Yurts and Rain Storms

[Rachel]

Hi. I am new to this forum so I apologize if this question has been asked somewhere down the list of threads. My husband and I are beginning our yurt journey and gathering all the information to help us move forward with this new life. My question is about yurts and storms. We have two very nervous rescue dogs that don't care for storms very much. Rain inside our house doesn't bother them but wind and other loud noises are very scary to them. I have heard that rain is really loud inside a yurt. Is this true? How loud does it really get inside the yurt during a storm? We live outside of Seattle so rain is a regular thing for us. I guess we are worried they will be terrified inside the yurt every time it rains. I know it sounds like a silly thing to consider but they are our kids so we want to make sure they love our new home too. Thank you for your help! We are planning on getting a 30' yurt from

Shelter Designs

and we will live in it year round. Thank you again for your input!

[Bob Rowlands]

Yurts are tents. The best tent ever devised without doubt, but tents nonetheless. Rain is quite loud on my yurt. 17 oz. canvas cover, no

insulation

. Just so you know, all outside sounds easily pass through a cloth covered yurt. You are totally aware of all outside noise that you pay no attention to in a house.

[Rachel]

Thank you Bob. We will be doing insulated walls and roof on ours. I am not sure how much of a difference that makes....

[hierony]

I live in a 20 ft traditional yurt with a heavy canvas, an inner liner, and one layer (for now) of wool-blend blanket material on the roof portion. A moderate or heavy rain is pretty noisy, but wind makes more noise on the tarps covering things outside. With more

insulation

I'd expect less noise. I heard from one yurt importer that the inside of their yurts (with thick wool felt insulation) was nice & quiet.

I'd ask

Shelter Designs

if they could refer you to a previous customer that got insulation too and ask them directly. Or maybe one of the parks in W. Washington has their yurts?

[Rachel]

Thank you so much. We are going to go see Shelter Designs in person sometime next month and they offered to spray the yurt down with a hose to try and give an idea for the sound during a rain storm lol

We are also thinking about going to visit

Rainier Yurts

, which is local to us on a really rainy day to get a feel for it too. Thank you guys for sharing your experiences!

[Bob Rowlands]

It makes sense that every additional layer will help muffle noise transmission. I was glad to read that felt is good at both insulation and muffling exterior sound. Traditional 'natural' materials are frequently very good in performance.

[Jafo]

I have a 30' Pacific Yurt with the standard insulation package. On a good rain, I can't talk on the phone because it is too loud. Thicker/tighter insulation would probably knock that down a bit but the trade off would be possible mold/dampness caused by insulating a tent with no ventilation (there are not vents in a yurt).

Find out for yourself when you visit, but I would think it is safe to assume that the noise will be louder than what you are used to in a "normal" structure.

[MT Rod]

Hi Rachel,

I have been in yurts in Mongolia, with 2 layers of 1"+ felt, and it rained for 3 days. Most of the time it wasn't a problem, you could talk, but at times you were yelling to the person across a roughly 20' yurt when it was coming down hard and fast.

It sure makes for nice sleeping though.

Shelter Designs moved to Missoula a few years ago, and though it is not as cold as where they were before, (Eureka if I remember correctly), I am not sure I would be wanting to be spraying water on a yurt in December in Missoula. It might make the walking hazardous around there. ;-)

I am planning to be in the Missoula area myself in December. I think I'll avoid that shower, though I hope to visit Shelter Designs.

Good luck with your search,


Rod
rodyurtlocker.com
Home Page.

[Wintergreen282]

I live in a 24' yurt with the winter package and it is quite loud during rain and wind. Then there is the snow that suddenly slides off sections of the roof with a sudden, very loud zipping noise*. THAT takes some getting used to. Lol It's not a dumb question at all. Smart to think ahead. Nobody wants stressed animals. You might be able to build a sound proof kennel for them. Maybe even through a trap door under the platform - although that might be too hot for summer storms. Good luck and keep us posted. We here in the yurtiverse are always looking for novel solutions.

*self clearing roofs are a huge plus in northern New England, though I do keep the cat in so he doesn't get accidentally buried. Generally clears pretty fast with sunshine and a warm yurt.

[silvergramma1]

get a compression vest for your dogs.. helps them feel secure