Hand Made

Here is a description of a portable dome you can make yourself. This is a description of one that is about 17' in diameter x 14' tall, made with 25 10' pieces of 2" PVC pipe. The dome might be made larger by cutting each pipe in half and slipping the ends inside a slightly larger pipe, with a few sheet metal screws to keep the pipes from sliding.

1. Each end of each pipe is attached with a 5/16" bolt to a steel tab made from 6" of stiff galvanized strapping material with holes in it.
2. The hubs are made by putting another 11 bolts through the free ends of the tabs.
3. The lower 5 hubs are bolted through the treads of 5 used "foundation" tires filled with gravel.
4. This structure will be covered with Bayer "Dureflex" urethane plastic film, which is fairly clear, costs about 35 cents/ft^2, comes in rolls up to 15' wide x 0.006" thick, and has a 10 year guarantee. (Greenhouse polyethylene films are chemically incompatible with PVC.)
5. The film will be attached to the pipes with some 2" electrical conduit cut lengthwise in thirds.
6. The film on the walls will extend about 2' outwards from the dome, laying flat on the ground, and that film will be covered with some gravel to make a fairly airtight seal.

Offered by Glenna.