Living in a wooden yurt can be an ideal way to simplify their lives, with its relatively inexpensive setup cost and ease of moving when ready.
Step one in constructing your yurt is finding an appropriate site. Check Craigslist, Facebook, or word-of-mouth advertisements to locate land that can be rented or bought.
Wooden Yurt Basics: Design Considerations
A wooden yurt can be transformed into an exquisite and comfortable home through some thoughtful interior design. Once you take into account floor plans and room arrangements in order to best utilize its curved walls, creating an environment that is both relaxing and practical is possible.
Modern yurts can be built upon either a pre-fabricated wood platform or concrete pad for their foundations, with most people opting for the latter due to its ease of assembly and additional insulation properties; concrete pads tend to absorb and store water which could damage fabric roofs and walls of yurts over time.
Many yurt builders offer complete kits with everything necessary to build the circular structure, such as a wooden frame with lattice walls and rafters, a compression ring that sits atop the lattice, as well as weather-resistant hardware for secure connection of rafters to compression ring.
Once the rafters are in place, you will need to install roof materials. This process often requires several people since someone should always remain in the center holding up material as it gets pulled over the rafters; especially important with yurts being circular structures.
A yurt's roof is usually constructed of lightweight plasticized canvas covered with insulation. However, unlike conventional roofs, which absorb raindrop noise and maintain consistent temperatures in your house, yurt roofs don't offer this same function - to reduce heat build-up during summer heatwaves you may choose to roll up its sides and let in fresh breezes, or add air conditioning in more modern versions.
If you plan to live full-time in your yurt, adding a bathroom may be beneficial. While its circular layout makes this challenging, professional contractors have experience installing interior walls, plumbing, and electricity into these homes - adding privacy, comfort, and usability benefits while further increasing privacy, comfort, and usability for residents. When developing the floor plan for your yurt it should definitely be included as one of your goals.
Wood Sourcing for Your Yurt
As part of your yurt construction, selecting durable wood is key. Cedar is one of the more popular choices due to its resistance against moisture, insects and rot, making it suitable for climates with hot, humid summers and chilly winters. Redwood and pine also offer durable exteriors; although not quite as insect resistant.
Pacific Yurts provides you with everything needed for its construction; all that's necessary to anchor and construct your yurt is its circular base platform, known as a yurt platform. Once set up on the level ground with at least six inches above any exterior decking or the ground, building the platform becomes your responsibility alone. While we provide you with frames, covers, dome skylights, and extra features you may select as options, the responsibility falls solely to you when it comes to the platform itself. You have several options when it comes to designing it to suit your own tastes: simple free crates can work just fine or opt for more permanent concrete deck and footing solutions with concrete deck and footings! Whatever method suits best suits you when setting up your yurt, just ensure it's set on level firm ground and elevated at least six inches from any exterior decking or the ground when setting it up!
Once your yurt platform has been assembled, it's time to construct a lattice wall. Depending on the size of your yurt, wall laths may either be curved or straight; those featuring more strength may feature more curved laths than straight ones. You must also construct the door frame and install roof rings before starting work on this step.
A circular yurt requires central support, typically consisting of a tree or pole. Once assembled, this central support should be secured to its lattice walls by bolting or welding and covered in protective fabric such as canvas or vinyl for extra security.
Insulation is essential to protect yurts from water and wind damage, and many types of insulation materials such as wool, fiberglass, and spray foam are available for this task. Once cut to size for your interior covering material and installed between lattice walls with fabric attached using clips or ties - you can also mark windows and skylight locations on lattice walls before cutting corresponding holes into them! If desired.
Step-by-Step Wooden Yurt Construction
There are numerous yurt companies that provide prefabricated yurt packages for assembly on-site. This typically includes roof, walls, lattice frame, insulation, and door. Some also provide advice and tips for installing partitions, lofts windows, and skylights.
Step one of constructing your own wooden yurt involves creating the foundation base. For optimal results, this should be stable and level so as to not allow rainwater infiltration that could eventually damage it over time. Piers or concrete footings should also be included to protect it against ground movements or earthquakes.
Once the foundation is ready, the next step in installing a yurt is assembly. This should be relatively straightforward as most kits include pre-made door frames that can easily connect with one another and doors that are ready to attach directly onto them using provided hardware.
Once the yurt has been assembled, it's time to install its roof. Most roofing material arrives rolled or folded; therefore one person on a ladder can hoist and unfold it to cover the entirety of the yurt (see Fig. M). When finished, opposite corners should be tied off using stakes or eyelets on the rafters and tied tightly around their apex using straps woven through the fabric to hold them in place.
Add metal fabric grommets for extra strength and moisture prevention when installing wall and roof fabric, such as latticework on walls. Cut 4-5 evenly spaced holes at short ends of wall lattices or at long edges of an apex ring; thread rope through these holes before tying an overhand knot around itself to secure.
To avoid your yurt from expanding outward under the weight of the roof, secure it with 2ea 1" webbing slides. Melt any cut ends of 14" webbing to prevent fraying before wrapping over itself approximately 4-6" from the edge of the walls.
Interior Design for Yurt Living
A yurt's circular layout makes it simple to create separate areas for living, sleeping, working, and eating. Interior walls may help define more defined rooms while providing privacy, or keeping its open and airy atmosphere as so many owners do. If building walls is necessary, make sure they are well insulated and properly vented to avoid condensation issues.
Wood stoves are an economical and efficient way to heat yurts. However, proper venting must be addressed, or unvented stoves could produce dangerous fumes that compromise health. A professional can assist in installing the venting system or you can follow the instructions provided with your kit.
While it is possible to construct your own yurt from scratch, purchasing one pre-fabricated is typically simpler and more durable. Pre-made yurts typically include skylights and windows for skylighting a room while some even come equipped with compression rings where roof poles connect as well as waterproof roof canvas telescopic sheets - all major components that should comprise most yurts.
Some yurt kits come equipped with detailed manuals and videos showing you how to assemble it, while many offer video tutorials that guide you through this process. You may also gain inspiration for building your yurt from online forums dedicated to this lifestyle.
Before beginning to construct your yurt, ensure you have an exact idea of its intended use. This will help determine how much space is necessary and how best to organize it to meet your requirements. If your goal is to use it as a primary residence, local zoning regulations may need to be checked first to make sure you can build on your property.
Some yurts feature lofts that can be used for storage or an additional sleeping area, freeing up floor space to accommodate larger families. Furthermore, multiple yurts may be connected together to provide even more living space for an individual family.