Hi All,
I've been thinking about a Yurt for 15 years and finally have the wife on board. This is for our vacation property, as a low cost/low-impact type structure beyond just camping but short of a traditional house. We're a family of 5, with at least 1 dog. Having a composting toilet indoors and a kitchenette would be nice. With a cupboard this makes a loft an easy next step (and it snowballs!)
We're literally near a mountaintop with a 1400' view/drop to our East, morning sun galore So for normal jetstream type winds we'd be mostly "sheltered by the peak" about 200' behind/uphill/West-NW of us. But for storms our pad site gets pretty ripped as it's on a bluff. The ground is very stony (mix of shale, sandstone) with shallow root trees (25-30'' max height) and sparse undergrowth. It won't be true 4 season since the approach is not passable with snow on the ground due to the pitch, even with a 'real' 4x4 truck and 37" KM2s. So I'm looking at an 'insulated' model for 3 season fun, and maybe some "definitely won't snow this weekend" but with extra comforters, but not a full time residence. I think 20' would be too small. 30' seems big (both to get it up there and requires a platform of > 1300 sf --and it snowballs). But maybe that's where we'll end up.
I currently have bookmaked:
1) alaska (nomad) yurts - they look very durable, but may be too far to ship to VA, and not sure if they'd be breathable enough with 5 of us + dog(s) breathing
into the yurt's space
2)
- the first brand i found years ago, lots of features, they seem to be a market leader. water-catching-gutters a plus.
3)
- nice blend of features and value, the 27' may be the goldilocks size. water-catching-cistern a plus. But a big premium to add standard windows though...
4)
- some cool features (10' walls on the 30' wide unit, 2x6 rafters and vented
included, "$0" premium for the framing to allow for DIY glass windows" ) but they seem to have the shortest warranty on exterior surfaces, and even as a 'temporary structure' spending over 10k means i want it to last longer than 5 yrs, and not sure i want anything with cotton blend on the outside for mildew reasons - any feedback on these?
So, that's where we're at. Who should be on my list? Anyone personally build a loft? I see lots of pictures and the "segment of a circle at 40% of the diameter" type of loft seems logical - enough room underneath for pantry, WC/toilet, kitchenette; I've worked framing before and won't have trouble doing this type of in-fill, any pointers on what you wish you did differently?
thanks.
24-27-30? and who I should have on my list
Threaded Mode