A hole in the Roof

[Dan R-M]

I certainly will - one friend has already told me that caulk is his solution to practically everything, so I'm optimistic...

[Jafo]

Have you given it a shot? Any luck?

[Dan R-M]

Yeah, I caulked it about three weeks ago. If it would only rain, I could see how it held! We did have that massive windstorm two weeks ago, and that dropped .6" of rain in an hour. I believe the caulk worked, but there were so many other places the rain came in between the roof and wall (a post planned for another day) that it's hard to tell for sure.
Considering the extreme wind, I'm pleased that only two rafters fell out, and those were two that had not yet been fully secured.
When I can be sure about the caulk I'll let you know

[HawaiiYurts]

I missed the boat on this one, but... Is the roof material

DuroLast

? That's what most yurt manufacturers use today, or a vinyl. If that's the case, then you're best friend in this situation is a product known as H-66. It literally melts and welds two pieces of vinyl together. You can get scrap pieces from any number of yurt manufacturers - Though probably not Pacific. With that many holes, the solution that will hold up the best is probably a complete patch over a large area, so paint on the H-66, be sure to let it air for about 30 seconds, then smooth on a patch. It should be done on the shiny side only of the

DuroLast

. UV is usually a killer on caulk... As for your rafters falling out, get a drill and some cable and zig zag it through drilled holes in the rafters. That way if one falls out, it won't hurt/maim/kill one of you. brackets securing the rafter to the ring are always a good idea too. Sounds like you don't have to worry about much snow or rain, but definitely the wind!

[Dan R-M]

Hey, great ideas!
I'll look into procuring some scraps and H-66, though for the time being I'll see how the caulk weathers. 'Cause if it's a matter of only applying it once a year even, it wouldn't be too much trouble.
Time will also tell if this roof is worth it. There may end up being a large number of small holes throughout, depending on what all the little lighter spots are.
I hadn't thought about doing the zigzag cable for ours... Our friends' yurts have them, and the PY manual definitely describes them, so maybe that's a next step.
Wind is not usually a problem, but all it takes is once every couple years or so, you know?

[Jafo]

I have that cabling on mine. It doesn't take much to do. Another thing

Pacific Yurts

does (not sure about the rest) is that they have a hole pre-drilled at the bottom of the rafter, right underneath the notch that you can drive a screw in, making it harder for the rafter to slip off the cable. Here is an image illustrating what I mean:

[Dan R-M]

Yeah, our SM yurt has the rafter end locking screw, too. I have already been grateful for it.

[Dan R-M]

Ok, it rained nice and gentle for me. There are still some holes, though fewer than before.
There's evidently a spot at the center that leaks, too, between the

dome

and the roof. The compression ring has dropped some water on the floor, so I guess I'll bust out the caulk on that, too. I need to be out in it during the storm to identify the holes and the center leak.
I looked up the h-66. It mentions a list of applications from awnings to footwear to oil booms. That's the stuff for me! It looks like it's only for sale online, would that be accurate? Not a Lowe's/Home Depot/Ace Hardware kind of thing?

[Jafo]

I looked on the other sites and could not find it.. I did find it on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...rldwidecreatio

Probably not what you were hoping for but that was all I could find.

[HawaiiYurts]

Yes, it only takes once!! And your yurt has already had some misfortune, Dan. I suspect that the reasons the Mongolians started keeping the center posts up even after set up was a situation like that... someone got hurt by a falling ring or something. I was talking about that with Becky Kemery at some point. She has another yurt blog and wrote the book, Yurts: Living in the Round.

H-66 is definitely not a Home Depot/Lowe's thing. Online is the way to go. Sorry to hear about the leaks... nothing dampens my yurt spirits quicker than a leaky yurt But at least you're in a dry climate!

The rafter locking screws are great.

Colorado yurts

do a sunken bolt/stainless steel 'cable catcher' at the end of their rafters. Love them. And then they also do the CORR bracket system, which is something I think every yurt should have, period. Then, no matter how that yurt may rock and roll, your rafters aren't coming out from the top or the bottom. The CORR bracket is in place of the peg at the end of the rafter that goes into the roof ring. It's a double sided bracket that slips over the end of each rafter, and a bolt goes through the rafter and bracket.