.

In the segment that follows, a dome gets raised in the desert.

RESOURCES :

More information on dome houses:

Natural Spaces Domes
Website: www.naturalspacesdomes.com

American Ingenuity Domes
Website: www.aidomes.com

Monolithic Domes
Website: www.monolithic.com

sedonadome.com
Website: www.sedonadome.com

GUESTS :

David Walske and Rick Goldstein
Homeowners
Sedona, AZ
sedonadome.com
Website: www.sedonadome.com