Covering the Geodome

 

The completed structure 

So.....In the words of Talking Heads....How did I get here.

From earlier posts you will have seen the assembly of the polythene cover unit cells of Hexagons, Pentagons and 1/2 Hexagons......that allow the build to be easier to visualise and ultimately build correctly.

Using the UV resistant mega strong tape and the gadget below (see earlier post) start connecting the unit cells into bigger fragments. (the gadget will take the strain of when trying to form a 3D structure from flat sheets). Its easy to get lost so I'd recommend joining 5 pairs of 2 hexagon cells as the basic 5 vertical stripes that you have to joing together via intervening pentagons. The repetition of this operation will hopefully result in less (0 errors)

Gadget developed to join flat sheets to form a 3D cell.

Once the whole structure is completed ....wait for a dry, windless day and go for it. I was assisted by my daughter who kept tension on 2 ropes straddling the top of the geodome while I lifted the polythene cover from underneath to tease out motion upwards. 

The sculpted cover choice I had made meant that the cover kind of locks in tight when everything is in the right place and consequently moves rather easily when it isnt. The short video below captures the sweep over initial movement followed by some rotation until everything was lined up.

The actual covering operation took about 10-15 minutes and just needs to be done slowly ,deliberately whilst checking for snags etc.

After it was over a couple of hours were spent making it safe from the elements by tethering around the poles and surrounding the base with a row of concrete blocks. (no underdraft)

And thats it. I did add some aluminium wire screen vents into the cover at 4 points....2 top centre roof pentagon and 2 around the side. I dont know how many I will need eventually to prevent moisture running down the inside of the poly walls but as longs as the upper 2 are there ...adding more around the side is relatively easy.