Help- vinyl roof needed

[Surely Yurts - Steve]

Originally Posted by Jafo

His and her funnels now? :P

No we actually share one

The pee funnel is actually my wife's favorite feature of the yurt. Her presence has brought light into the cave... it's a bottle of tea tree oil and other natural disinfectants to spray it with after each use.

For those who don't know, a "P Funnel" is simply a funnel attached to a pipe that runs down through the yurt floor into which one pees when one does not want to go to the outhouse (esp. in winter). I first heard of it being used in officer tents during the Vietnam war.

-Cheers!

[jeritchie]

If you have pitched your roof at 30 degrees and the diameter of the rafter break is truly at 24' diameter,

Yurts of America

can build you a replacement 19 oz. vinyl roof - your choice of fifteen colors with a ten year pro-rated warranty. I would recommend a

Durolast

roof with a fifteen year warranty. If you select a standard color we could have it out to your next week. Unusual colors (pink, yellow, purple, etc.) will add a week or so to the turn-around.

Did you make your walls out of canvas also? Should replace at the same time.

We accept Visa, Mastercard, Discovery, and Amex.

jer

P.S. I didn't read the whole message thread, but if you live somewhere with more extreme conditions (Hawaii, high desert, etc.) we will only ship you a

Durolast

roof. Good Luck.

[Bob Rowlands]

High desert is kinda like where I live. The sun snow and rain beat the snot out of my cover in well under five years. Any noobs reading this, if you want a truly long lasting cover, don't use canvas. You've been warned. This Durolast roof by

Yurts of America

sounds pretty dang good to me.

[Jafo]

My vinyl roof still looks brand new.

[Bob Rowlands]

That's good to hear. 100% canvas totally sucks for a long term cover. I hope yurt noobs take that to heart. A high grade professionally made cover is ABSOLUTELY the way to go, on any yurt that is lived in year around.

[Jafo]

Well I like the canvas ones too for smaller yurts however, Bob is right. You will be changing that sucker out every few years.

If you're looking for a more portable yurt, canvas will be lighter. If you are going to live in a more permanent one, then I have to go with what Bob says.

[jeritchie]

Ha. You guys are treading perilously close to the canvas versus vinyl debate. Canvas has some passionate advocates. It is sort of like the wool

insulation

fans.

When canvas wool people called in the past, I would try and talk them out of it and explain why natural fibers are simple not a good fit for long-term environmental / UV exposure. Today I just say 'we don't carry them - never have never will.'

jer

[Bob Rowlands]

Make no mistake, canvas is a great cover material for portable tents that are used a short time very year. If an outfitter set up a tent through the fall hunting season, say three months, he might get ten to fifteen years out of the cover? Just a guess based on my experience. Hunters typically set up a wall tent a week or two a year. At that rate a cover could potentially last a lifetime. This assumes these covers are thoroughly dried before being stored at the end of the season, and are stored in a dry area.

All I really know about canvas as a tent cover material is based on my own experience. My cover was brand new in June 2013. It is done at this point for practical purposes. It immediately gets soaked when it rains and snows, and starts dripping inside. In addition it is covered with mildew spots. If I lived in it year around, I now know I'd invest in a full on professional cover, no doubt about it.

I made my cover from a 17 oz. tarp that was proofed with sunforger equivalent waterproofing. I haven't got the slightest interest in wrestling that amount of material through a small sewing machine again. Really the best deal for a long term residence isll is to buy a yurt from one of the pro manufacturers.

[jeritchie]

One of the biggest issues with canvas (besides UV Resistance) is Fire Retardants. There are actually laws regarding fabric covered dwellings and fire retardant requirements. Think about some of the famous circus tent fires. Canvas has to have fire retardant applied and should be reapplied periodically.

I am not sure who this applies to the DYI situation, but I suspect building codes are building codes regardless.

I have a number of friends in the Society for Creative Anachronisms - in fact that is how YOA got started - and many have pavilions covered with beautiful dyed canvas. Just don't EVER put it away damp.

You are exactly right that properly cared for canvas will work well - but it doesn't work well as a permanent long-term cover. jer

[Bob Rowlands]

I've built 14', 16', and now 12' yurt using the Clan Yama Kaminari SCA plan. It's definitely a good one. I made a number of changes from the original Kaminari plan that improved it. With a pro cover it would be good for a small long term home. It could easily be scaled up to about 6 meters with some structural modifications.