Dome Foundations
All standard foundations can be used under your dome.
These include:
Slab on grade
Concrete stem walls
Concrete block
Post and beam
OPTIONAL PERMANENT WOOD FOUNDATION:
Slab foundation
We can make a Permanent Wood Foundation (PWF) for a crawl space or full lower floor that is often less expensive than other methods and exceeds the specs of designer, the American Plywood Association. There’s a lot of material available on this separately. (link to subscription service).
In addition to our geodesic dome home kits, Domes Northwest offers pre-assembled foundation wall sections using high quality pressure treated “FDN” grade stamped lumber. We design well above the minimum design specs of the American Plywood Association PWF Design Manual.
We can make a crawl space perimeter foundation or a basement/lower floor.
permanent wood foundation wall
We also offer the new ACQ treated lumber, which is considered to be environmentally safe, both in the manufacturing process & in its end use. ACQ is an entirely different preservative process from CCA. Both types of lumber come with 40+ year warranties.
Our standard structural wall unit uses a 2×8 ACQ/CCA treated stud spaced 12″ or 16″ o.c. The structural sheathing is 1/2″, 5/8″, 3/4″ ACQ/CCA treated plywood. Stainless steel nails are used below grade and special mechanically galvanized nails are used in the remaining areas. Backfill boards, concrete slab screed boards, and 2×10 footing plates are included in our PWF system.
