That ballon use here is fun... That's how they made the early foam houses... they would inflate a big weather baloon over 30-40-50 ft... lash it to the ground and then spray it with the foam... then do another one next to it.... they got some interesting effects wth it... like outcroppings of stone .. that became coffee tables in the living room of the house.. back in the 60's they had a bunch up at Yale they were working out the process for... seeing them got me into using foam and concrete in some new ways..

That's amazing< Gordon! I love paper mache...gives me ideas!

Oops. Deleted to move to intended thread. :-D

Wow Gordon, those are awesome!

They did the same balloon sort of thing to make houses in Hobe Sound, Fl. in th early 50's. There were 2 in the neighborhood I lived in. They are foam/concrete construction. Everyone still calls them "the bubble houses". They were even on the cover of Life magazine. Check it out at this link:


http://www.life.com/image/5067...

Wow! My grandsons would sooooo love a fort made like that!

I bet it is a cool house too. Temperature wise. Love the shape of it. Gordon, it is wonderful. thank you for showing them to us....I love it...

Ann, thanks for the link to Life! Those houses are really great. Precursors to the Green Movement.

They are cool houses temperature wise & very strong too. No hurricane is going to take them down! But you know what? They are terribly NOISY inside. Every single tiny sound bounces off the walls, ceiling & just keeps going round & round. Sort of like living "inside" a bandshell if you know what I mean. I have a dear freind who lives next door to the bubble houses & because of their shape they also make things noisy on their outside. The sound waves do strange things when they hit those homes & my neighbor gets more than her share of sound amplification from that effect.

Im Just down the road from Trish so when classes start sign me up ...
Debbie love the Cat
Chris the heads are great

Trish if the big city lowes doesn't have Quikwall I wonder if Palestine Lowes might have it ..

Yes, I was thinking I should call them, Cheryl- good thinking!

OK, Now I want to build a house! I ♥ playing with cement and that would be the ultimate!

BTW, Missouri has no building codes. Some cities do, but the state does not and doesn't even require contractor licencing. Of course; that means that we can never buy anything there without hiring a really great inspector, but it also means that we can build or remodel to our hearts desire without anyone saying no. IT is a handyman's dream state
Now, where can I get a weather balloon....

May have to see if Gordon still has contacts....

hmmmmm The military community is a small one... it shouldn't be so very hard... AH HA! The Army/Navy Surplus stores will find anything that you need This might not be too hard at all...

You go!!! Girl. You'll get a concrete house yet...

They look so wonderfully tornado-proof

There is a whole slew of photos & explanation of the process but I can't find them. I will check with the friend who sent me them before & see if she can rummage that back up. It's sprayed with gunite, sort of a spray on concrete. June, send me a Treemail reminding me & that way if I forget, you will be my post it note.
If she can find the info. again I will post it here.
Ann

PS I'm sure that with all that's new these days you could find a way to make the noise issue inside not be such a problem. Maybe use something like that open cell spray foam insulation.

You need tornado proof in MO.

I was wondering about that spray foam insulation. I used it to insulate my dogs house and it seemed to work for sound reduction in there... If not, the egg crate foam is what the recording industry uses to deaden the sound in their studios. I guess it could be made to look OK...