wool upholstery fabric as insulation

[Molly Robertson]

Great information! Thanks so much. I am outreaching to Kvadrat. Will let you know what I hear back.

[Bob Rowlands]

Molly, if you are interested in making a simple china cap, this is how I made mine.

Get a piece of sheet metal flashing at Depot. They are ~ 3x3 feet and $10. Lay out about a six inch circle in the middle. Cut from the edge to the circle and cut out the center hole you marked.

OK, now you can form a cone of any pitch you like by overlapping the cut edges. Figure the angle you want -I just held the cone level in front of the yurt and eyeballed the angle of the roof. Mark the edges where they overlap. Tape the edges to eachother so the piece doesn't fall flat. To secure the edges and hold the conic shape, drill holes along the lapped edge and fasten with machine screws. Cut the base of the cone to circular.

There's your cap it can't get cheaper or easier. Recut the size of the center hole so your stove pipe fits. Do this with the cone not the flat sheet metal. To keep the wind from lifting it simply tie wire it in place.

[Bob Rowlands]

The drawback to this is, it does block the light and dampers cooling draft in the summer. All in all it does keep in the heat and keep out the rain and snow. In the warmer months for a cooling draft I simply undid the tie wire and jammed the cap up and wedged it in place with a piece of wood. Poke it with a broom handle to drop it down in rain. This is all good for rustic. A pretty/trick install- not so much.

[Molly Robertson]

Awesome! I can't wait to try this. We are working on the steps to the yurt right now, so it will be after that. I so appreciate the information, Bob. I will try to send a picture of what we are doing.

[Bob Rowlands]

OK good Molly. Just wanted to say, I can't remember how fancy your yurt is, or how large the ring is. If it IS fancy, or if looks are important, OR the inside dimension of the ring is larger than say about 30" then the china cap I designed may not be right for you. It looks very rustic and may not span a smoke hole larger than 22-24". My yurt ring inside diameter is 24" and the cap just barely flanged over the ring. My canvas was barely covered at the inside edge of the ring.

A bigger piece of sheet metal say 4x4 might be in order if you want to span a larger hole. And again, my yurt is very rustic and 'looks' are not an issue. It looks homemade but I could care less about that.

As a second, easier alternative in the rustic line is, if your inside diameter is smaller than a large metal trash can lid, that would also work. You would just need to cut out the handle and size the hole to your stove pipe. Yeah that's really way off the wall, but it would work in a pinch and certainly be cheap and strong.

Ok I'm out on this. Best of luck on your build.