Building 30ft yurt

[Bob Rowlands]

Some real creative thinking for sealing the wall cover to the door frame. Good job.

Tung oil is gonna be a good finish. You can always add oil as time goes by. I doubt you'll have any problems dyeing the oil.

Another time tested alternative to Tung oil is boiled linseed oil. Add 50% mineral spirits for the first few coats it will penetrate like all get out. MUCH MUCH better than any plastic finish.


Keep up the good work Ethan.

[Ethan]

Thanks, I know you mentioned air leaks around the door so want to give my best shot at minimizing those, I'll add weatherstripping to everything too

[Nate]

I've seen Dutch doors separate but I think that might just be because the kids in the nursery swung on them for 50 years. It may not be as big a deal for u. I think I would want the halves to squeeze together.

[Ethan]

yeah squeezing together tight is where the multitude of different weatherstripping comes is, hopefully can get it tight enough with that.

[Bob Rowlands]

One trick with exterior dutch doors is to build the door as one door, with an extra large10" lock rail. To turn it into the dutch door, set your skill saw to 15 degree bevel, and then cross cut it through the lock rail, such that water flows to the exterior side. Install the lower door. Lay a shim atop it, and set and hang the upper door. Voila, a perfect fit. Add weatherstrip between the two. BTW the 'best' weatherstrip is the old school copper V style, installed with a zillion tiny brads. It will last for fifty years, instead of fifty months like everything else. Pretty soon they'll offer a two to five year warranty on yer plastic weatherstrip, like they do on yer new 'high tech' dishwasher that breaks in six months. lol

[Jake]

Bob where are you and Ethan located? The NW? Thats where mine will be. Once I know where. Central Idaho is high on the list right now. I am looking forward to seeing Ethans finished !

There are a LOT of good sugestions already. Thanks.

[Ethan]

Bob: great great idea, i will remember that and try to apply in future, I'm making this door with a 6in shelf in the middle, perhaps a place to cool pies, thats the only excuse i could find for having a Dutch door, ha!

Jake: Im actually from the other side, located in New Hampshire. Idaho is on my list though!

[Bob Rowlands]

Jake I live in Colo. I have relatives that live near Boise. Can't remember the town, but do remember they love it. They started a hot sauce business there. Good hunting and fishing, and good people live there. Low crime.

Ethan, I once built a dutch door with a shelf, for, of all places, a preschool inside a church. The lower door needed to seperate a staff area from an adjacent room where the little uns needed to be seen but kept out from under foot.

[Jake]

A lot of good ideas here, especially on the Dutch Door. I really like them. Now, what ideas do you savants have for a swing into place upper bug screen when the top is open?

Just what Ghengis Khan had !

[Bob Rowlands]

Personally, along the KISS principle, I'd make a standard full size screen door and jamb, like a million US residences have. Two ways. Build the screen door an inch over the inside yurt door jamb dimension. Make the screen door jamb. Hinge and hang the screen door on its jamb. Screw the whole prehung screen assembly to the yurt door jamb with screws.

Second way. If there is sufficient yurt door opening width (I don't have that) you could make the screened door a half inch smaller than inside yurt door jamb. Or a quater or three eighths smaller if you have a super rigid jamb. Hang on jamb. Add stop for the screen door to close against. With this system the face of the screen door MUST be in plane with the face of the jamb. MUST BE. No questions asked.

If you only want half a screen door, build either of the above, but have the bottom door rail sized to butt into the lower dutch door. Cut it oversize to begin with, install, then cut to fit the closed lower door. Less math that way.

Note. All these screen doors are going to be hinged the same side as the main door but open the opposite swing. If one door opens in, the other opens out.

Any other system is one off, and way beyond the KISS principle.