Waterproofing outer walls?

[Blueberry]

Hello! Does anyone have a recommendation for waterproofing the outside of a yurt? Ours is wicking water through the fabric. We are thinking of using tincloth method (melted beeswax and boiled linseed oil) Any information would help! Thank you!!

[Bob Rowlands]

Way late on this. You might try mixing cheap house paint 70:30 with water. Never done it myself so it's just a guess.

[Blueberry]

Thanks Bob. We ended up not doing the tincloth method because we still wanted to fabric to breath. So we got this product from our local marina called starbright water proofing. It seemed to work as the water was beading up but we think we are going to have to do another coat come spring. Unfortunately it smells really bad when wet (we wore goggles and a respirator when applying) but once it dryed you couldn't smell it at all. We did think about painting but the temperature was dropping and we kinda missed that window of opportunity. You can get the product online too, amazon has it. I guess time will tell on how it holds up!

[Jafo]

Let us know how it held up once Spring arrives.

[hierony]

So I too have started to get water wicking from the outside to the inside--doesn't look so great. My layers (outside-to-in) go: snow, ropes, natural canvas, wool fabric

insulation

, liner, lattice. I mainly get the wicking at the upper belly rope & at the end of the roof poles (ie, places where the fabric layers are compressed together). You can see it in the upper right of this photo:


Interior humidity is pretty low due to high air infiltration (I estimate 5-10 air changes each hour). CaCl dessicant set out doesn't capture much if any

moisture

.

I kind of regret not having tyvek under the canvas now. Also, having an outermost layer of lumber wraps or such would likely also help (getting the snow to slide/run off instead of melt into the fabric). Given my canvas isn't that old (1-2 years), I'm surprised it's leaking--but then even high-tech 'waterproof' camping tents wick water through their layers...

Blueberry, what kind of yurt do you have? What layers? Has the starbright waterproofing completely eliminated the problem for you?

[Jafo]

Do you think Tyvek would have stopped the wicking though? I might help, but the bottom of the wall is still going to get wet if it is exposed to melting snow I would think. That would lead to it wicking up again?

[hierony]

The liner &

insulation

is on the inside of the platform lip (~3" above the platform), while the tyvek would be on the outside of the lip with the canvas. So water could wick up the canvas some but unless the tyvek is *very* disfunctional, water shouldn't wick up/through it. This of course would still leave the canvas susceptible to water logging & rot...

[Blueberry]

We have a Blue Ridge 20 foot yurt that we bought used. Our layers go (from outside to in) snow, 50/50 cotton polyester blend canvas with acrylic finish, liner, lattic, and denim insulation. The starbright product has not completely eliminated our problem but we do see a difference. We feel like once the weather breaks we will be reapplying and will probably spray on a heavier coat this time. I took some pictures on my phone but I couldn't figure out how to upload them. ( don't know how to find the URL? ) When I put my hand behind the insulation I feel

moisture

on it. One would assume that it would evenitually mold which is a worry but this is all new to us so not really sure what to do. Once warm weather comes I am sure we will do further inspections. We do not have a gutter system so in the next day or so we are going to try and cut some pool noodles in half length wise and put them under the roof hang in hopes that it will help the water drop off instead of running down the sides of the yurt. By the look of your picture it doesn't look like that would be an option for you. But once we get the noodles in I will post on how it did or didn't work! : )

[hierony]

Blueberry, thanks for the details. It sounds like you have a good plan. Hope you guys are staying warm and there's not too much snow on your yurt.

The wicking got bad for us this last week--there was a line about 1/3 around the yurt wall at the upper belly rope, plus two spots on the roof right near the bed/wall that started to drip water amongst other areas. I knocked off most of the water on the yurt (hanging icicles, ice on the edge of the roof, and all the reachable snow). Then I got my masonry heater a little over-fired and ran the propane on medium as well--got up to 75, maybe 80 F for a good half day. That dried things out, at least until the next snow...

[Bob Rowlands]

Thanks for the info guys. Good luck to all of you. My yurt cover is undoubtably sopping wet as I type this due to the blizzaerd we are having.Fortunately I am not living in it.