Member Yurts

[dennishl]

I'm building my yurt from scratch, cutting everything from dimensional lumber. I have completed the walls, roof poles, and roof ring. I'm currently working out the roof cover and deck. I had a local fabricator punch and weld up a ring for me and learned very quickly what the spiral of death was. I've made some modifications to prevent that from occurring again and the whole thing is solid. This has been a very challenging and quit rewarding project. I'm very happy that I listened to a friend and went with the 16 footer; a 12 footer would have been too little of a yurt for the amount of work going into it.

• 12-01-13 The yurt still needs some work, but ready or not, I'm moving in today. November 1 was my original goal, but this thing was more work than I anticipated!

• 04-14-14 I survived the winter! We had something like 300 inches of snow and the yurt pulled through just fine. I lived in it full time so snow build up on the roof wasn't an issue. I had to endure a number of days at or bellow -10F and woke up frequently with ice in my beard. This was a good year to cut my teeth on yurt living. More insulation will be added by next fall.

• 05-10-14 Experienced my first thunder storm in my yurt. Quit the ride, reminded me of one of those "storm at sea" kind of films. Tossed and shaken, but the yurt held its ground. The same "qualities" that allows me to enjoy the spring peepers late at night also gives me a front row seat to the weather!

• 11-22-14 I dropped the yurt to ground level now and made a new vinyl cover for it. I'm also tucked back into a corner on my land, which has reduced the impact of wind gusts. High winds brought on by the last snow storm was hardly noticeable. Slept like a baby (Didn't get to that second layer of insulation though).

• 12-07-14 I have been living in my yurt for a year now. No looking back, full steam ahead!

• 03-16-15 I'm emerging on the warm side of winter No. 2 and found that my kerosene heater was not quite enough (I did not install the wood stove after I relocated the yurt in August) and added a Mr Heater Big Buddy when things got a bit cold. I will be adding more insulation this summer.

• 05-10-15 Things are getting kinda civilized inside! I've added an antique dresser, inherited from an aunt. I've installed a 200 watt solar system and have two deep cycle batteries and a small 150 watt inverter that I use to run one 110v LED 60 watt equivalent bulb located in the center of the dome. It illuminates the inside perfectly (I have a 75 watt equivalent led bulb that I use when more light is needed). I'm running 12v for pretty much everything else.

• 12-02-15 Today is nearly, to the day, my second aniversary of living in my yurt. It has been a great run thus far and no real end to it in sight. I've got yurt life down to an art now and am quite comfortable, and am moving into my thrid winter as a yurt dweller. I was gifted a large roll of thinsulate and am in the process of making a quilted canopy to cover/enclose my sleeping space. I never did get around to insulating the yurt any more than it has been. I've upgraded my heater to a cabinate style propane heater and have replaced the regulator on my cook stove. My gas seems to last much longer, so it seems I had a small leak (connections were good, the regulator was very old). I've invested in a second CO detector and have it located closer to the floor, the other is just above the bed (I've not had a problem since I adjusted to burners on the stove itself).

• 07-18-16 It has been a good run so far. I've now officially entered maintenance mode as a yurt dweller! After three winters the door needed paint. It's red now

• 05-08-2020 Its been a while since I've updated! The yurt still stands. I only visit once or twice now in the winter, and that's mostly to clear snow from the roof. Two years ago one of the roof poles broke at a knot due to snow accumulation, which I repaired it the following spring. There has been no further issues. It is now only a weekend retreat during the summer months. After getting married, we moved into town, but we dream of making something more substantial on the land (I'll use the yurt as a studio or something). I visit often as my blacksmiths shop is set up on the property. Yurts are so much a part of my life, I couldn't not be with one full time, and my chicken coop is a small 8' diameter yurt. It'd make the perfect shower yurt out at the property someday.