Brian in Melbourne, FL 44 entries to date 47 forum posts to date
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Posted to TheHoskensProject by Brian in Melbourne, FL
on 5/13/2008 7:50:42 AM
Actually, we're only about 1 or 2 day's work away from having all the outside of the dome concreted except for underneath the entryways and dormers. Once all of the outside (anywhere rain would hit) is concreted, we have to wait 30 days for the concrete to cure and let rain wash off the alkalinity, and let it weather a little so the concrete primer-sealer will adhere properly. Fresh cement is too alkaline at first. Anyway, here's a couple pictures, they look bad since it was pretty dark. Only one more weekend needed...and it's getting really HOT here.
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| Fresh cement on the upper door dormer |
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| Main entryway seams and finish cement completed. |
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Posted to TheHoskensProject by Brian in Melbourne, FL
on 4/11/2008 8:13:44 PM
We took 4 days out of Spring Break and worked on the finish concrete on the seams. Finally got all of the seams done, and some of the window dormers are started. Makes the dome look a lot smoother and , well, finished! Next trip up we'll be working on getting the window and door dormers done, as well as the bottom seams between the foundation and the riser walls.
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| Main entry and southeast side |
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| South side window dormers |
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Posted to TheHoskensProject by Brian in Melbourne, FL
on 4/4/2008 4:47:06 PM
Had to show this, we went to look at door models to order, and ended up buying all the doors we needed! 2 were on sale, a "special buy" at Home Depot, the other we bought since they had the right one and we were there...here's the nice front entry door. The other 2 are boring, so you can wait to see those until they are installed. The pictures are a little funny, since the door is inside my Suburban and I took this with my cellphone camera.
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Posted to TheHoskensProject by Brian in Melbourne, FL
on 3/31/2008 7:52:35 PM
Up for one day, trying our hand at concrete finishing. The seams were really a lot easier than I thought they would be. We got 25 seams or so done in 6 hours, and these were the hardest (most vertical) seams. As you go higher on the dome, the seams are flatter (easier to keep the cement from sagging), but harder to climb up to. The ones on the sides will be hardest, where a ladder gets in the way but the surface is not flat enough to stand on freely. We'll be working on this for a few days next week too, we're going to get things moving!
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| Seams |
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| Closer pic of seams |
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Posted to TheHoskensProject by Brian in Melbourne, FL
on 3/20/2008 12:14:50 PM
I sent out requests for bids to 6 stucco subs, and I only got 1 bid back. The guy seemed to be experienced, but since we're trying to save money we're going to attempt to do the finishing of the concrete ourselves. Not sure just how THAT will turn out, but hey, I'm willing to at least give it a good try. We'll start on the seams at the top, where you can't see them, and hopefully when we're down to the side seams near the ground we'll be good at finishing the concrete. Here's my first attempt at a "sand" finish to match the dome panels, can't tell until it's dry whether it's flat enough or not...but since that area needed an extra coat of cement, I figured I'd try it. Doesn't look too bad!
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| Another view of the dome |
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| My attempt at a "finish coat" |
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Posted to TheHoskensProject by Brian in Melbourne, FL
on 3/13/2008 8:01:57 AM
The Hoskens were at it again, worked all Saturday together and then Sunday thru Tuesday I took leave and worked at the walls. Got all the wall outer insulation done (2" rigid styrofoam), all cracks & crevices filled with expanding foam, and all the exterior covered with welded wire mesh, ready for the first coat of stucco on the outside. Our county inspector is SUCH a nice person! She spent a few minutes talking to me about the structure, and asking how things were going, and then she looked over the framing and strapping to make sure I did it correctly and approved our wall sheathing inspection! Good thing, since our permits were to expire on the 18th, in only a week. Now we have another 6 months to get the windows, doors and flashing in. It better not take that long.
I wish there was a way to put a sound file on here. You should hear the echo when you stand in the center of the dome, where all the sound is reflected back to you! Everyone who comes to see the dome gets to stand int eh middle and talk, and all their reactions are the same, a big grin and a "wow!". I think it's neat now, but I hope that goes away with the addition of the second floor, walls, carpet, etc.
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| Main entryway |
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| Lakefront entryway |
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| Kitchen entryway |
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Posted to TheHoskensProject by Brian in Melbourne, FL
on 2/29/2008 8:36:01 PM
I'm working hard to get our wall framing and sheathing done so I can get an inspection before my permits expire...up for a day and a half, got 2 framed in, one to go and need to do 3 more windows and a second floor door to the balcony. I will try to get them done next week.
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| Dome with framing in the kitchen entryway |
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| Kitchen entry framing |
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| Lake view entry with door dormer above, that will open onto the balcony above the entryway |
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| Lake entry framing...all windows. The small window on the left is due to a countertop there |
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Posted to TheHoskensProject by Brian in Melbourne, FL
on 2/22/2008 11:39:41 AM
The Hosken family spent almost exactly a year putting up the riser walls (first row) and the second row of triangles and the entryways. Then with the 2 guys from American Ingenuity (Kevin and Joe) and the boom truck, we put up the last 3 rows of panels, and all the window dormers and finished the WHOLE dome in LESS that 4 days!! The crew was my family and the 2 A.I. guys. Now I wish i had hired them from the start, what took us a year to get done COULD have been done in 4 days with the proper equipment and help.
There are a LOT of pictures, but for now here's a few. Next step is to contract with a stucco team to do the final coat and make everything smooth and straight.
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| Boom truck, getting started |
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| Joe on the dome panels |
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| Panel in the air, en route |
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| Slapping concrete in the seams, fourth row |
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| This is how you support the panels as the are set and concreted in. |
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| Only 2 panels left to fit. |
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| All closed in, only a slight gap which closed up as the panels settled in. |
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| Complete except for the concrete on the window dormers, Kevin taking a picture |
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| Another view of the almost complete dome. |
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Posted to TheHoskensProject by Brian in Melbourne, FL
on 2/11/2008 12:03:07 PM
After moving very slowly for a while, we're going to leap ahead. Since I have been having a hard time getting labor and working weekends coordinated, I called the company, American Ingenuity, http://www.aidomes.com and I'm going to contract with them to help me finish the dome. For $3K or so they will show up with a boom truck, morter mixer, scaffolding and 2 guys to help and we're goin to get the shell of the dome up in a week. We're tentatively scheduled for Feb 17-21 so I should have a LOT of pictures in a couple weeks to show you all!
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| What the dome will look like...keeping the dream alive.... |
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Posted to TheHoskensProject by Brian in Melbourne, FL
on 1/25/2008 6:21:14 AM
We're working hard to get something done for an inspection by March 15. If we don't, we have to beg for an extension or our permits will expire...it will be interesting to see how much can get done before the deadline.
I set up the anchor bolts in the entryways and cementing over them, finishing the entryway's structure. I also got the 2 first floor windows cut and framed in with 2x4s, there will be a 2x6 frame inside of that 2x4 frame you see in the pictures. Lots of wood and cement, that's the way I like to build. If you can't park a car on it, then it's not strong enough.
In the pictures, the first one is the entryway from the underside, and I have 2x4 blocks holding the anchor bolts in place. Next is the top of the entryway before cement, and after, and a pic of the window frame bucks in place. And another, you can see the cement being put on, and the window frame 2x4 sticking up thru the styrofoam with nails in the end...those nails will end up embedded in the cement and holding the frame very tightly.
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| Underside of entryway anchors |
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| Top of entryway anchors before cement |
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| Up close anchor bolt from the top |
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| Entryway with cement. Notice I am not a skilled cement mason. |
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| Puppy inspects the window frame |
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| Cement in progress, with window frame anchor point visible |
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Posted to TheHoskensProject by Brian in Melbourne, FL
on 1/3/2008 8:20:57 PM
Had 3 days to work at the property and get some panels up...first day we had to stay home with a sick child. Got up there for day 2 and 3, and a freak cold spell (low of 21F) meant that we couldn't make concrete, so we measured and talked about windows and looked things over. Kind of a fun camping trip. You can see from the pictures our youngest got a minibike for Christmas, and I left the sprinkler on overnight (knowing it was going to freeze) so I could show the kids a little "winter wonderland". Hey, in central FL you don't ever see snow and very rarely see ice overnight.
The other picture is our "scary magnolia". This tree is a good 3 or 4 feet in diameter, it's HUGE. Really big beautiful tree, and in front of it is some of the collapsed house (75 years old).
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| Fun with sprinklers |
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| Christmas minibike |
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| Dogs in the main entryway |
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| "Are we there yet?" |
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| "Scary" magnolia |
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Posted to TheHoskensProject by Brian in Melbourne, FL
on 11/22/2007 8:44:45 PM
Well, we PLANNED to work on the house all of Thanksgiving break, but things kept coming up, and we ended up only going up for the day on Thanksgiving Day only. Still, we got the panels for the windows removed and got the window dormers placed and cemented (mostly). Next trip will be to place the window frames and finish the cementing on the dormers, and also place the framing for the entryways and finish cementing them, too. Here's a couple pics of the window dormers. The pics look a little wierd, because it was almost pitch black by the time we finished cementing, and it WAS pitch black when I took the pics! Talk about using all available time...
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Posted to TheHoskensProject by Brian in Melbourne, FL
on 11/14/2007 8:03:53 AM
Took veteran's Day and the next day off, and got the last entryway finished. That means the first 2 rows of panels are finished...2 more and the top to go. The top is considered a row, but it's only 5 panels so it's really not a "row". Also, the higher the dome goes, the more it tilts inward. The more it tilts the harder the panels are to brace into position...but as you get closer to the top, the "rows" have fewer panels since you are closing the circle, getting closer to the top. Imagine half a soccer ball and you're looking down on it. If the soccer ball is 6" tall, I have the first 2" done. As you go higher, the soccer ball curves to a the top,where there there's a single pentagon (consisting of 5 triangles on the dome) at the top.
Now is the time to pull out the panels on the first floor that will have windows in them, and put up the window dormers, and maybe get going on the framing for the entryways. Once the entryways are framed, I can put temporary doors and plywood on there to at least semi-secure the area inside.
One of my helpers caught a coral snake (yes, a real coral snake, not something that looks like one but isn't...I checked) crawling into the garage building...happily, I won't have to worry about that snake any more. I will have to watch out where I stick my hands, now that I've seen that! Ahh, the wonders of being out in the country. Below are 2 pics of the entryway we just completed. It's a "high profile" entryway, taller and angled at the top where the others are flat at the top.
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Posted to TheHoskensProject by Brian in Melbourne, FL
on 10/26/2007 5:27:43 PM
I have some extra leave time from the Air Force I need to use, so I am taking a week off here and there to get things going. I am realizing I am NOT going to be able to complete this project in a timely fashion without help...and maybe a lot of it. This trip, I paid 2 neighbors to help me with lifting and moving, and I did set up and getting things ready, and finish work after they left. It worked very well! Got there Monday (late), got things ready for Tuesday, they showed up and worked about half a day, I finished what I could and then we were rained out on Wednesday. I spent the day in the garage, looking for leaks (found 2 or 3, very small but fixed now). The garage uses plastic washers on the bolts to seal, and some were not tight. They are NOW...Then the guys came back on Thursday, we worked 5 hours and got the panels up, so I could spend the rest of the day cementing and cleaning up. Got dark too quickly, and I had to finish "mudding" the next morning. The Lord smiled on this trip, we were scheduled for rain all day Friday but it sprinkled a little in the AM and stopped for the rest of the day...just so I could finish cementing. Very nice to have help from Above.
Anyway, we got 2 entryways constructed and cemented in, and the panels in between them. 13 panels went up this week. I think there's about 90 panels total, and we now have 30 up. See pics. As you can tell on the last picture, we had some stability issues...as evidenced by the excessive bracing on that entryway...
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Posted to TheHoskensProject by Brian in Melbourne, FL
on 10/15/2007 12:14:22 PM
We're going up for the weekend (the kids and I) Oct 20-21, and we should be able to get a few panels on the dome. I'm starting to realize that I will have to hire some help to get the shell completed, there's just not enough time.
I got the camper back, and the quote was $550 for refrigerator repair, $300 to replace the gas regulator on the water heater, and $150 for extras. I replaced the whole water heater myself for $200, and I replaced the refrigerator with a little dorm refrigerator ($50 used). After this weekend, I will start working much more often on the dome, since it's cooler now and MUCH easier to work outside. More pictures on the way...
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Posted to TheHoskensProject by Brian in Melbourne, FL
on 8/11/2007
We drove up for the day to get the entryway supports ready to put up panels to frame out the entryways. We intended to get a little more done, but it was SO HOT it was all we could do to work for 45 min., rest for 15 min. I think the news said the heat index was105°F. I drank at least 8-10 bottles of water between 1pm and 5 pm. Whenever I bent over anything, the sweat just RAINED down on it! All the wood we were working with ended up soaked with sweat. I think we'll take a month off, and we'll try working on it again when the temps are less than 95+. Here's a picture of the support for the entryway. My diesel Suburban, which I just converted to run on used veggie oil (from restaurant fryers), had it's maiden voyage running on grease this trip, and performed very well. It's the second car I have running on waste fryer oil now.
Another issue...the camper. It was fine when we left it (inthe garage), but when we showed up the refrigerator doesn't work, the holding tanks stink to high heavens (so bad we can't stay in it) and there are several other problems with it, so it got taken to the RV service center. I hope it doesn't cost us too much, but since it's $115 an hour labor, I hope they work REALLY fast.
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Posted to TheHoskensProject by Brian in Melbourne, FL
on 6/1/2007
Scheduled ourselves |