Hi John, 

SOOOO.. happy to hear from you! I JUST returned from my place in Terlingua, Tx (desert).    I screwed my drop cloth (canvas) to the dome frame. Mine was 2v 16' dome. The triangle sections  were pretty large to pull cloth tight enough to prevent sagging.

So I took 3' PVC pipe sections and heated the ends, completely flattened the ends and screwed them to the dome as "braces" between the very top and second sections. That made all the difference in the world!

Being in the desert in the spring is still too hot and dry for my latex to cure slowly. Winter would be much better. 

I ended up using more binder than my original recipe to prevent flaking. I basically worked opposite the sun  applying the latex cement early in the morning by hand.

The Flex Seal  is too thick for brushing or rolling, so I hand  painted it on the cement. Works great, WAY too expensive. 3 gal. @ $90.00 each did not cover entirely. I went back a month later (10hr. drive) and layered it again with another rubberized roof coating ($20:00 gal.) Seemed to do the trick..

Got a little rain  and  no problem. At night had strong winds and couple times severe winds, which you couldn't even feel inside the dome.

At one point our camping tent was blown flat and inside the dome, we didn't even know the wind storm had stopped!! 

With all the White, it looks like an Igloo with the door. My camera also had white balance issues, since my photos were in bright desert sun. 

Please don't be too critical of the door,  my best friend's  17 yr. old grandson build it for me. We'll get it straightened up next trip. Lol!

Please keep me informed about the air crete, I have been researching that for so long. I could never find anyone that could get the formula correct or the spray machine to work. So I pretty much gave up on that.

If you could get a the canvas tight enough to accept the air crete without sagging that would be the ticket. What do you think about spraying aire crete on top of canvas outside and sprayed inside? Cocoon the frame? Im not sure how heavy air crete actually is  before if cures? 

This is so exciting!! 

Thanks again.

Lena B. - Terlingua, TX

Note from John Hurt, Zip Tie Domes:

Lena B. introduced me to "latex cement", which I believe is the correct solution for creating inexpensive dome coverings.

Latex cement was used by Dr. Albert Knott and Dr. George Nez to provide shelters for thousands of people in Ghana.

Their technique is to stretch several layers of alkali resistant fiberglass window screens over a frame, and then brush on latex cement for a concrete roof.

Dr. George Nez wrote a book on this technique which you can purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Latex-Concrete-Habitat-Albert-Knott/dp/1412039975

There is also an "Instructables" page describing this process: https://www.instructables.com/Latex-Concrete-Roof/

Here is a YouTube playlist on latex cement roofs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPHftizSH3I&list=PLMyL1k1rajd5SKEWgXFYMwq9rNyY6r_Yi

I built my first latex cement roof prototype, which I am using to cover a dog feeder.

I recently purchased a mortar sprayer and other equipment for building large concrete domes. Check back for updates!

I would like to thank Lena for her help in getting me started on using latex cement.

John Hurt
Zip Tie Domes