How to Yurt (Part 4) Alterations and Platform

How to Yurt (Part 4) Some of our fixes, modifications and our platform.

The Platform. Is your foundation. Make it exact or the fit will be poor and will effect the shape and strength on your yurt. There are many platform plans available or should be from your MFGR. We looked at several and built our own using several of the options provided. 2”x10”x12’ for the cross bracing. 4”x6”x10 for the main supports, joist hangers, main anchors 4’ in concrete w/rebar enforcing. 2”x6”x4’ small cross bracing 24” on center. Insulated bottom, Cut Vents in the floor for cool air draw.

Sanded and Sealed top deck 1’ TG. We used the temp blocks with the crosses cut in the top to set our platform frame out on, and get level and plum. Removed them and placed concrete filled blocks at critical load points. Under Stove and other places 12 in all besides the five deep concrete main anchors. Whatever you do make a good platform. Check with your specific MFGR for their SPEC’s. Get all the info before you begin. Some MFGRS have wall length’s cut to very specific lengths or sizes with hardware for attaching included. These types of walls make portability a WIZZ. Ours came long and had to be cut to the desired length. We fastened or attached the walls to the frame with a concrete board. Fire proof, Waterproof and will not rot.

Some of our Alterations. Some offered my MFGR and others to improve function and our needs.
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Windows. Cut in 3 straps. Allows windows to close or open to any height. Supports window better. No bending. Windows: Roll a cloth inside when up. Limits scratching.

Rafter ends and Wall Ends. Padded as they were not rounded and were causing wear points.

Stove: When in use clean out stove pipes often. Safety is No Accident! We used a cement board behind the stove to protect the walls and installed two 12 volt fans. One to push air and the other to keep the Stove pipe cooler.

Door Treatment ( Frame Molding ). We liked our treatment better that’s all. Formed a better exterior line and finish.

Moving Snow: Cleaning your top and Walls. A Pool Brush Works Great. LONG HANDLE.

We’ll have more on the insides soon. Banco’s (Benches) Loft Sleeping Space, Office Space, Hanging Space. Regular furniture does not work in a yurt. My opinion. Excuse me…

We did not use steps for our entry. Wood chips piled up near level and inset sand stone walk. It’s like a ramp and easier for Grandma..

Yurt (Part 3) Stove Kit, Top Cover and Windows

Yurt (Part 3) Stove Kit, Top Cover and Windows

The Stove Kit in our case consisted of the Kevlar Patch and glue. That was about it. There were no instructions for set up. The Mfgr had no documents or picts available to aid us in set up. ( a 11 page manual was provided but had little in the way of picts to show what they were telling you to do. (Spent hours on the phone) I used the stove set up information from our Yurt in Alaska (Pacific Yurts). It worked fine on our stove. ( We will post up some new more complete picts of our stove and install along with other tips soon. Parts 4---- Whatever. Thanks again and share good Yurt stuff.

Top Cover: This was a problem from the start. No mention that the Top cover we'd be getting was not a HARD DOME. Did not discover till a week or so into the order. At the time the MFGR did not have a Hard Dome available. (Bummer) but I was assured it was in the works and we could get one.

Never did get one. Issues with the Soft Top. Wind makes it flap and lets air flow in as the cover is buffeted by the wind. Our Top Cover also had a tear in the seam. A sewing mistake looks like. It leaked till we sewed a patch and sealed it. Also the Soft Cover is attached to the top vis 4 ropes.

The ropes go from the top to anchors at the bottom side of the Yurt. The ropes themselves are causing wear points as they go over the side of the wall. We have padded these wear points to minimize wear. The cover is also not easy to take off or slightly open to allow air flow. When loosened it slides off and takes more than one person to put back on or at least two makes it easier.

Last note on Top Cover. ( also Rafters) The Mfgr sent replacement rafters (8) sent to the wrong address and refused I guess to address our other issues. Hard Dome and some Glue. So we're left to figure out a Hard Dome on own. Should mention the Mfgr did send a replacement Soft Cover even after asking them not to. We wanted a Hard Dome. Not another Soft Cover and we would have paid for it (Hard Dome w/opener) too! No Freebies here.. (No Freebie pages either!!! Tips the Mfgr said he would send to help us with other stuff. I have no idea what these were as we never got them.) Stay tuned for part 4. The Platform and some of our fixes, alterations, and ideas.. Thanks.Hulih20!


Last note on Top Cover: We had two grommets pull out in winds in excess of 60mph. Mfgr said we installed the ropes improperly. There were no instructions. Our fix. Sew a double patch and re-punch and install a new grommet. All's good now I guess. Still would like a Hard Dome. Got Ideas?

Windows and Window treatment. We ordered our window placement @ 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock, door @ 12 noon and our Stove Kit would be installed at 6 o'clock. We received our Yurt and discovered our placement was not as ordered. (Mfgr. said the got it as close as possible.. Door @ 12, Window One at 9 o'clock or 9:30 Stove kit we moved to 1 o'clock and the other window is located 2:30 o'clock.) Effected our planned interior design and the placement. We wanted to take advantage of the SUN more effectively. This we’ll also remedy this summer. New Windows. Larger too!

Window Treatments. Strings! That was the extent of the Window Treatment. What is used to hold the windows open. The string ends were not sealed at the factory and quickly came undone. We made our own window closures. ( 3 straps) which allow us to open and close easily and to any level from wide open to just a slit. The cost for this fix was about $10.00 in straps and a bit of glue.

Velcro does not align at the bottom of the window and the glued seams also at the bottom of the window are coming loose. Lastly. Sewing. Most of the windows sewing is SINGLE Stitched. I would prefer double stitching as it would be stronger. We have to be careful in opening and closing the zippers so we do not pull out the stitching. We'll fix this summer.

Again. Modifications will VOID our (your) warranty. We never got a warranty and have asked many times. No response. So I guess we have no warranty and any of the other modifications we had to make like the wall attachment cuts to fit the door. Not covered.

Specifically from our Mfgr.
REMEMBER, DAMAGE DURING SETUP IS NOT COVERED UNDER ANY WARRENTY, SO TAKE YOUR TIMEAND CALL IF YOU HAVEANY PROBLEMS FIRST.THE GOLDEN RULES This is important! Violation of any of these rules .will void your warranty, could damage your yurt, and could result in injury.

Even they know Safety is no ACCIDENT! Re… watch yourself always. Protect you, your investments and your Yurt it's perhaps your home,shelter,getaway. Enjoy and share your alternative living story fo others.

Question: What is the difference between Yurt Mfgrs. Same size yurt. # of Rafters, Seams, Double vs Single Stitching, Fabrics, Materials, Certified Plans, Hard Dome vs Soft Top. Where are you intending to set up your Yurt. Wilderness, In the City or on rual property. What will you use it for. Living, playing, meditation? These are so many uses for Yurts. But if one costs say $5000.00 and the other costs $10,000.00 there must be a difference or your paying more or less for what? Our lack of really understanding, learning, fact finding our way towards a decision to purchase. so get informed.

If your in the wilderness like Alaska whatever you buy better be able to take it. Wind and Snow Kits may be necessary. You can not afford to have something go wrong and when it does and your several thousands of miles away from your Yurt Mfgr. How willl they respond. Again. Pacific Yurts responded in a week with new walls (THANKS). A bear decided he wanted a look. We later raised the Yurt some 13'. Not sure that will help much. Kodiak Brown (Grizzzzzzzly) Bears RULE the Alaska wilderness. Your at least one down on the food chain in AK.

Yurt (Part 2) Rafters Walls, Seams

Yurt Part 2 ( Rafters, Walls and Seams.)
As mentioned in Part 1. Inspect your order before you accept delivery. Rafters 8 bent, three not notched at the factory. Bent rafters according to MFGR can effect you Yurts structure. This is why it is important to document. So the MFGR can not say it was your fault in some way i.e. a bad set up on your part. Our Mfgr says NO YURT MFGRS WARRANTY RAFTERS. I wonder. Check Your Order.

Walls. Our Mfgr says their walls were designed to INTERLOCK and not overlap. Not big deal really. I have had experience with overlapping walls. I guess we should expect to get what the Mfgr promises in their literature and on their website. The explanation from the MFGR. It was an old design. Why did we get a old design and still have to wait several months for our order to ship. We don't know. Also at the time of ordering. There was an offer for a FREE UPGRADE to 7' walls. We asked about the upgrade but were to late I guess. (Ask as many questions as it takes to make sure your getting it what your ordering.)

Other wall notes: Some Mfgr's round the tops of their walls. I guess this is to minimize wear on your top cover. We padded our rafter and wall ends where they meet the top cover to minimize wear which was obvious fairly quickly, and we will this summer sand all wear points on the walls and rafters so we minimize this wear issue. Also on the walls. Some Mfgrs. inset the rivets. This is also a wear point in not inset. Especially if you do not insulate your walls. Lastly. The attachment of the walls to the door frame. We had a real problem with this. Could not fit the walls to the door properly. The Mfgr suggested we cut 1" off the top of the wall section to make the hinge fit. As you can see in the picture we did as instructed but the fit is still POOR. Only attaches by one screw. Our Mfgr stated that any modifications to our Yurt VOIDED our WARRANTY. What about the modifications we were asked to do by the MFGR. Are they covered. I don't think so. We never got a Warranty. Why. The Mfgr's Lawyers were still working on it after eight years. Ask for a copy of warranties before you order. Sounds reasonable! "CYOA" too!

Seams. All SEWN SEAMS need to be Seam Sealed unless sealed at the factory. Double Check. ( Seam Sealer Not Provided. ) ASK. The more seams the more likely problems you might face. Our Yurt as you'll see has multiple seams on the top cover. Some Mfgr's have found a way to avoid multiple seams and I imagine it was due to several factors. Less Mfgring time and a less chance of failure. Might be other reasons too!
Seams. Are they all flat and uniform or are they uneven. What effect will this have on the life of your Yurt and your Warranty? Check all seams. Sewn or Glued. Most of the sewing on our Yurt was single stitched. ( I would have preferred double stitching. Stronger.) and we also had a 1' sewing tear on our soft cover. Windows. The Window treatments, Seams not fully glued at the bottoms of the window. CHECK IT ALL. You get it home it's yours.

Yurt (Part 1) A quick review

Yurt 1:
Welcome to Yurt building (Part 1) in 1 minute 47 seconds.
This clip covers all of the aspects of building our Yurt. It took us three days to complete the set up and move in. All went well with most of the set up though we did experience some problems which I will cover in Parts 2-4.

When your Yurt arrives. CHECK YOUR ORDER. Be detailed about your inspection. If for some reason your parts are not proper, or you discover other issues. DO NOT ACCEPT THE ORDER. Now is the only time you can send it back. If not you'll have to work with your MFGR on warranty issues. ( Bring a digital camera with you and DOCUMENT ALL problems you have if any. You'll need them later. If no problems... then you have some great picts of your Yurt set up process.)

Despite our problems we got it together and with a bit of original thinking and some minor repairs, alterations we made it work. We had to! Some of the issues ( As received from the MFGR) included 8 bent rafters, 3 rafters not notched at the factory, Wall attachment to the door frame had to be modified to fit and then it fit by only one screw. Walls overlapped. (Were supposed to Interlock. Mfgr. said we got an older design. Said also that they sent a fix for this problem. Never did.) There are some other issues I'll show you. Till then...Enjoy and learn something from our mistakes and modifications. Got a Yurt story to tell.... Please Share. In my searching the internet I found only a few posts on Yurts and set up. I hope this helps. Oh yea… The Door and Center Ring. The Door. Door hardware not installed (knobs and locks) Ask or have the tools and know how. Note the door plate is not rounded to fit the platform. The Mfgr did send a replacement a few weeks later after we had our yurt set up. Another fix that will have to wait till summer. Mfgr note: Other customers did not like te door plate so they were upgrading..Go figure. The Center Ring. Due to the bent rafters. Seems like some of the fit (s) were off at the top. We measured all of the holes in the Ring. Some were not the same depth. Did this effect our fit? How will it effect the longevity of out yurt…Who Knows. Check your order.