Mike South and Gary Clark Talk Monolithic History on ThinkSprayFoam

Well-known podcaster and spray foam expert Michael Dynna of ThinkSprayFoam.com recently interviewed Mike South and Gary Clark of Monolithic. Dynna has been spraying foam since 2002, and a few years ago he launched the ThinkSprayFoam community to connect and educate others in the industry.

South was born into the business, while Clark’s experience with spray foam predates the Monolithic Dome industry by a few years. South is the son of Monolithic’s founder, David B. South. Long before the senior South built the first Monolithic Dome, he and his brothers had the largest spray-foam business in the Northwest, spraying more polyurethane foam than all other operations in the US.

Both interviews focused on the advantages of urethane foam, how to maximize its application, and Monolithic’s history.

How One Family Changed Construction

Mike South’s conversation with Dynna covered more of the family history behind Monolithic. He talked about his father’s background and how the original foam business got started. He also discussed the uphill fight against the fiberglass industry, which eventually led David to write “The R Value Fairy Tale,” making the case that R-value numbers don’t reflect how insulation actually performs once it’s installed.

South also discussed why the dome shape has held up so well over time, describing a finished dome as “one solid rock.” He used Bruco, Monolithic’s manufacturing facility, as an example. While the manufacture of Airforms for domes remains the main activity inside Bruco, other fabric structures are also made there. On a 110-degree day, the 12,000-square-foot building stays at 75 degrees, cooled with just two mini-splits, a result of the arrangement of the insulation and thermal mass.

South also pointed to just how widespread domes have become since those early days, now used for homes, schools, storage buildings, churches, and tornado shelters in dozens of countries.

Learning the Trade from the Ground Up

Gary Clark has been with Monolithic for decades, going back to the early days of David South’s original spray polyurethane foam company in Idaho, where much of his and David’s early work centered on insulating potato storage buildings so well that the stored crop’s own heat kept them warm all winter. Clark learned the trade on an old Gusmer H2 machine, spraying foam for other contractors before his path crossed with David’s. He talked with Dynna about how that early work carried over into building domes, describing the rebar used to reinforce a dome’s shotcrete shell as “a fishing pole,” flexible enough to follow the structure’s curve.

Clark also talked about the workshops Monolithic runs through its Dome Institute, week-long sessions where people learn the trade hands-on and help build a small, 20-foot-diameter dome. Those domes are later finished out as micro-efficiency apartments, an idea David started to help address affordable housing while giving trainees something real to build.

Gary’s interview was actually a co-hosted live event inside ThinkSprayFoam. Events like that stay private to the community rather than going up on YouTube, but it’s still well worth a watch.

Subscribe to watch Gary Clark’s interview

Both interviews are worth checking out, whether you’re into the history of spray foam or just curious how one family’s business turned into a worldwide dome company. Mike’s interview is now on YouTube, and Gary’s is available on ThinkSprayFoam.com, which requires a paid membership and also gives you access to Dynna’s monthly live Q&A sessions and a private contractor community. You can find more from Dynna on his Spray Jones YouTube channel.