The Small Print...

I want to make sure you understand the following points about the pillow domes I am producing:

• These products should be considered "experimental." I do not have enough experience/information to know exactly how these pillow domes will perform in all situations. If you build a pillow dome, please keep me informed as to its performance and problems so that I may pass your experience on to other people.
  
  
• These products are still very much a "do-it-yourself" project. I am trying to provide you with the needed parts. And I will do my best to ensure that all the parts fit together correctly. But you will have to assemble the dome in its final location. (Or you can hire my team to travel to your location and assemble it for you. "I'm not cheap but I can be had.")
  
  
• I am neither an architect nor a structural engineer. Therefore I can not certify the final product.
  
  
• The foundation to which the dome is attached is a very important component to the dome. I do not provide any material nor blueprints for foundations. I will provide you with all the mathematical detail on the shape of your dome so that a foundation can be properly designed. Be warned; even in "light" wind domes can develop a tremendous lift. Foundations for domes must be designed to prevent the dome from literally flying away. Adding weight to the dome's tube frame by suspending floors, walls or other items in an attempt to prevent the dome from lifting is not a good idea. (See next item.)
  
  
• Although single layer tube frame domes of the kind I am producing can withstand snow loads, they are not designed to have additional floors suspended from the frame. I do not recommend and, in fact, I discourage you from hanging anything from the dome frame. The only attachment to the dome frame should be the foundation.
  
  
• I do not recommend these domes as living spaces or for homes/houses. If you choose to use them as a home or as a temparary residence or even as a storage facility, be advised that, depending on climate, they can develope dew on the inside of the dome. And depending on the ventalation design (or lack thereof) they can become very hot inside. All these "problems" have solutions. Some solutions are better than others. It is up to you to be aware of these "problems" and to provide your own solutions. I can give you suggestions to try, but I make no promises nor offer any guarentee of the dome's performance in your climate and specific situation. This is, in part, why they are still "experimental."
  
  
• If you use air to inflat the dome's pilows then water droplets will probably develop between the pillows' layers. These are very hard to eliminate once they have developed. So, I recommend that argon (or nitrogen) gas be used instead of air. However, even using argon may not eliminate water dropletts from forming over the years. This is because the material used to make the pillows does allow a little moisture to penetrate into the pillows. Over the years, enough mositure may accumulate to form water dropletts.
  
  
• The material I use to make the "air" pillows allows UV sunlight to pass through it. Therefore, anything you place inside the pillow dome, including yourself, will be exposed to normal UV sunlight. Furnature fabric, carpets and other colored items placed inside the dome may fade quickly.

Gee, I hope I haven't scared you away!

I simply want to make sure you understand, as best as I can describe to you, what you need to consider when you begin to plan your pillow dome project.