Kind of off topic quonset question

[Jared]

How could a person insulate a quonset building to live in? I like the curved design and was wondering how one could be insulated and still retain the curve of the wall for most of the wall. A 4 foot wall would start at the floor and from there up to a flat cieling (more than 8' up) would be curved. (I'm looking at ALL methods of debt-free building, traditinoal and otherwise.)

[trish]

How about spray on foam?  Haven't checked out the state of the art lately, but hopefully by now they have some that will not burn toxic incase of fire.

[Jared]

What would I cover it with so that the foam isn't visible?

[glenn-k]

Metal? weld clips - fur it out -lath and plaster - wattle and daub -?  You would need some way to attach to the framing for anything you might do .  

Do you have a particular one in mind - what do you have to work with?  Different problems may require different solutions.

[bil2054]

Jared, it is possible to curve drywall.  Use 1/4" drywall, spray the back side with water, and let it sit for about ten minutes. You can also make a series of shallow kerfs in the back, about 1/8" apart, but that takes time, and I've cut a little too deep sometimes (oops!) with predictable results.

Masonite would take the bend, too.

As Glenn points out you would need to somehow attach horizontal blocking. A stud welder, (no, not some dude who throws sparks for a living!), would probably be great, if there's an industrial rental place within reach.  I'd hesitate to through fasten, on account of future leak potential.

Good luck.

[Daddymem]

Wow..."Glenn" and "stud welder" in the same paragraph, who woulda thunk

[glenn-k]

Careful there, Daddymem, I resemble that. :-/

[Jared]

Curving drywall sounds like too much work just to have curved walls. More and more I see that houses are built the way they are for a reason. Ease of construction and relatively low cost. Not to mention a broad knowledge base since a lot of people at least know some basic construction skills. Anything different that I've checked into would be too difficult and too time and money consuming. A steel building is looking like the best way to go right now. No load bearing walls, no wood trusses to jack up in order to put up interior walls later on. It'll take me quite a long time to do what I want, so I've pretty well given up on alternative house designs.

[cronenwett]

What sizes do they come in?  Could you buy two that are a foot or two different in diameter, stack them, and blow foam or something into the gap between the two?
Liz

[Jared]

at 9 to ten grand a piece, that's too pricey

[Amanda_931]

That really thin drywall was designed for curves, even quite small little niches in upscale houses.  

Kelly Hart has designed and put up quonset-like buildings in Crestone Colorado.  I think that there are a couple up there.

Scroll on down the page to see this one, with a papercrete roof.

http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/hybrids.htm#quonset

They're selling their place there, here are pictures, with kind of a nice picture of the quonset  place here;

http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/houseforsale.htm