How to frame out an extended augment—in pictures!
Constructing openings in a Monolithic Dome is quick work when utilizing extended augments. This home’s custom Airform was patterned with several extended augments. EIFS was used to finish before an exterior coating was applied to the Airform and completed augments.
Mike South
Extended augments are a great way to make openings in Monolithic Dome Structures. They are highly technical to pattern and build into the Airform, but fairly straightforward to frame and to finish. This blog entry aims to cover the fundamental techniques we use every day to frame and finish out these openings. We hope this will help customers find sub-contractors to bid on and complete work for them as well as empower clients to do it themselves.
Step by step in pictures
The concrete floor in dome structures can be poured before the dome is built or after. We prefer that there is a step on the floor where the framed wall is going to be.
The slab floor pictured here is set for the attachment of an Airform with just one extended augment. A standard augment is similar to an extended one but does not require adding the slab. A standard augment does not usually give as much coverage or eave as an extended augment can.
Mike South
Once the dome is built, and the floor is completed, framing of the entryway can commence. The first step is to take the airform and nail it to the face of the augment. The siding material will cover up this part, so fold it and fix it.
Use any nails or screws to fasten the Airform to the face. If there is plywood there, simple roof nails work well; if it’s solid concrete, use a Tapcon screw anchor or concrete nail.
Red dots around the arch of this augment represent the concrete anchors or nails used to secure the extra Airform material that remains after the shotcrete is finished, the fans are shut off, and the sacrificial airform material (that was in place during construction of the shell) is cut away.
Mike South
The next step is the framing of the entry. First, glue down and anchor the baseboard to the concrete floor. This board should be pressure treated to help with potential moisture issues. Next, frame the opening to contain your desired doors and window sizes. We like to use Tapcon screw anchors to attach studs to the dome.
The framing for the doorway is very much the same as the framing done for a conventional home.
Mike South
This is a close-up of the base board attached down to the concrete.
Attaching the treated baseboard for the extended augment is done just like you would for a wall on either side of a doorway in a conventional house under an eave.
Mike South
The top of the boards can be attached simply with a Tapcon anchor screwed in from the side.
Maybe the main difference between building this exterior wall in a Monolithic Dome vs. a conventional structure is that it is attached to curved concrete instead of a square wood frame. It’s a pretty simply thing to adjust to.
Mike South
Once the framing is done, install the siding. OSB, or ZIP board, works well.
From the inside of the dome you can see the plywood attached to the exterior.
Mike South
From the outside, at this point, the framing has been covered, and only the plywood is visible.
Mike South
Once the siding is done, there are multiple ways to give the opening the ultimate finish. One way is to use the EIFS stucco system to finish the entry.
Once the door is in place, then the next step is to apply the EIFS. Here it has been wrapped around the edge of the opening.
Mike South
For EIFS, we install the door or windows next and use the EIFS not only to finish the front but also to give it a trim.
Two extended augments used for windows are finished with EIFS and an evergreen-colored coating.
Mike South
When using EIFS, we like to install a bit of a ledge on top to help keep rainwater running down away from the face of the augment.
This is the edge of my wife’s little garden shed at the Monolithic Dome Research Park in Italy, TX. This edge creates a channel for water runoff and looks great doing it.
Mike South
Another method is to use Hardie Board or wood siding to finish the entry like this homeowner did. They used wood siding on the face of the augment and EIFS to clean up the side edges.
The large extended augment entryway is finished with wood siding for an outdoorsy feel.