NEW Dome Building System | Aircrete Harry  

Be Hands-On! Succeed: create Safety & Comfort! 👍 👍 My 15+ Hours Online Video Tutorial Course: aircreteharry.com/product/%e2%9c%85-online-dome-building-course-step-by-step-by-aircrete-harry-great-addition-for-everyone-who-cant-make-it-to-the-hands-on-workshop-as-well-as-for-eve/ ✌️ ✌️ Email: Aircreteharry@gmail.com

45 years ago, I built 2 aircrete domes. I used 30" dia weather balloons for the forms (about $20 back then). I built a 1 foot high berm around the perimeter. Placed the balloon inside the berm and added 1 foot of water inside the balloon to keep the bottom flat. I then sprayed 1/2" of foam on the balloon. After the 1/2" foam hardened, I built the foam up to 6". Then I sprayed aircrete on the outside of the foam. After it hardened, I cut in a door and sprayed the inside of the dome with aircrete. After that, I sprayed in and floated the floor. They turned out to be very strong and very well insulated buildings.

Though its a bit pricey, chain link fencing is ideal for reinforcing one of these domes due to is ability to stretch and flex in any direction. An old friend of mine used it on the outer coat on a 50ft monolithic dome.

holly cow, even placing the video at .25 speed still going super fast...

I've been hoping to find someone building aircrete structures "to code." Thank you. I do believe there must be a lot of folks like me out there, so anyone providing courses on building with aircrete "to code" would probably have a big following! Thanks!

For engineering purposes, wet concrete and wet soil weigh about 65 lb per cubic foot. That figure can be used to calculate the pressure that the poured concrete will exert on a form or what water-saturated soil will exert on a retaining wall. The pressure decreases linearly from the bottom to the top of the pour. Integrate from the bottom to the top of the form profile to calculate the total force on the form.

Love the fact that you’ve figured out a legal build!! Kudos to you Harry!! Thank you for sharing what you’re cooking up!! Have you shared the process of adding windows to one of these structures?

This building is totally legal to build anywhere in the US... as long as they let you do it. This how America works these days. Thanks for the video: it shines a huge light on how illogical and repressive our local building code enforcement offices are. We are a people that will trade freedom for a feeling a safety every day of the week. Videos like yours expose the con job in real estate: choice is a threat to the current system, and they will use any draconian tactics to keep choices low and values high. So... keep it up, have a subscribe, and hopefully more people will open their eyes.

Around 1980 a guy built a house using parachutes and sprayed the inside. Then he removed the parachute from the outside. It was a combination of concrete and expanding foam. This was a demonstration for tourist tours and possible buyers for neighborhoods he planned for out west.It was called Xanadu and there is a book about it.

First look - fantastic. Remembrances to David South, a pioneer in this field.

The reinforcement has been a concern even though I am a big fan of the air Crete dome potential without the expense and design limitations of the Monolithic Dome currently used. In Florida I want a shelter that can withstand hurricane force winds, long damp rains, and termites too - this has great potential. Friends in the concrete business shared info on self-repairing concrete adds that are now available making dome homes much more feasible with building code structural integrity! Looking forward to seeing your place unfold- dream big!

Thank You Harry. After looking at all the different videos on dome homes , I always end up watching yours. Again and again. I'm ready to build but I'm having a hard time finding someone to help me.. Anyone out there in Northern Az.?

Saw some in Casa Grande, Az 40 years ago. Mid June , 120 outside, low 70s inside. Difference was concrete inside, roughly 12 to 18 inches spray insulation outside with solar protection. concrete inside gave it thermal mass with insulation keeping it cooler. It hadn't had the doors installed yet. impressive!!

The guys I Italy Texas have been building shot creet domes for 25 years. Up to 1000 ft span, no interior supports. Happy to see someone else doing it as well. Hope you do well.

I've watched a lot of your experiments over the last couple years. So very cool to see the progress.

Your ideas are brilliant Harry !!! You created an extra strong Air-crete system to code !!! That's the ticket right there !!! No one else has done this yet to my knowledge !!! There's some great dome builders out there, but no one is doing it to code using Air-crete, other then you !!! Congratulations !!! I can't wait to do this !!! Wish I could get your help, but I know your too busy with so many projects !!! God Bless You !!! 🎊👏👏👏👏🎆

Glad to see the channel growing. Keep it up! A lot more cool vids to come!

Amazing experiments you’re doing for all of us, Harry. Thank you! I know I’m Intrigued with your progress and I’ll be a considering your system with my build. Nice.

thx man, you turned me around to wanting to build a dome again...will be stayin tuned. love ya too...peace

Thanks Harry! Great seeing your progress over the years. Really appreciate you sharing all this

Fun to see the progress! Thanks for sharing.

There is a great advantage to understanding what you are doing as opposed to most who simply do what they are told, right Harry?! Battle on warrior!😎😎😎

I appreciate how you addressed code issues. Even with the silo house build, if your area has code requirements you have to get architectural and structural engineering approval (BEFORE starting)👍🏼

AWESOME HARRY! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.

I had almost this exact same idea when I was a kid but was never able to put it into action. Glad to see someone is developing this idea.

Very inspiring progress! I've been watching you since before you built your first backyard dome in NY. It's very inspiring to see how the system has developed. Each time you create a new step, I am excited all over again and begin thinking of how I can use your system on my next build.

Wow! You've really been dialing in this process--that's great.

Looking good Harry. Looking forward to the new formula to make aircrete workable. Keep up the hard work.

Very impressive, wow, thank you for sharing!

I hadn't seen one of your videos for a long time, then this popped up. Very interesting! While I was watching several ideas come to mind. One that I thought of was to make a smaller, garden shed, chicken coop, dog house out of light wood, 2x2 or furring strips, and light ply, that was out of plumb, trapezoidal, smaller at the top of the nearly perpendicular side walls, and a small portion, six inches or so, that could be taken off all the way around the bottom. I'm thinking that I could go over it, roof and all, just as you did the dome with tie-vec, stucco wire, hawk and trowel, or shotcrete aircrete, and so on, but if I left one end open (the end that would get the door, or become an open stable type shed), I could then go in, take that bottom six inches off of the shed form, and I should be able to lower it six inches, releasing it from the shell, and drag it out to use over and over. Or even to just pull out flush to the open end, raise back up and make the same shed 2,3,4 . . times longer. I also think that I could put in some windows, chicken doors, etc along the other three walls with a wood frame wired into the metal lathe to trowel right up too, and they could be finished right in place. I also wonder, if they weren't too heavy, and maybe made on a light channel piece of metal (a metal stud on it's side and tied across the door end threshold, maybe a few in the middle, if it could be drug around a bit carefully, without messing it all up? I might have to fix some cracks if the first one doesn't drag well. I'm a mason when I'm not a chicken herder, all my days off come when it's too cold and snowy outside in the Rockies for mortar. I'd like to make these sheds in the shop, then drag them out. Thanks for giving me some new ideas to think on Harry.

Harry, have you thought about doing the first steps to achieve the initial hard structure, then placing reinforcing materials (bending rebar or a few layers of mesh of some type) followed by covering it with a larger tyvek envelope that is designed to allow whatever thickness you want the dome to be, then pumping in aircrete, trapping it in a layer in between the outer envelope and the initial hard dome you made? (I don't think this would work with normal concrete given its weight, but I think aircrete should work. It would seem to me to be a good way to get your dome shape while avoiding needing to either put repeated layers of shot aircrete or using aircrete bricks. And you have already worked out the process (apparently) of making the tyvek envelope work for you. I really appreciate your persistent experimentation with this! - oops now I see another "part 2" video. Monolithic domes has two neat processes for building domes, but what you have done here is different, to some extent. And using aircrete vs normal shotcrete means the concrete is insulative, removing the need for open or closed cell insulation. By tailoring your forms to have windows and doorways built into them (which I expect you will be experimenting with in the future) it should make it easy to build a multidome connected structure. And your method isn't really limited to dome shapes per se - just to how you can shape the envelope. Keep this great work up! Cheers! JW

Rockin' n rollin' you two! Nice presentation Harry. That hopper/pump is yours for the taking. Hugs and 🥰 to you both. 😎

These people are correct, aircrete and the concept have been used in building submarines for many many years, including using stretched cables on the interior for flexibility. In early persia, egypt, rome, and Mesopotamia era, they knew to add heavy seawater to their brick and mortar mix to increase its strength and hardness. That was 5,000 years ago.

Awesome, you are getting my mind moving on this!

I am watching you closely, learning from all your work! Thank you!

there has been talk about using graphene mixed in to all mixed like fiberglass but 10x stronger than steel. this would eliminate possible rebar rusting and expansion,

Looking forward to a workshop. Appreciate you found a legal way to build

Bravo 👏 Don’t ever give up!!! I’ll be working with you one day. Dome structures are advantageous in so many ways

This is great, and it looks kinda fun too! Thanks, I just learned a lot of new stuff.

My buddy Dale Hibbs, his father invited this type of home structure years ago. Glad to see what it looks like now

Very interesting. This looks much more doable & affordable than the MDI system I was considering.

I love it Harry!.... The forms for the ring beam are fantastic!.... I personally like to put a groove in the top of the ring beam that holds cattle panels and that gives me a straight wall so I can use regular doors and windows without augments... I really like your low pressure airform and the first layer of fiberglass mesh. Maybe there is a way to install the stucco mesh with less work - I can't think of any improvements on your method though... I like basalt rope because it is so easy to work with.... At what point are you turning off your inflator? I saw a "Billy Goat" gasoline powered air blower that looked promising.... I am excited to see what you come up with in regards to the pump, we need something that will pump a sand mix thru a small diameter hose without plugging up.... Keep up the great work!

that's cool you got christopher walken to narrate this

Thanks for your hard work experimenting and developing quality and affordable housing.

Bucky Fuller of the 21st century. BRAVO

I’m getting ancient wisdom vibes. This is sooo cool.

The shape is beautiful. You have really streamlined your process. I see you moving with purpose and confidence. Best to you and the Mrs.

Wow! I was looking for off-set axe handle's and I came across your site! I am so glad I did. I look forward to your future videos 'cause what you are creating is genius!

Good job, Harry! I watch a lot of your videos, and I appreciate your work. Thanks, John Hurt

How do you deal with the 6-8 overlapping layers of wire on the top of the dome? Couldn't you run 2 lengths of wire over the top at 90deg then cut shorter lengths that tie in without going over the top ?

Looks good guys. Looks like the right way to do the main structure. Of corse you can burry it now with aircrete for maximum insulation. 👍

Pretty neat to watch the process! Definitely going to keep watching and learning before I start experimenting, but this has certainly peaked my interest. 100% going to give this a try.

Hey Harry long time not seeing your videos, look thanks to your videos I came up with an amazing idea, ima make a video to show you the concept so you can also apply this to your domes. I just want everyone to know how to make their own house at a low price.

Pretty cool.

Way cool Harry! Keep up the great work!!

I’m glad to see you’re use used bottled water to cap things. I too use it at my backyard

Excellent Harry! Do you have your mixes in your store yet? Can't wait:) your system rocks

Monolithic Dome in Italy, Texas has been doing this for decades and up to code in every city in the country.

Early '80's in Oklahoma city We used a similar methodology to build dome homes. however, we sprayed foam on the interior of the nflated dome form to a thickness of 4" then a tapered shotcrete layered 6" at the base 4" at the peak, inside of that. the shotcrete was a bit troublesome since we were using 9 sack shotcrete with 1.5" steel fibers (no rebar When the shotcrete hit the surface, the steel fibers would form a durable lattice ). This kept the thermal mass on the interior and the insulation on the exterior. for garage attachments we used half cylinder inflatable forms. later in a commune I worked with community members using a more basic method of a rebar skeleton and masonry cement hand troweled in to the lattice. These we buried in to hillsides .

Thanks for the share! Awesome stuff man!

Looks good! ever thought of selling an online course about making that one from start to finish? With 6 more of these planned what a great opportunity to master the process and record it! You can message me if you need help with the online part. Thanks for sharing Harry and God bless you.

Couple of inches of exterior foam and then a second shell to cover?

Hell yeah man!

Great job Harry. Subscribed.

"So anyway... The ide-EAR is..." (@ 9:20 ) Hey, man. Thanks for the content. I really enjoyed it and you've got the creative part of my mind started this morning. Keep up the good work, you never know who you'll inspire. You might even inspire them to give you some of their money!

I love that you're working concrete while strapped with a pistol. :)

Very knowledgeable and very creative. I like the way you marry need with process. And I like the way you innovate things including designing different types of mixers.

OMG am I glad I stumbled across this you are going to be my new hero when I start working on my hobbit-hole on my parents land now that they have passed away I've been wondering how to make my hobbit-hole and you just gave me every idea I needed and I have got to get that late text aircrete recipe thank my higher power for coming across to you

Not sure how I found you but I'm a BSCE interested :)

why dont you use basalt twine and wind it around? like monolithic domes does on some of their small domes. is suppose to be super cheap.

Your Tyvek & fiberglass layers are analogous to spacesuit construction, the gas membrane and restraint layer do the same to hold the gas and forces separately. A great example of convergent engineering!

Nice job Harry!

Awesome Aircrete Harry! How can we find out about that ingredient that thickens aircrete?

" Some Cracks Give ya Gold, other Cracks Give ya 18 years of Arguments, Welfare, and Debt..."

Just checking in, you two... Wow! Look at the those views... I am in Mx. for dental since 10/2020... Frank still on Mt. there... Love and rock on Harry and Mrs...😘

Amazing! I'm in rural Texas, this would be great! 👍👍

So you’re saying I can air Crete a bouncy castle

It seems to me these could be built offsite in sections and assembled on site for a whole lot less money and expertise

I'd have to put a rebar shell around the dome and then spray on the thickened aircrete. Because I'd want a loft sitting area.

Awesome system thank you for Sharing it Harry , Would love to work on new parametric forms blow-up shapes for us to spray on

These are great! It's essentially a Air-Ferrocement Dome

Amazing 😮…. Thank you 🙏🏾

Yahoo! I knew this could be done! I got the idea from a paper mache egg that I made for my son's second Easter party I love this idea but that happens to me all the time I think of things and people make them. Love to see more videos

I like your ideas. I could get the first layer done and work on it in steps on a regular schedule incase I didn't have all the money at once. I would like to build 2 one for a garage and storage and one for a wood shop. I would put alot of windows in mine for natural light with reinforced shutter system incase of emergency.

Fantastic !

I really like your method. Sure looks more doable than the earthbags. I will look forward to more videos.

cool..can't wait to see more

I love the idea Harry and would love to try to get together at some point and take a lesson before the middle of the next year when I retire, but I have one suggestion, figure out an angled water catching roof that could easily be put on each dome and with 6-10 domes you should have your water covered for the year! I think 10 would be better then 8 as you could then have 2 center "connector" domes to expedite movement between2 groups of 4 domes, maybe Make 1 the dinning room and the other the gathering /living room ect... But really love what your doing!

Harry... what a GIFT you’ve given people, with this video, that are interested in this type of construction. My dear friend turned kin, that’s also 99% of the labor, skill and instruction on my lil family’s (mostly) converted bus, sent me this link. -How beautiful is this, Harry? That you’d share, for free, the hard work you’ve put in to solving problems like, building to code, in the US, on alternative dwellings? Thank you. 🌺 I really hope that blessings are abundant in your project and in your life, in general, this brand new, not 2020 anymore, year. 😊 I would love to learn more and certainly love to see you profit off of your grand efforts. If there’s any other information, cost listing etc, I would be very interested.

Looks interesting. My idea is to use two opposing sections of the air forms (pie slices), but built with bent conduit and the sheet material used in the foundations.

Man you sound like Willy from another video genres. Your a good teacher.

Hello Harry. Im getting ready to build my dome. Now i have to find a builder to help me or do ot on their own. Your system is awesome. I'm a subscriber but not getting your notifications. You are awesome. Thank you Harry.

I love this system

Awesome stuff Harry.

its ingenious! Cant wait to try making something.

Interesting vid, thanks

love your work chap.

is that the Rigid dual paddle mixer? If so, how do you like that tool?

I've always loved Dome Homes, to me this is the best way to do one, that I've seen, when you figure the cost. Wish you were in my area.

I love your always looking at build cost. I love you keep at it Harry ! And I do love Mrs Crete in all her CUTENESS. My question is this scale able to larger home size domes .like 2-3 bed room ?