Build yourself a portable home - a mongolian yurt

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were did u get the canvas and how much was it. could i use somthin else?other than that thats cool!!!!!!!!!!

you coul find and recycle giant vinyl from advertising billboards, in australia they use vinyl banner material in sizes 20mts x 5-8mts,printed on one side and not usually reused after promotion is finished. Try vinyl banner manufacturers.

Choose your banner signs carefully! I have found that even the best quality banners look good for a year, pretty bad after 2 years and disintegrate at about 3 years. And what a mess they make with all the leaking and strands hanging down etc. Also, If the banner printing/message is turned outward of the structure, you grow weary of the pattern.design/message. If turned inward, you can line the yurt/ger/structure when you insulate to hide the darn advertising. And you will want insulation if for nothing more than to reduce condensation. High quality canvas would be so much better,especially if you research all the types of canvas, purchase the correct canvas and then install correctly to eliminate any pooling or wet spots around the lower edge. I recommend your research and study everything about yurts before building one. Find a state park that offers overnight yurts or visit an existing yurt to see if you like the feel it offers.

From a canvas supplier. Please check your local phone book under "canvas". Yes you can use other things. please read through the comments below for a number of other tips on what you might use.

What a fascinating instructable! Very detailed, lots of great information. I'm beginning to plan a yurt project, and I know this will help immensely.
Only trouble is, it will be constructed in a desert environment. Any tips on fabrics to combat heat and sand?
I'm also slightly unclear on the door construction. Help? Referral to a section I may have missed? Photos? :D
Thanks muchly!

I live in one of these now, i found the stuff to build it with.

elegant hub solution. looks stunning too.

Wow! This is a really amazing instructable! Well done - it looks great! :)

This is so darn cool I can't stand it! I've seen yurts on TV & wondered how they do it. I have a real hankering for an extra space to work in... hadn't thought of this. Thank you for all your valuable work and great presentation, David!

hi david,

I'm slightly confused about the roof. I built this model with 70 slats, and it has 32 x's, but if I make a metal hub with 16 evenly spaced prongs- won't some of those slats end up over the door frame and not in the x's? don't I need roof slats over the door?

and is the metal smoke ring 1 and 1/2 feet in diameter or in radius?

(thanks! this is totally great!)

Hey that could be a fun yurt for a small animal!

you've come to exactly the same error/concern that I had when I built my first yurt, but I didn't have the sense to do it in scale-model first. the problem is that I said "approximately 70", not exactly 70, and that was to allow for weak timbers with faults/breakage. The exact number needed if the circle had no door is actually 64 (a multiple of 16, which is the number of roof timbers), but after you take the door into account as being the same width as "two diamonds", you are down to 62 lengths. If you do that, then you will have one roof timber over the door frame, which is perfectly acceptable, and is how I do it.
So, if the world was a perfect place, you'd use 62 slats, not 70. but slats break, and you will need extras around the door because you have to cut them slightly-past the intersection so the intersection can still bolt/pin together through the point where it meets the door frame. make sense? if not, pls let me know.

How is it portable?

The outer covers are heavy fabric, and just fold up. The timber lattice also "folds up" in a scissor action. THe resultant bundle of timbers is about 1ft across, and 8ft long, and can be put on a car roof-rack, or in a trailer, wagon, or utility vehicle.

Buzz.

If you want a light weight covering material try tyvek.
http://www2.dupont.com/Tyvek_Construction/en_US/products/residential/products/thermawrap.html
It's pretty cheap stuff, light weight, durable, waterproof.

Tyvek is actually designed to be a "highly permeable" thermal barrier, so it's designed specifically to let water vapor through (thus is not really waterproof), and to NOT let heat through (that's what the foil on one side is for). The reality is that it's good at shedding water, but some of it WILL come though (much like untreated canvas ). It's NOT UV rated though, and I believe the specifications say that it should not be used as a weathersheild on buildings for more than 60 days, so it has no long term durability.

Of course, it IS cheap, and it's as ight as paper, so it's got a lot of possibilities, even if it's not loing to last forever.

Buzz.

Definitely one of the top Instructables. I don't think many people will use it, because of its costs, time required, etc., excellent description and construction however. The expandable hatched wall of the yurt is a brilliant construction idea. I'd look into constructing a portable structure using that type of wall, only one that can be carried by one man for a few hours on easy terrain, for a getaway with a structure more permanent than a tent.

What an incredible Instructible! I am impressed at all the work you did to make your Yurt not only attractive and easy to assemble, but safe, sturdy and with an eye toward the Long Term. You didn't think 'disposable,' but rather 'something for my grandchildren to inherit.' I'd love to have one someday, and if I were ever to have one built, it would be using your incredible directions. Thank you! P.S.: $700 is dirt cheap for a 'building' of any kind, and your Yurt needs to be thought of as a moveable building, because it's not going anywhere. It has only a few common features with a tent, mostly that is is made of canvas and that it is moveable.

The thing I like about this is that the costs are easily controllable by the individual builder. The entire finished framework is actually the cheapest part (under AU$200,or US$160), and the canvas is the "expensive" part. The canvas can be replaced with any water-proof (or mostly waterproof) material you like. Making the roof out of that cheak blue "tarp" is 100% ok, and waterproof, just bright blue (it's a nasty colour in my opinion). Making the walls out of even cheaper fabric (like cotton drill), and applying a waterproofing agent yourself is a cheap option that I have used too.
The total price for a canvas-less yurt would be under $400 if done right!

replying to myself here, Here's an instructable by someone else about using tarps as tent roofs:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Your-Own-Tarp-Tents/

Anyone looking for really cheap tarps could try a local truss factory or lumber yard. They usually receive bundles of lumber wrapped in poly tarps (at least in my area), for protection during shipping. You could probably obtain a whole bunch, just for the asking.
They are usually black on one side and white on the other, the white side emblazoned with the logo of the timber company. How this might fit into one's particular aesthetic, I don't know. Occasionally one might find lovely tan tarps, that might blend in nicely on the steppe...
I usually use my tarpaulins black side up, on my garden to kill quackgrass. They last a year or so, without significant degradation. The white business side might last longer, probably having some degree of U.V. inhibition, or at least more reflectivity.
A further caveat: the tarps will probably have various holes in them, but overlapping should solve that issue.
In summary, the extra work and lack of longevity of this material might override the low cost, but it might be useful for a temporary or practice yurt, before one decides to splurge on canvas.

From one to another, I really like your user name.

Thanks. It is, however, kind of a pain if you make a boo-boo while logging in, and don't notice it, and then you gotta type the whole thing in again, all the while being only a 4-finger (and occasional thumb) hunter and pecker.

you are so funny
ha!

Thanks.

All together excellent work. Thanks for sharing.

Where do you get your canvas from? I do a google search for "roof canvas" and nothing much comes up.

Cheers,

David

check out www.ahh.biz
for canvas types
rubber-duc
and the military tent material

I refer to it as "roof canvas" because it's used to create the roof, not becuase it's a particularly special type of canvas. Any old canvas of the right durability/thickness to suit your needs will do. Google for "canvas suppliers", or have a look in your local business directory/yellow pages/phone book under "canvas".

Hello David i cheated when i build my yurt i used a pool cover. 18 foot cover fits a 16 foot yurt like a glove i just roll it up around the outside for a nice fit and the cover has a little ratchet to draw it down tight.

Nice. I wonder if you could make one out of pcv tubing.

nice but it must cost a lot of money

about how much did the yurt above cost?