My Three & Five Year Pacific Yurt Review

[Jafo]

It has been a little over 3 years now since I bought my 30' Pacific Yurt. I just thought I would share how it has gone for me. First, I would say that I really can't be happier with the quality of the product. I really cannot see how anyone could go wrong if they are looking for an engineered yurt if they go with

Pacific Yurts

(PY).

These yurts are built to last a long time. We just recently cleaned the roof and it looks just as good as it did new. Everything has held up remarkably well. I can see no visible signs of wear to the walls, roof, liners or

insulation

.

We have never had any issue with snow load. I do have to snowmobile up to my yurt a couple times a winter and light a fire in the wood stove so the snow will slide off, but that is just to be safe. We have had some heavy winters up here in the North country part of the Adirondacks.

The

insulation

works well for what it is, but this is an area I think all yurt manufacturers should improve upon. It is a tough problem to figure out. Too much insulation in the current designs and you will almost certainly end up with

moisture

issues. I really hope PY and other companies find a solution for this! For people who wish to live in yurts full time, I believe this is the last hurdle manufacturers have to get over before mainstream adoption can really take place. However, since I only use my yurt as a camp, the insulation is perfect.

As nice as my yurt is, there is always room for improvement. I would like to see future models address the issue of heavy rains creating an issue were rain can come in an open window (pull away windows, not standard glass ones). I know that if I leave the window flap rolled up and have pull away window removed, if it rains hard, water will roll back up the flap-roll and drip just inside the window. Not a huge deal, but one that could probably be fixed with a different flap design.

The front door of my yurt gets wet a lot. I feel this is going to weather the wood faster than normal. Sometimes water hits the threshold and comes under the door in a driving rain. A drain built into the threshold might go a long way in relieving this.

Battery (solar even) operated

dome

opener. A luxury item for sure, but when I hurt my shoulder this year, I really wanted one LOL!

Some way to vent a stove through the roof, instead of the wall while also keeping your roof warranty. I understand the reasons why this is not available, but it really should be. Perhaps a solution might be to find a way where the stove pipe hole could be created at the manufacturer?

I would like to add a couple things I would have done differently if I was ordering the yurt today. First, I would have ordered a second door. Yurts are somewhat cage like inside. If there was a fire, there is only one way out. A second door would change that. Second, I would have ordered at least one standard window. I may eventually retrofit one in.

I still have friends and family who come up to the yurt for the first time and they are all equally blown away by it. My kids are just in love with the place and we spend much of our free time up there.

Anyway, I just thought I would share! Thank you Pacific Yurts!

[Pacific Yurts]

Thank you for your kind words. We are glad that you continue to enjoy your yurt.

I wanted to take this opportunity to give you a little additional information that you might find helpful. One item is rain coming in an open window. This is precisely why we originally designed our window awning frames. Although it was primarily for customers in Hawaii and other tropical locations, these frames allow the conversion of the window flap into an awning to provide protection for an open window. This design has been refined a couple of times since its inception to allow for more adjustability, but continues to be a popular option.

Although your yurt was originally purchased with one door, you can still retrofit a secondary door into your yurt while it stands. This, or retrotting one of our Custom Curve glass windows will allow for an additional means of egress.

Penetrating through the roof of the yurt with a stove pipe will not void your top cover warranty, so you certainly can to it if you wish. However, we do not recommend venting through the roof of the yurt for other reasons. We actually did vent through the center of the yurt for the first several years that we made yurts, but found more benefits to wall venting than roof venting and have done so for over 30 years since. A fabric stove flange could be welded into the roof of the yurt, similar to what is done for wall tents, but you would have to pre-determine your stove location at the time of ordering. You would alos then need to provide a support system for the chimney so it doesn't sway around in the wind. Regular cleaning of the chimney would also become more difficult since you can't easily walk around on the roof of a yurt. The roof vented stove will also have more soot and creosote fall onto the top cover increasing the needed maintenance and could shorten its life span.

Solid wood doors offer a wonderful aesthetic to the yurt, but will require regular maintenance since the yurt does not have eves to protect it from the weather. One way to minimize this maintenance is to add a covered porch to the entry. We can provide some design ideas that might be helpful and can provide bulk fabric & adhesive if you choose to connect the porch roof to the yurt roof.

Our product is ever-evolving and we rely on feedback from customers like you so that we can constantly improve upon our design and services. Thanks!

[cmwingfield]

Great report! I live full time for the past seven years in a 24' Colorado Yurt. I thought at first it would be my transition from work life to retirement and last for a year or so before I went off to do something else. But as life has ways of making other plans, I live in and plan to live forever in my home. I have no skin complaints. The roof is bulletproof and the walls have no sign of trouble. I expect to happen some day, but I plan to get another roof and walls and go on with it. My front door is good. Danish oil every year and a porch from the beginning. The back door is somewhat weathered, and I have the air conditioner running though the door window which I plan to change to a mini-split system when this A/C dies. I've built a bedroom and separate bathroom inside, which helps with heat and cooling. Wood fires mostly in the winter. In seven years I've done so much to make right my original mistakes!! AMA if you want advice. And remember free advice is often worth what you are paying.!

[Jafo]

Originally Posted by Pacific Yurts

Penetrating through the roof of the yurt with a stove pipe will not void your top cover warranty, so you certainly can to it if you wish. However, we do not recommend venting through the roof of the yurt for other reasons. We actually did vent through the center of the yurt for the first several years that we made yurts, but found more benefits to wall venting than roof venting and have done so for over 30 years since. A fabric stove flange could be welded into the roof of the yurt, similar to what is done for wall tents, but you would have to pre-determine your stove location at the time of ordering. You would alos then need to provide a support system for the chimney so it doesn't sway around in the wind. Regular cleaning of the chimney would also become more difficult since you can't easily walk around on the roof of a yurt. The roof vented stove will also have more soot and creosote fall onto the top cover increasing the needed maintenance and could shorten its life span.

Hmm, this is what I was told when I talked to the saleswoman. I am glad that is not the case!

The biggest issue is adding another 90 degree turn which affects draft. I have been working on draft it by using 45's, but that isn't recommended with the class A pipe:



The through-the-wall kit works fine. These new catalytic stoves are very finicky with draft heh.

[Pacific Yurts]

What is the rated "rear clearance" for that stove? If the stove can be installed closer to the wall of the yurt you can minimize the horizontal run of pipe and increase your draw.

[Jafo]

Originally Posted by Pacific Yurts

What is the rated "rear clearance" for that stove? If the stove can be installed closer to the wall of the yurt you can minimize the horizontal run of pipe and increase your draw.

Hmm, I left that up at the yurt, but it is really close because I have heat shield. I believe it is 8". I am good with it now. We added another 3 feet of stovepipe outside to it, and along with the 45's, it has fixed any draft issues.

It is a new stove from Vermont Soapstone Company. I wrote about it here:

http://www.yurtforum.com/forums/yurt...-yurt-933.html

Still playing around with it because we haven't had any true cold weather since I bought it (which makes it worth the price )

[Pacific Yurts]

The most common reason for poor draft is from the stove being installed too far from the wall of the yurt. I recommend installing it as close as the stove manufacturer says is safe.

[Jafo]

Just an update on this, 2 years later...

This yurt is STILL holding up just as good as the day I wrote the original review. I haven't had any problems at all. The pull away windows are still working perfect. I always figured these would be the first wear items to show problems, but so far, no issue at all.

The only part of this I really clean is right at the edge of the roof, where it meets the wall. Right there dirt will accumulate, so once or twice a year I scrub it down on a rainy day for about 10-15 minutes and it looks brand new when I am done.

I am really impressed with the quality of this yurt. I was talking with a local yurt builder and he was basically in awe of it too. It was his opinion that at this rate, the roof should easily last another 20 years and the structure should last indefinitely. One of the disadvantages to being in a lake effect region like we are in Oneida/Herkimer county NY is that it is cloudy a lot from the

moisture

from the lakes. However, this definitely reduces the amount of UV wear on the roof. Honestly, I cannot tell the difference between the roof today and the roof 5 years ago.

Internally, everything is working as it did on day one. No issues.

The front door is greying a bit from the weather. I believe this Spring I am going to paint the door with a sturdy oil based paint. I have come to believe that any exposed wood does better when painted. That goes for my second yurt too (Surely Yurts).

[Bob Rowlands]

I live at 6500' in semi arid CO. The UV exposure is extreme. UV definitely accelerates the degradation of materials here.

[ADKbham]

Originally Posted by Jafo

Just an update on this, 2 years later...

This yurt is STILL holding up just as good as the day I wrote the original review. I haven't had any problems at all. The pull away windows are still working perfect. I always figured these would be the first wear items to show problems, but so far, no issue at all.

The only part of this I really clean is right at the edge of the roof, where it meets the wall. Right there dirt will accumulate, so once or twice a year I scrub it down on a rainy day for about 10-15 minutes and it looks brand new when I am done.

I am really impressed with the quality of this yurt. I was talking with a local yurt builder and he was basically in awe of it too. It was his opinion that at this rate, the roof should easily last another 20 years and the structure should last indefinitely. One of the disadvantages to being in a lake effect region like we are in Oneida/Herkimer county NY is that it is cloudy a lot from the moisture from the lakes. However, this definitely reduces the amount of UV wear on the roof. Honestly, I cannot tell the difference between the roof today and the roof 5 years ago.

Internally, everything is working as it did on day one. No issues.

The front door is greying a bit from the weather. I believe this Spring I am going to paint the door with a sturdy oil based paint. I have come to believe that any exposed wood does better when painted. That goes for my second yurt too (Surely Yurts).

That’s great news Jeff. I am going to follow your lead on brushing while it’s raining.


Going into the second winter with my Surely Yurt, all is well! Thanks Steve!