Remote Living > Housing
Miscellaneous comments on Terra-Dome living, and related
jlsoaz:
--- Quote from: Mary B on February 14, 2015, 04:32:59 PM ---That roof should be loaded with rebar so punching a hole should not weaken it much at all. If there are steel beams to miss any good metal detector should be able to locate them.
--- End quote ---
I was browsing here the other day and we can see you are probably right about the roof being loaded with rebar (I'm just allowing for the fact that my house was built 31 years ago, but I do have pics of the construction so can probably verify they followed the same method). I can't directly link the picture, but it is one of the ones under the caption "... Terra-Dome structures are quick to build....":
http://www.terra-dome.com/#!gallery/c20x9
The fact is that once my new multi-zone heat pump was installed and working, and once I became more comfortable just "cracking a window" to prevent my new CO2 alarm from going off, the need for spending significant chunks of time and money to get more automated ventilation into the house subsided.
Also, generally I am cautious about letting anyone deal with things that involve the structural integrity or the seals against water, even if they assure me they know what they are doing.
jlsoaz:
for what it's worth, a miscellaneous update on my miscellaneous terra-dome journey:
- In August I had a guy over who has been on jobsites building terra-domes for decades, and one of the things he mentioned is that indeed, it should be ok to punch a hole in the roof (though in the end there were one or two points about which to take care, not just to do with rebar, but as to where some other things went).
- I did have the hole punched recently.
- a company will come to install improved ventilation next month.
- at that point it is not clear to me if I will also want to install an air exchanger of some sort (ERV or HRV). The company'page, and the walk-around I did with the expert, seemed to focus more on dehumidifiers with a ventilation aspect, but maybe I am making too much of the difference:
https://www.thermastor.com/
- On other matters, it will take some more years for me to figure out a best strategy for improving how some areas of the house are dealing with keeping water away from the concrete. The expert indicated that overall, for the age, things were going ok for this home.
SparWeb:
Hi
Thank you for the update.
Forgive me for asking a question about a "scary" subject that gets everyone more excited than usually necessary:
Have you tested for radon?
A friend of mine had his basement tested a few years ago and the result came back positive.
If he hadn't told me about it, I wouldn't have realized how common it can be.
jlsoaz:
--- Quote from: SparWeb on October 27, 2019, 10:43:52 PM ---Hi
Thank you for the update.
Forgive me for asking a question about a "scary" subject that gets everyone more excited than usually necessary:
Have you tested for radon?
A friend of mine had his basement tested a few years ago and the result came back positive.
If he hadn't told me about it, I wouldn't have realized how common it can be.
--- End quote ---
Hi - I haven't had it tested for Radon, but I'll include that in discussion with another local consultant with a good reputation that I'm having come by.
I did finally this week have my 2nd bathroom air vent fan installed (it had been out of commission for so long) and I like to joke with people that after 16 years of living here, I'm having oxygen installed at my house.
SparWeb:
--- Quote ---bathroom air vent fan
--- End quote ---
Uhh, that's for exhausting OTHER gases. :)
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