01-30-2016, 05:01 PM
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#2
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Yurt Forum Addict
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Washington/Oregon
Posts: 292
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Re: Snow Loads
I'm sorry to hear you lost your yurt! That sounds like it would've been quite the ordeal. I certainly agree with your word of caution, but I'd add a few bits.
The calculation to figure out the snow load on rafters/roof poles is fairly straight forward. I actually checked this when I was trying to make my own yurt, as it was a reasonable concern (circles make things complicated though so I didn't do proper crown ring calculations  --I'm not an engineer).
Snow loads for the general area when I live are anywhere from 25 psf to 80 psf or more. There can easily be several tons of weight on a yurt roof at the lower rating!
There's a slew of factors that go into this, but in general a smaller roof won't have as much snow on it, more rafters can hold more weight, bigger rafters can hold more weight, and shorter spans can hold more weight. That last one is particularly neglected in a lot of yurts--the crown ring supports/baganna aren't included but they HALF the span of the roof, making it _much_ stronger. Slippery surfaces, steeper roofs, and heated roofs also reduce loads from snow.
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