Construction Begins in Earnest

One of the biggest problems with building an unusual house is getting the financing. Traditional mortgage sources won't touch anything that doesn't look like every other house in the neighborhood. It took us several years, but we finally found a small, local bank that will lend money for anything if you have the credit, but of course it costs more. We have had to pay about 3-4 percentage points above the normal mortgage rates, but as our banker is found of saying "It's a small price for your dream home".

One of the things we did was to visit the Terra-Dome folks and look at several houses they built in the area. We actually traveled up to Missouri twice to gather as much information as we could. Of course, even that was not enough to avoid mistakes, but I think it did help a lot.

Anyway, once the plans were finalized, the construction loan secured, and the contract signed, we began to build in earnest (hence the title). I was glad to be able to finally answer the constant question from friends "So when are you going to get started on that underground house of yours?" with the reply "We have the contractor out there right now".

I missed the first few days of building because I was on a trip, but when I returned, this is what I found. A few things to note about the construction of a Terra-Dome house. Because of the tremendous weight of the building and the dirt on top, the footings are extra wide, as you can see under the ladder in the picture above. Also, with each module, there must be a 9 foot opening to allow the forms that create the domed roof to be removed once the concrete has set. This takes about 3 days. These openings must be accounted for in the plans, but as you will see later, they can be filled in during the later construction phases.

This is a shot of the interior, showing the supports the hold up the dome forms.

This view shows the footing for the next module. The grooves are to allow electrical outlets in the wall to be connected under the floor before it is poured.


These views shows the forms for the 2nd module adjacent to the completed first module. Notice the opening on the right for the master bath window, and the front door in the 2nd module.

Here is more detail of the front door.
You can see the dome form on top. There is lots of rebar in these buildings, especially in the roof. They use a very specific pattern to ensure the engineering requirements have been met.