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!