The Singer Dome: A Story of Perseverance
Making a new friend
I met William Singer in 1995, first by phone, then through the Monolithic Workshop he attended, and we have talked considerably since then. I am guessing that William was sixty plus when we first met, and, of course, the years piled on us all.
After graduating from that Workshop, William, one of those independent guys who makes things happen, built his own dome-home. He began at his home in Hale, Missouri by making his own equipment. While at the Workshop, he examined the equipment we were making and decided that, with his experience at John Deere Manufacturing, he could make a concrete pump. And he did!
He later told me that was a mistake because it took far too long. But he got it done, and he then decided to design and build his own fifty-foot-diameter dome-home.
A big family project
After getting the building up, purchasing a foam machine and spraying the polyurethane, William and Beverly, his wife, invited family to help tie the rebar and spray the concrete.
William said, "All were very willing. One grandson lifted every bag of cement into the mixer for the main dome. My oldest son ran the bobcat to load the mixer and was in charge of getting the mix correct. His wife then unloaded the mixer and ran the concrete pump.
“Another grandson ran the electric lift to move me around as I shot the concrete on the wall. We could not have done it without their help.”
Success
It often amazes me how many people, if they have something go wrong, just quit. They refuse to work hard. But not the Singers. They just got tough and finished it. And now they have something to be very proud of: their home.