Rigid foam insulation against lathe / canvas

[willothenorth]

Hey folks,

Thanks so much for the replies.

@Jafo, unfortunately I don't have the opening dome-- Or, at least not the kind that has some sort of mechanism to do so other than climbing up there and manually opening it if needed? I'll have to look. I need to get / build a scaffold to get up there, I have not been able to look closely at the dome myself since it was already up when we inherited it. I have definitely been planning to install a larger woodstove, and I do think that was a major problem with things. The yurt now has a toyo (oil) stove and that was able to beat back the cold a bit when the original tenant was there. So hopefully the combo can make things work.

@trihartsfield, great question about the plan for things. Currently I'm going to utilize the space as an office / shop. I will probably have a sink setup but dry (with hauled water that likely goes into a bucket to be emptied). Down the line we're interested in getting it more fancified, but that's not in the stars soon. So I think that will give me time to see about how the moisture/ insulation thing ends up going. I also have a dehumidifier running in there, which doesn't show a ton of moisture but maybe can aid down the line as well. The cover is up. The roof is vinyl and the walls are canvas. Currently I'm only working on insulating the walls, though I do know I'll be putting effort into the roof as well at some point of course.

@Ivan, I had to look up what a louvre was, I thought it was just a museum in France I'll have to see how folks use those up here. I had been considering an air exchanger but I don't know a ton about them. I am installing real windows that I can open, so potentially I could crack windows and utilize those as a form of ventilation too?

Back @Jafo, that's an interesting point about leaving the gap all the way up. My predecessor covered the dome on the inside for the winter. So leaving it uncovered on the inside might be a good idea if it doesn't kick my ass temp-wise. Even if the dome doesn't mechanically open, I do think there are cracks between it and the roof (maybe wasn't installed properly- I just know bugs get in there), so maybe it would already be kind of set for that. The canvas wall is undone around the bottom because of a repair I am doing, so I think it's currently breathing a bit at the moment.

Interesting thoughts from all, I really appreciate it. Sounds like a very good idea to leave an area where I can check on the moisture factor and make decisions from there. It's all a learning experience so that's not a bad thing!

Thanks,
Will