Planning a forty foot yurt, check out my CAD design!

[Bob Rowlands]

I knew nothing about the longevity of 100% cotton canvas when I covered my yurt in June 2013. Now I do. The water repellent in this canvas was pretty much done after two years of constant weather exposure. I now know that is pretty good service. This canvas still has plenty of structural strength but it leaks like a sieve now. I'm considering painting it when we get a warm stretch of weather.

Wall tent maufacturers state their tents will last a lifetime, and that is true, IF you use the tent two weeks a year, you would get fifty years of service, based on my experience. Canvas is cloth and non stop weather exposure will take out the water repellency, and then the cloth, in probably about five years. Leave a pair of Carhartt work pants out for 3.5 years and see where they are after that time.

I now know that anyone considering a yurt as their primary residence should buy a fifteen year cover.

[EGEW]

Hey Jafo. wow nomad even makes a 50 ft yurt! Lots of planing ahoy. What are LDL? mentioned in your previous post?

Last night i spent some time comparing the prices for SIP flooring. Mostly comparing how much it would cost to DIY vs Manufactured.

For anyone interested premade SIP flooring that is r-25 6.5'' thick runs about $5/sqft. yikes over $6300

if I was to DIY it with home depot purchased materials...EPS foam..... $ a little over $4200.... wow... WOW

Expensive, mostly because of the EPS which is that white foamboards.

[Jafo]

Sorry, LVL

[EGEW]

oh LVL or Laminated veneer lumber

I had never heard of it. Guess I should have taken the Woodworking level 2 & 3 when I was in highschool.

Anyone wanting to learn more about LVL check out the wiki page on it, I did
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laminated_veneer_lumber

Its kinda like the 2x4 or dimensional lumber version of plywood. But made differently/better then plywood.

LVL is less prone to warping. shrinking. breaking. better for windloads, better all around. If you like things made better and cost isnt a factor.... LVL may be for you!

A company called Boise Cascade (for some reason I think they maybe in Idaho ) makes them and sells them at my local home depot.

2x4x8 are sold in boxes of three. They are about $15each.
2x4x8 #2 kiln dried studs are a bit under $3 each.

If you want a better yurt, its probably worth the expense


Jafo were you thinking of using them for vertical support or rafters (or both)? I could certainly see that the vertical supports are going to be bearing a continuous heavy load. I'm sure the structure would benefit from using LVL rafters too. could probably get away with using 2x4x16ft LVL for the rafters. According to Boise cascade their LVLs are 2.6x more load bearing or something like that.

Thank you Jafo for introducing LVLs to me and whoever maybe reading this in the future.

[Jafo]

I was thinking rafters.. The vertical support doesn't need to be crazy strong because all the force is on the end grain. LVL's strength comes on edge/side grain, at least as far as I understand.

I may be wrong, but I do think there is a significant weight difference in LVL versus standard. I believe it is heavier. That would have to be worked into your calculations.

[EGEW]

Back to the idea of using trampoline frame(s) for structural support. I've attached some images to help illustrate this idea. The notches in the rafters that would accept the tubular steel are angled backward&up, this would work with the compression forces to prevent the steel tube from falling out. also there is only a 4'' space between each rafter @ the toono.

the drawing would be using 3 tramp poles. a 12 footer a 14 footer and a 15 footer.

specs for sears trampoline
http://i.sears.com/s/d/pdf/mp-tc/spi...prod_980548112
18 gauge galvanized steel that is 1.5'' diameter
Tramps are usually rated for 1000lb on the net (jumpers up to 200lbs) im pretty sure you could have a few thousand pounds on a trampoline net before the frame would give out

I think this would certainly weaken the wood, having notches, especially three of them. I've seen people burn holes in a toono ring made of wood for each rafter (more traditional style) I was wondering if burning the material away helps to keep the structural integrity of the wood.

another thing to consider is lightening. have large metal rings at the top of a tall (16ft tall) yurt could attract lightening. I think you could ground them with a nice heavy gauge wire. or coat them in a PlastiDip coating.

Plastidip coating which is a rubberized spray on paint use on cars. I think could be safe for interior living areas. would'nt be terribly expensive and comes in many colors.


Im pretty sure LVL are going to be out of my budget. I found a company that does offer them
House Framing Lumber and Studs, Pricing
they have LVL of many sizes. priced per linear foot.
Closest thing they have to a 2x6 is a 1.75"x7.25" @ 3.33 lnFt making a 16ft unit $53.28! yikes. 72 pieces => $3836.00 wooooowzers!

[cdndenver]

Wow brother. I am so going to follow this. Me and some friends bought some land south of Colorado Springs. We are each going to build one smaller Yurt each and then one real large center social yurt. I really love what your talking about. You say Denver-ish. Would love to buy you a beer some time.

[EGEW]

cdndenver Thanks man! I'm glad to hear you like the work. I'm totally down to meet up sometime. you can send me a email at [email protected]

General update: I recovered a metal railing for a staircase that one of my neighbors threw in the trash.... or more so place near the trash. This thing would never fit into a dumpster. I think its about 20 ft long!

Its old, has some rust, its metal with a 2x6 wood beam running across the top (where your hand would contact the railing). I'm gonna have to spend some time on it, needs to be welded in a couple of spots.

An exciting find for me! I'll probably do a post in this thread covering the process of referbing it with pictures and such

[Snowbison]

Just a note #1 Vail resorts has 40ft yurts in Keystone and Vail. As far as your metal ring idea good for the weight. You can get a pipe bender at Harbor Freight or I'm sure there's a shop in Den. that has a pipe bender like a muffler shop. They will be able to weld it up for you too. Love the CAD work!!