How long in a yurt

[Missouri Dave]

Reading a book about a couple living in a yurt. In it there is a quote about people starting out in a yurt eventually building a cabin. My question is this, how long have you folks actually living in a yurt, lived in it?

[dc92974]

Not very long yet but to get comments going... 9 months so far, moved in Nov 2016.

[Bob Rowlands]

I had my 16'er up for 4+ years. Didn't live in it. Nor would I care to. As a young single guy it would be OK for a while.

Most people want out of a yurt and into their new home, after a year or so, based on the limited reading I've done on the subject. Nice as yurts are, houses are WAY WAAAAY the heck nicer. Why? They aren't tents. Yurts are tents. The nicest of tents, but, tents they are.

[Bob Rowlands]

Yurts are perfect for nomads. Folks that can get by without running water, and electricity, and a simple kitchen and bathroom, are very few and far between in the U.S. Plus, houses hold their value, and a yurt that doesn't breathe degrades WAY faster than any house. Again, it's a tent, not a house. I think alot of people here really don't understand that fact. They seem to think it just going to be an affordable house. It definitely isn't a house.

In Mongolia, there's a different culture. The people there are truly nomadic herdsmen and the traditional yurt is ideal for moving every few months. The best of the best in tents, FAR superior to any tipi. But those folks are tough spartans in comparison to the U.S.

[Bob Rowlands]

Totally off topic. IMO Mongolian women are singularly the most beautiful women on the planet. No makeup whatsoever and they are absolutely beautiful.

[Jafo]

I could live in my 30' Pacific Yurt easily, if it were just me. Talking my wife into it though? I have about as much chance of that happening as talking her into not shaving here legs anymore.

I think much of it has to do with the durability of the yurt you purchase. Do you mean a typical portable, traditional yurt? That might be harder. They require more upkeep. The fabric has to be replaced much more often and many of the parts degrade quicker than the average American is used to. I mean, if I told you that you would have to re-nail your drywall every 5-10 years in your stick built house, you might not be comfortable with that. Well many of the traditional yurts have lattice which is secured with leather. It needs to be replaced from time to time.

But if you are a nomadic type person who needs to move the yurt from time to time, this isn't a big deal. You will be doing repairs on ANY such structure that accomplishes this. Even RV's need some pretty extensive maintenance.

Now for architectural yurts such as Colorado, Pacific, Rainier, etc., these are while technically portable, built to be more permanent structures. Providing that you built a hardy platform, these could survive indefinitely with the idea that you will have to change out the roof every 15-25 years which is somewhat similar to a standard shingled home.

I would like to add also that you are less likely to want to move to another structure if you buy the largest yurt you can afford. The main reason why people switch ANY structure is that they simply run out of space.

[Delores]

We lived in a yurt for over two years and loved it. It was a slope sided wooden yurt, not a tent. It was double concentric so it was very private for two persons and the space was well used. Overall it was about 600 sq. ft. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

For a family I would build two yurts and connect them with a stick built corridor to house kitchen and bath with utilities. I agree that living dry can get old if you have the option for running water.

We loved that they go up quickly and can be built fairly low cost. We helped in the building of another one years later and it went up in a week with a crew helping.

[Wintergreen282]

I am going on year five (full time) in my 24' yurt - and still love it. But I think maybe people end up building a cabin because it's cheaper and easier to regulate temperature and humidity in a well built, well insulated, well vented stick-built structure.

[Jadedjo]

My family has been living in our 30ft yurt for 2+ years with the goal of building and completing a wooden house within 10 years. We have all the amenities and it works. But it's not a real house and we knew that and got it to be temporary. Luckily we're in Hawaii so

heating

is a none issue otherwise we would never have gone with a yurt.

[Bob Rowlands]

Yurts are tents, and tents are nowhere near as nice as houses. Not even kinda slightly close. You're typical residential neighborhood is filled with homes, not tents, for a reason. That said yurts are the best tent you can buy without any doubt. I'd advise folks with families to do whatever it takes to get into a traditional American home. A home. That's the dream, worldwide. Even in Mongolia.