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Cost for platform (and deck)?

J

Jenju

New member
Hey - I'm planning on moving into a yurt in British Columbia, Canada next year to live in permanently. I'll probably buy a 28' or 32' yurt from Yurtco in BC. Can anyone tell me how much it cost them to build a platform that size (or close to that size)? And if you added a deck, how much did it cost (and what size was it)?

I'll be hiring someone else to do the work - not skilled enough to build myself.

I'm also interested to know if anyone has tried in-floor heating in a northern climate and how it has worked out.

Thanks!

Jen
 
This is a hard question because there are so many variables. I had a contractor friend of mine build my 30' platform with 2X6 tongue and groove and that ran me about $7,000 at a friends rate. I don't know if that will help you much, but maybe some more people can chime in. :)
 
Jafo said:
This is a hard question because there are so many variables. I had a contractor friend of mine build my 30' platform with 2X6 tongue and groove and that ran me about $7,000 at a friends rate. I don't know if that will help you much, but maybe some more people can chime in. :)
Click to expand...

Yes, that helps Jafo. Thanks. This way I can get a ballpark for what it might cost me - this especially helps me because you had a contractor do it. I know there are lots of variables but if I hear how much a few other people paid I'll get some idea whether its doable for me financially.

Did that price include the finished flooring? Did you have any decking around the yurt?
 
Jenju said:
Did that price include the finished flooring? Did you have any decking around the yurt?
Click to expand...

It was not finished:

1-albums1-picture9.jpg


(more here: Yurt Forum - A Yurt Community - Jafo's Album: Yurt Construction - Picture )

Meaning, I really didn't do anything else to it. It looks nice the way it is :)

1-albums2-picture60.jpg


I do not have any decking around the yurt. :)
 
I think the materials cost on our 24' platform using the 1-1/8" T&G plywood was $1500 or so (we did the work ourselves), call it $2000 including all the bits and pieces. Add another $750-1000 for insulation materials (Roxul R23 stone wool and 3/8" CDX)
 
wjdzl said:
I think the materials cost on our 24' platform using the 1-1/8" T&G plywood was $1500 or so (we did the work ourselves), call it $2000 including all the bits and pieces. Add another $750-1000 for insulation materials (Roxul R23 stone wool and 3/8" CDX)
Click to expand...

Excellent! Thanks for the specifics!

Now I just have to find a place to plunk my yurt down in BC.
 
Hi there. After building my platform following the
Traditional plans on most yurt sites I wish I had
Done it differently.
Also the wood recommended is not local to the east
Coast so I had to spend time figuring out what to use instead
I spent about 9000 with finished floors and now
Having seen other platform options for as low as 4000 built by a contractor, looking nice and solid, yep consider other options
I can explain this further if you want just wanted to give my 2 cents
 
I would love to hear more on this. For most of us who are not manufacturers, we have only really seen one platform: our own. Any insight you may have, the better it will help us in the future. :)

Thanks and welcome back. :)
 
We paid 9K for the 30 foot platform with a carpenter and a helper. This included delivery and wood.
 
The yurt platform in most yurt sites has one using 4x4's spaced 4' apart. I can't remember the type of wood at the moment but it is not native to this area. East coast.
Then putting advantec on top, 2-4" of insulation underneath
Since then I have seen two structural designs I think work better which is using 2x10 every two feet( especially for full time living and interior walls) on top of ( now this depends on size of yurt) three 2x10'--- so laying three beams the length of ones yurt, space evenly apart, the on top of that every two feet (creating a T) putting 2x10 footers across them.
On top of that Laying 2x6 t&g leaving out the advantec. This is the more expensive choice
The other is to take the 2x10's (at desired length) to create a pie shape. Then laying the 2x6 t&g on top. Insulation underneath. Without insulation I know of a guy who will do the pie shape for 3k without insulation.
I have heard of creating a cement foundation with radiant heat but cement is expensive, not great to walk on --at that rate I would go with an earthen floor which are beautiful --- not a dirt floor like you might imagine.
 
Yes, any and all details (no matter if they seem obvious to you) will help. The devil is in the details! I'm also trying to figure out if I can do it myself.
 
Any other platform ideas for a platform that could potentially be moved? Have seen one from Pacific that is created with many manageable triangels. It looks nice but presumably fairly pricey. Have not priced it out yet...


thanks!
 
We are currently having a 7m x 11m platform / deck / yurt floor made in France (outside Carcassonne) out of 4m long x 22cm wide and 3cm thick 'autoclave' wood. The carpenter is making about 30 detachable sections which hook together. They will sit on cement blocks.

As and when we finish and IF it works out (bit of an experiment as it is ours and his first time doing this) we will post photos!

We want a deck that can easily be moved to our barn every winter when we take the yurts down for the wet / cold months.
 
Jenju,

Not sure where you are in BC?... But, there is 30' yurt in Pemberton, BC for sale with the platform it's right on the main drag out in front of a real estate office (Can't miss it). Can't remember the name of the place but I went inside the yurt and it's in good shape. May be worth checking out if you are near there. -Cheers
 
My first post here, so take it with lots of salt.

I have planned on a yurt a number of times, from the NW US to Israel, always something came up. I am very impressed with the Yurt in Mongolia. It seems to me that the emphasis there is the KISS Principle, Keep it Simple Stupid. I can still hear my drill sgt in Basic Training saying it.

For me, building it will be a combo of self, and buying a few things, I do want a floor underneath it, and it will be larger then just the Yurt floor. So a deck . Lots of ways to do that. But, KISS means simple. So that to me is floor joists with decking on it, some insulation under the yurt part, and the flooring itself over that. Keeping with KISS for me that is ply.

In the US commercial lumber is heavily NW, or Canadian, heavily fir. Here in MI we have a LOT of local saw mills so that would be a possibility, but I am moving to the NW this summer, most likely Idaho, so I will scout out sawmills there. A lot of words just to make the point of KISS, hold costs down. Hiring a contractor certainly should make for a great looking finished product, if, the money is available. For me there is always other uses for money, so a maximum of self work is a necessity, and an end result of what works for me is what is/will be. $9,000 is a lot of money to me, I would pefer that to be a total end cost. That requires a KISS plan.

My two cents for my first post.

I suspect that there will be a 2nd.
 
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Jake, I scratch built my simple 16' yurt and deck for ~ $1.5K. The platform is under the yurt only. There is no insulation anywhere. I highly reccomend you fully insulate the yurt and platform.

To build a 24' yurt on a deck for less than 9K is going to take alot of labor, and alot of drive and ambition to see the project through to completion come he** or high water. If you really can't supply the labor, you likely won't do it for less than that. Skilled labor is very expensive nowdays.

If you have some basic carpentry chops, a simple assortment of carpentry tools, and access to a tablesaw and chopsaw, you'll be able to build a nice 24' yurt home on a wood deck for $9K. You have to supply the drive and ambition.

If you don't really have the skills, or care to tackle a huge project, I really doubt you can build the yurt and deck for $9K. A thousand bucks doesn't go that far nowdays unless you do everything yourself, and know how to get things done with the least cash outlay.

Good luck.
 
cost me 4000 in material to build my 30' platform,it sits 3' off the ground. I used 2x12 joists,(because I got a deal on them) 2 layers of 3/4"t&g good one side fir ply and 6 coats of diamond coat. I did the work myself. Insulation (4" blue sm) was extra,again I got a deal. Hope that helps, good luck.
Happy the man
and happy he alone
he who can call each day his own
he who secure within can say
tomorrow do thy worst
for I have lived today
Peace and Prosperity
 
I do plan on doing most of the work myself, I have circular and chopsaws, a simple bench drillpress, and assorted battery drills. Plus lots of hand tools. I would expect $9,000 to build a small all wood cabin. Done it for less.

If I can get some swap off labor deals great, but we cant always depend on that. How high the deck will be is a big cost factor. It to me depends on how deep the snow gets in the area. Looking out my window right now I look at a 6' drift, that has been settling down for a week.

My point is height of deck does have a big cost input. I am planing to use log cutoffs for the posts.

Many other things to be considering. But all within the KISS principle.
 
I do not have the pricing exactly yet but I hope, weather and friends willing, I will have my platform constructed in the next 2 weeks. I went with the full deck and then an insulated bottom in between 2x4 lumber on 16" joist platform with 3/4 T&G OSB followed by a cheap bamboo engineered floor. Right now I'm looking at about 12K all said and done for a 66'X36' deck with two sets of stairs, 42" ballasted gaurd rails, all screw fasteners, for one 30' and one 24' yurt. I priced it all out with my slight discount (just enough to negate the darn sales tax here in GA) and I should be good to go. The darn bamboo floors were one of the biggest costs. I will give an exact break down and try to upload a drawing once complete.
 
I am glad that you can afford that !

Its higher then Colorado Yurts prices a 24' yurt w/extras for, at $ 10,290.

Thats one of the great things about yurts, there is one for everyones niche.

Each of us have a very different minds picture of our yurt.

I am in process of downsizing mine, in my mind, from 24' to 21' dia, building as much as I can and probably buying the cover. The 21' dia is the most common size for a familys yurt in Mongolia. I do want a few more amenities then they have. The platform I want it on is just 2-3' off the ground, depending on areas snow fall. And the platform except for the south side just a foot beyond the dia. And the location is going to be in the NW, probably ID, VERY rural area.

One thing that Becky pointed out in her book is that a high platform made fastening roof and wall cover difficult. Of course if there is a big platform all around the wall thats different. I am in a cost holding down mode. Also, its a bachelor homestead.

Different strokes for different folks. Yurts allow , and encourage that.
 
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