Standard 2×4s — the same ones at every lumber yard and box store. A 1V kit needs 25 struts of a single length; 2V needs 65 in two lengths; 3V needs 165 in four lengths. Every kit ships with a printed cutting chart for your chosen diameter, plus color codes so you can mark strut ends and never mix them up. Budget roughly $200–500 depending on grade and dome size.
Steel kits: your choice of four duty levels — the parts carry holes for all of them. Screws-only: 3 × ¼″ structural screws per strut end (~$60–100 for a 3V dome, zero drilling). Standard double-bolt: 2 × ½″ × 4″ hex bolts with nuts and washers per strut end (~$80–150). Or anywhere in between, and you can mix levels within one dome.
PVC kits: #10 × 2.5″ exterior-rated structural or deck screws — three per strut end, ~$30–60 for a 3V dome.
We deliberately don't bundle hardware: it ships heavy, you can buy it cheaper locally, and you can see exactly what's holding your dome together.
A circular or miter saw for cutting struts, a drill, and for steel kits a ½″+ drill bit and two wrenches. Steel kits (both plate-hub and strap+ring) include our drill jig, which guides every bolt hole — you never measure or mark a hole position. PVC kits need only a drill-driver.
Frame assembly after struts are cut: 1V about 1–3 hours solo; 2V about 2–5 hours with two people; 3V about 4–8 hours with two or more. Cutting and drilling the struts is roughly another day for a 3V dome. None of it is hard; all of it is satisfying.
Most builders use concrete piers, a slab, or a pressure-treated wood ring. Steel plate base hubs have 90° anchor flanges, and strap+ring base rings are cut flat on the floor side so ring and 2×4 bottoms sit coplanar on your pad. PVC base hubs rest on and fasten to your base ring with customer-supplied brackets. The 3V kit's flat-base geometry means all 15 base hubs sit dead level — no shimming.
Greenhouse film, shade cloth, canvas, plywood + shingles, and — like our proof dome — latex-modified concrete over fabric. The frame is conventional lumber, so anything you can fasten to wood works. See the proof dome story for the concrete shell method.
PVC doesn't love decades of direct UV. Under a cover, shell, or a coat of exterior paint, it's effectively indefinite — our proof dome's hubs are inside a concrete shell and look new at year nine. For a bare frame standing uncovered for years, choose the steel series.
That depends entirely on your jurisdiction and your use, and it's your responsibility to check. Our kits are sold as connector hardware for agricultural, greenhouse, garden, and glamping structures — not as a certified building system. Many rural and agricultural uses are exempt from permitting (in Texas, see Local Government Code §214.904), but verify locally before you build.
We don't sell dwelling kits and we make no habitability or structural claims. What owner-builders do on their own land with their own engineering diligence is their business — and if your engineer wants our drawings, dimensions, or DXF files, we'll send them over happily.
Geodesic frames are famously efficient shapes in wind, and our proof dome has shrugged off central Texas storms since 2016 — but site loads vary enormously and we publish no load ratings. Treat published figures (like the 400 lb single-strut field test) as information about one structure, not a promise about yours.
PVC kits ship UPS/FedEx ground — a full 3V kit is one ~16 lb box. Steel kits ship ground up to 2V (~50–110 lb, split boxes); 3V steel (~240 lb) ships LTL freight to your driveway or a local depot — strap+ring kits stack flat and palletize tightest. Freight quotes are confirmed before we charge you.
Unused kits in original packaging: 30 days, full refund minus actual shipping. If a hub arrives bent, cracked, or miscounted, we replace it free — photo, email, done. [PLACEHOLDER — finalize policy text with LLC counsel before launch.]
The designs are parametric and we cut to order, so: probably. Email orders@vertexdomeworks.com with what you're building. Custom work is quoted case by case.