Permitting a yurt

[Bob Rowlands]

IMO if you are considering straw bale or 'cob' whatever that is, covered with stucco or some other troweled on finish, just stick frame the outside wall. Cheaper WAAAY faster easier. Any experiended competent carpenter could build that curved outside wall from panels sized at 16" or 2' panels in very short order. Lap the top plates. Cover with ply and finish with stucco. Bam. Done. Way faster then any other technique traditional lath. Just a thought. I'm a carpenter since 1973 and know this stuff inside and out.

[Bob Rowlands]

If time and money are an issue -as they usually are- a framed wall is going to be very cheap in comparison to any other technique. Every building center has very affordable materials you need to build a VERY solid yurt in very little time. I my experience anything 'oddball' is expensive and takes a long time to build. Plus very few tradesmen have the interest in working on an odd project because they know they won't make money at it. Just stating facts to consider before proceeding. Regardless, good luck with your project.

[centsable]

new to this forum and agree that this subject is a great way to start. I am just beginning to explore the idea of a yurt. living in California, I suspect that it will be an uphill battle to get a permit to build a yurt, especially with the new codes coming up. Any californians wanting to share their thoughts is appreciated.

[Bob Rowlands]

Sorry I can't answer your question. All my inlaws live there but none are into yurts. There's little traffic on this site so I make up for it by flappin my gums on every thread. I know a few folks gotta be gettin burned out on me. ha Hopefully someone will pop in here soon. Good luck

[elewis33]

My recent experience in a rural county in Utah. At first we were told by someone in the building department that we didn't need a permit to build a yurt. This was accurate but not the whole story. Turned out we don't need a permit for the yurt but we do need a permit for the platform/deck. Any deck over 200 square feet requires a permit in our area. Of course the deck needs to meet code requirements for construction regarding beam and joist spans, beam size, railing, stairs, etc.

In our case, the yurt is not going to be a residence and we're building it in a way that allows it to fall into a "recreational" category. Basically this means no permanent services, like water, gas, electricity, sewer, etc. This is fine for us but doesn't suit everyone's needs.

If we didn't go this route then all the typical residential codes would apply and it would be way more intensive to permit, design, and build. YMMV.

[Harry]

Thanks, all of this info helps. I also live in NY but am very clueless on how to get the ball rolling.

[elewis33]

Originally Posted by Harry

Thanks, all of this info helps. I also live in NY but am very clueless on how to get the ball rolling.

I would say your #1 step, to get the ball rolling, is to go down to the county/city permitting office and talk through your plans with them. And Make sure they understand exactly what/how you plan to use the yurt.



Every jurisdiction can have slightly different rules about these kinds of things, especially if you're talking about rural counties/towns.

[skihuckster]

Originally Posted by elewis33

I would say your #1 step, to get the ball rolling, is to go down to the county/city permitting office and talk through your plans with them. And Make sure they understand exactly what/how you plan to use the yurt.



Every jurisdiction can have slightly different rules about these kinds of things, especially if you're talking about rural counties/towns.

I see some hints in these posts, but I'd strongly recommend NOT drawing attention to yourself and just calling your yurt a pop-up/collapsible "yoga room" if you get caught. I made this mistake and I estimate I will have spent upwards of $70k to deal with what uninformed, territorial, ignorant, malicious, or downright nasty people in power demanding unrealistic and unneccesary add ons. I could write a novel about this but will settle for brevity: DON'T TELL THE COUNTY YOUR PLANS

[Harry]

I spoke with a company that builds yurts in my state/area and he told me to speak with a code enforcement official so I put in a call to them and I'm waiting for a call back. I do live in a rural spot so I have to figure all that out yet. I'm not a builder or anything and sometimes I'm a little clueless with the terminology that they are using. In my area I may need a zoning variance I think he said. And I'm also not sure that I would be allowed to have a second structure on my property that is allowed for full-time residential use

[Bob Rowlands]

Building depts. vary. For sure 'don't get the building dept. sued' is a big priority. So that in mind taking risk is not gonna happen.

Building dept. can be a good ole boy network. Anything different like a yurt is likely seen by some inspectors as green hippie commie liberal bs around here. So there's that to deal with as well. JMO though.