Newbie yurt building help.

[bold_one]

I don't see why not!
There are 40 footers, made by "Smiling Woods Yurts", and even a 50 foot standard canvas covered yurt by "Nomad Shelter Alaskan Yurts"! So, I don't see a problem with having a 50 foot "stick built" yurt, as long as it's properly engineered/designed.
Which leads back to my original post, I was inquiring about recommendations or info about Architects/Designers/Engineers experienced in Yurt construction.
It seems you didn't know those sizes existed!

[Bob Rowlands]

Contact them. To be clear about this site, we talk conventional wood lath and fabric yurts to about 30', and the wood platforms they sit upon. I don't know, maybe one of the yurt manufacturers here will read this and post. I've built two yurts, been a member here for four years, and never heard anyone mention any yurt 50' in diameter, let alone discuss it. Good luck.

[Bob Rowlands]

BTW a 50' yurt is 1,963 sq. ft., and a 40' is 1,256'. A 30' yurt is 706'.

The 30'er is typically the biggest standard size yurt, based on the manufacturers sites I have browsed, and the biggest we have talked about here. Jafo, the 'Yurt Forum' owner, has a professionally manufactured 30'er. That's a BIG yurt.

However, a 30' yurt is well under the size of a typical 1960s era 3 bedroom 2 bath rancher of about 1200'. It's more the size of a one bed one bath condo. When it comes right down to it, a conventional yurt is fabric over wood lath. A tent. Incredible as they are, yurts are tents, not houses. If you want to enclose 2000' feet of space, that is something to carefully consider. Not trying to be a smart @$$ here, but just saying. You certainly can do whatever you want. jmo ymmv

[Jafo]

Nomad Shelter yurts

makes a 50' yurt, but it is not solid walled.

[Bob Rowlands]

Jafo, thanks for the link.

[Bob Rowlands]

OK, I just typed in '50' yurt' in google images. That's the first time I've done that. In fact there ARE 50' diameter yurts with wood lattice and cloth cover. Amazing. bold__one good luck with your project.

[Wintergreen282]

I'm with you, Bob. That's a tremendous amount of enclosed space and I can't even imagine what would go into making it work. Multiple supports throughout the structure? Spending some time on this forum and seeing things like rings that rotate in the wind just enough to pull apart and crash down, people trying to heat the bigger yurts, imagine even putting that canvas on. Often things *can* be done, it's just what do you have to do to make it happen. And for a 50' McYurt I'm guessing that's a whole lot of (expensive) engineering or (even more expensive) practicing. Heck, we yurter's have trouble even getting

insurance

because there aren't enough yurts for the

insurance

companies to figure out what to charge.

[Wintergreen282]

Just re-reading what I wrote above. I still stand by it. But also have to say I've been listening to naysayers my whole life. They are annoying. Lol. When I can, I ignore them and it's always worked out for me. With your handle Bold__One I applaud you for at least being self-aware. I think most everyone on this forum appreciates a little boldness. So - after all your research - if you think you can do this, you should. And share what you learn. I think most of us would be happy with your success and not say "I told you so" should you have set backs or decide you have to readjust. With the (very notable) exception of the respectable "yurt selling" companies, I think most of us are doing a fair amount of winging it. Just do your homework and understand how much modern yurt structures rely on engineering, how much real world variables of wind and snow need to be considered, how heavy the roof is should it come down. My naysayers are all about my safety. I also care about my own safety, it's just I'm sometimes willing to risk things to live my life - and also believe their idea of risk is often overblown. I do apology for the McYurt dig. I couldn't help myself. So sorry. To each his own. One last note... Multiple smaller yurts may work out for you better than one large one - on a lot of levels. Whatever (personal!) risks you take on - and whatever you end up doing - I support you and hope to hear more about it. Best of luck! Truly.

[asciiaardvark]

Originally Posted by Is-ith

Ok so you guys have convinced me. My wife and I are now looking at doing a 16' yurt. I was doing some research and found this video on a supposedly 23' yurt but the poles for the roof look pretty flimsy/small are you guys able to offer some insight on this and why theirs works so well with what seems to be real basic materials... Here is the link.

See about getting time in a shop - I built my first yurt in a local hackerspace with tools. A drill press lets you drill a stack of lattice-slats simultaneously & precisely so the holes line up.

You can use nuts & bolts for the lattice -- I did. But they fall out, even the ones with lock-nuts. My roommate's yurt has the lattice tied together with paracord, kinda like this. I helped someone replace her yurt's bolts with aluminum rivets (ones with a stop, so they don't squeeze the lattice). While rivets make replacing broken slats harder, I think they're a good balance of sturdy, light-weight, and quick to install (with pneumatic rivet gun) -- they're my plan for yurt 2.0.

For the roof ring:

• You could steam-bend a roof-ring like they did in the video you linked.
• My roommate's yurt is from

  campingyurts.com

  , out of Oregon - they do great work, and will sell you a roof-ring for under $400.
• I built mine out of plywood and 1x4 scraps - but it's heavy and ugly, I heard horror stories of rings delaminating in the rain and seriously over-built mine.
• My next yurt may have one made of clear PVC bent with heat-gun, filled with UV LEDs, and coated with fluorescent paint so it's also a chandelier. I'm trying to figure out how to build in fans too.

The roof-angle will be dependent on what you need your yurt to do. If you want to leave it set up in the snow, use a really high (>30º) angle and really sturdy rafters (I used 1x4s). A lower roof-angle means shorter, easier-to-transport rafters. If you're doing snow-loads, do a lot of research though - that's a lot of weight.

My yurt has rafters that sit on a steel cable, and the steel cable sits on top the lattice. I think that design supports a larger roof-load, as the steel cable takes all the lateral force from your snow-load... also, the steel cable is sized so I know when I've expanded my lattice to the correct size.

My roommate's yurt has a band sewn into the roof-tarp, which he can tighten after the roof is on, so it synches around the rafters for a nice waterproof/dust-resistant seal.

His yurt has the lattice bolt onto a door-frame, which is a good way to be sure it's sized right... but the tolerances are tight so it's always a pain to attach them. Another friend's door-frame has a slot running its full height, so the lattice just slips in and is held in place by the downward force of the roof - no bolts to thread! My yurt door has bungie-cords that wrap around the lattice, that's a dumb way to do it, they stretch out and the lattice gets in the doorway.

Wool

insulation

will definitely feel "homier" than bubble-wrap. Just don't let it get wet, or it'll put on hundreds of pounds in a hurry... or muddy. Sounds like you're making this a home that'll move maybe 1/year though - so that might work well for you. Mine's a camping yurt, and the bubble wrap is light-weight and can be flipped to keep me warm or cool.


I built a 19' yurt a few years ago, and awesome as it is to have a yurt, it was my first and is pretty jankey. I want to replace every part of it now because I'd build it all differently. I want to upgrade to a 25' yurt, so I plan to make a ~1/12 scale model to test all the changes this winter. You might consider a scale model too, as it's a good way to check your math and implementation details.

[Bob Rowlands]

I'm downsizing my 16' yurt to camping size for two, at 12'6". Just finished a new 28 slot roof ring yesterday. Painted with blue Rustoleum industrial alkyd enamel and it is drying as I type this. Gonna recut my old rafters today. I'll just use a flap of canvas for the door the old one is rotted out at the bottom. It's gonna finish out like the yurt here:

wilderness outfitters pathfinder American yurt