Cracked Dome Grrrrr

[Yurtdweller65]

Starting to question if I even need a

dome

, mine has cracked due to snow load.
Does anyone have any ideas? I really don't want to pay $1000 for

Dome

and shipping.

wondering if anyone else has just capped it off with a thick treated plywood?

[dlhall]

Sorry to hear. Just how much snow bud? Wow!! We are dealing with -30C weather here in central alberta but not too much snow......

[Yurtdweller65]

about 4 to 5 ft of snow on my roof. My yurt is in the Colorado mountains and I can only get there once a year to shed it, last year it cracked and it's starting to spread. I just got back from shedding it and I'm thinking I might just cap it off with treated plywood.

[Jafo]

Well couldn't you just lay a tarp over the top until you can seal it up in the summer?

[dlhall]

Good lord! Looks like heavy snow too......goes to show you just how strong yer yurt is though.....

[Yurtdweller65]

Exactly , although one side of the Yurt rafters did drop a few inches.

we actually have 2 yurts on our land at 10,200 ft on the Continental Divide. one has been there 15 years, mine 5 years. between us we will be on our 4th Dome. last week there was 3ft of powder a layer of crust and another 3 feet of snow under that layer..lol we had a heck of a time snowmobiling in about a mile to get to them. but it's all worth it once you get it cleared and the wood stove cranked up.

[Bob Rowlands]

I live in CO. I'm gonna guess that the UV in the high Rockies is killing the plastic in your dome in short order. UV will also shorten the life of even a high grade cover like you have on your yurt. Since you rarely visit the yurt, how about considering covering the entire yurt with a large white tarp to protect it from UV degradation? Just cut a hole for the stove pipe if necessary, and snug the tarp tight to the yurt wall with a rope running circumferentially around the yurt. Like Mongolians do.

Another cheap solution if you have a UV problem would be to apply 3M 303 protectant to the plastic every time you visit the yurt.

As far as removing the yurts cap and covering the smoke hole with plywood, sure you could do that. Even if you have a double wall stove pipe exiting the roof ring, you'd still need to keep combustion in mind when you are using the stove.

To avoid using plywood up there, you could make a sheet tin 'china cap'. I made one for my yurt from sheet tin from Home Depot. The stove pipe pokes up through a hole in that and combustion isn't an issue. It holds in the heat. I might have ten bucks in the cap.

Good luck.