Almost done!

[ktm2racing2001]

new pipe! Moving in soon putting

insulation

and cover up now! For the people who are interested in building there own yurt let me know I may be able to help. So far every piece i have built myself (even the dome) total

dome

cost 70 bucks

[hierony]

What'd you decide on for

insulation

?

An interesting note: yurts weigh much less than houses, so they don't have thermal mass to hold heat/slow cooling. Also, traditional yurts look to have very clever ways to seal everything up (small details are very important).

[ktm2racing2001]

Ive been living in my Yurt for about a month now! Doing Great! My solar is completely hooked up finally have electricity! I am considering getting a propane heater/thermostat so my new cat can stay warm next year if my fire goes out! Also im trying to find a new liner. Anyone have any ideas for a material? Also i decided on the double bubble which did get me through the worst part of the winter. But i do need some sort of felt liner for a better r value.

[ktm2racing2001]

WHat would you suggest for sealing the edge of the cover? The yurt is up on plastic pallets at this point and screwed to the plywood on the pallets. right now i have a ratchet strap/rope around the bottom. What would you suggest?

[dennishl]

(Hope the picture that I attached is visible) This picture shows how I managed the interface between the floor and wall (lath not up yet in the picture). The fascia (is there a better term for what that is?) is attached to the 2x4s and floor boards and provides a "rail" to catch the wall lath, holding it nicely to the circumference of the yurt and a nice solid surface for the yurt cover to lay against, which is then held in place by the bottom ratchet strap.

[hierony]

Depending on how tight your ratchet strap is, you might be alright for air-tightness. Having something as insulation in the floor seems to help keep things warmer (your pallets might be sufficient). How's the overlap between your roof canvas & wall canvas? Between your wall canvas and your door?

I've thought a good deal about what to insulation my 20' yurt with--depending on your fire safety standards, desired level of insulation, and budget, there's a number of options. U-haul cotton blankets would cost ~$200 per layer, as would wool emergency blankets in bulk bundles (depending on shipping). I kinda like Bob's cardboard suggestion (bike shops have nice big, thick slabs from their shipping boxes). Carpet underlayment (jute or wool or synthetic) scraps can often be had for free in scrap form from carpet installers/shops. There's always tradiation fiberglass or rock wool (~$500-900 per 3" layer), but I'd think those wouldn't do very well if you move your yurt around much.

[ktm2racing2001]

thanks for the suggestions!! I like the "rail" or wood rail but im trying to stay as temporary as possible... i insulate the plastic pallets with straw with a plastic encasing.

My overlap from roof to wall is non existent as i chemically welded billboard material to itself so its one giant piece. It went up very easily with a pully system i hooked up on the crown. Very good suggestions for the liner thank you!

[ktm2racing2001]

Mind you i left some flop to the weld so i could possibly collect rain water also there are some slight adjustments needed.

[Bob Rowlands]

My thoughts on yurt insulation is that if you are going to be nomadic, a tough rollable foldable insulation that can take the abuse of erection dismantle and transport is a wise choice. Felt. Mongolians have nomadic yurts all figured out. If you basically have a permanent yurt then anything can be used.

[hierony]

You're one-piece cover sounds like it should keep the air infiltration down a lot. I may have to steal your hoist idea next time I setup my yurt--the single-piece canvas is 100 lbs and rather cumbersome to lift above my head...

I'm guessing the pic you just posted was before you installed belly-bands/ropes around the walls. The tradiational yurt has these to hold the cover down and tight in windy conditions. If you made spare poles, they go under these bands right by the door, which helps seal the fabric against the door frame. See here for a good picture.

Another place to seal up well is between your cover & crown ring. I haven't figured out this detail yet, as I haven't gotten the yurt frame setup quite right for the canvas to lay well up there. If you can find pictures of Bob's yurt, he had an interesting way to do this.

The modern yurts I've seen use a single piece for the roof, with modular wall panels ~6-8' wide that connect to the

tension cable

above and either a cable around the platform or screw into the platform drip edge/skirt/lip/fascia below. Velcro is used to join adjacent wall panels.

The fellow that put up the SimplyDifferently.org website had a lot of ideas about yurts--some of them probably useful. If you're okay with using straw and have a cat, you might be able to use his 'staw quilted between burlap' for insulation.