Does anyone live in a Yurt?

#1 05/13/04, 02:43 PM

Just wondering if it's worth pursuing since building a house is so expensive.

happy · #2 05/13/04, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Just wondering if it's worth pursuing since building a house is so expensive.

I do not live in a yurt but looked up yurt living on google to see what it is .Here is the url.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=living+in+a+yurt

Oregonsparkie · #3 05/13/04, 03:17 PM

I havent lived in one but I did stay in one while camping. It wasnt bad but heating in the winter my be a problem depending on your location

RANDEL · #4 05/13/04, 05:56 PM

no but i've always wanted to try that. or maybe a teepee.

have priced yurt kits occasionally and was very put off. way too expensive. for the prices i've seen u could get a fairly nice used mobile home. not a fan of 'em, but they gotta be more comfortable, for the money.

i'd try living in one tho. but my wife don't wanna play.

HermitJohn · #5 05/13/04, 06:57 PM

I read a book about them once. Interesting engineering. Dont know about quality of kits, but they are traditional housing in Mongolia and winters there arent exactly tropical. Apparently they are very comfortable temperature wise. Think they would be particularly economical if you built your own from scratch. They also may qualify as tent and can be setup without the restrictions of more traditional housing in areas with strict codes. Depend on the area though. Laws tend to change to regulate the new and unique if it becomes a popular way of bypassing already existing rules. We live in a burocratic society and burocracies like to regulate and stick their fingers into everything.

mamagrrl · #6 05/13/04, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Just wondering if it's worth pursuing since building a house is so expensive.

We live part-time in a 21 foot yurt. It's a nice space, bright and airy. It doesn't hold heat at all with its thin little bubble-wall insulation. Maybe one day I'll get it together enough to wrap the yurt in a thick wool blanket... and maybe I won't.

A small (very small) wood stove keeps things toasty, but the heat isn't retained for long.

I'd advise a yurt for someone in a temperate climate, or for a situation where you're going to live in it for a while while you, say, build your straw-bale home. :haha:

When we get around to building our dream home out in the middle of nowhere, we'll probably use the yurt as a vacation rental or sell it. Yurts hold their value really well.

chickflick · #7 05/14/04, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RANDEL

no but i've always wanted to try that. or maybe a teepee.

have priced yurt kits occasionally and was very put off. way too expensive. for the prices i've seen u could get a fairly nice used mobile home. not a fan of 'em, but they gotta be more comfortable, for the money.

i'd try living in one tho. but my wife don't wanna play.

I Hear Ya, Randall..... I have tipi-itis!! And my Hubby won't play either!! LOL! OH well, maybe our 'better halves' have more sense!!

Of course, he HAS said if I go live in it by myself, that would be great.. he'd have the house all to himself!! (Maybe this would work with your wife?)

Oregonsparkie · #8 05/14/04, 04:48 PM

Hey chickflick.... Just let your hubby you want to play a game of "cowboys and indians)....wink...wink...

I betcha he would want one then....

RANDEL · #9 05/14/04, 07:02 PM

<<--OH well, maybe our 'better halves' have more sense!!-->>

in all likelihood, mine does. at least when it comes to things like camping for years on end.

Thatch · #10 05/15/04, 04:35 AM

I lived in one for a bit out on the steppes in Mongolia, but I've never been in one of the bizarre over-engineered modern ones. (seems like an awful waste of money and bubble wrap to me) I can say they are exceptional structures that are quite warm (with a good stove) in sub-zero temperatures with their 1-2" thick wool coverings. If you have access to large amounts of wool I would not hesitate to make your own yurt/ger. You can buy 100% wool industrial felts that are the right thickness but cost becomes a factor then....

I'm currently working on an article (quickly becoming a book) on vernacular architectural solutions for modern building requirements, part of which is all about temporary or evolving use structures. Depending on your long term goals there are many things you can do with the basic yurt/ger structure to either improve the initial structure (how about a yurt with radiant floor heating?) or to evolve the structure over time (lattice wall interwoven with hazel or willow and then plastered and roofing thatched to make a permanent outbuilding/barn or studio)

Personally I'd steer clear of the modern ones, simply for reasons stated before. They are pricey and you can get more in another type of structure for the same money. I've seen that asking prices on used modern yurts does seem to be high, I just don't know if they actually end up selling them at those (or any) price. Just not an area I have much knowledge of.

Best of luck with what ever you do.

J

yurtinnkeeper · #11 08/24/05, 07:02 PM

Check out www.yurtliving.com which is informative on how to make a yurt liveable and gives a source for affordable yurts.

VernaVox · #12 08/25/05, 12:52 PM

We bought a yurt -- used, 4-season, homemade (from plans available on the Internet, I believe), 15-ft. in diameter -- for temporary shelter while we built something more permanent. It wasn't too expensive (about $1500), but it also didn't have many amenities (no plumbing or electricity), and we had to build a deck to put it on. It was insulated with foil-coated bubble wrap and layers of fleece under the exterior canvas. We had a very small woodstove inside.

It was cozy and kept the rain and the critters out, but I can't recommend the yurting life, or at least not as we experienced it. We're in Zone 4, and even with the woodstove, it didn't stay warm for long in December/January. At night we'd set an alarm to wake us so we could put in more wood every 1.5 hours. I'm sure a commercially built yurt would be more comfortable, but as others have pointed out, if you're going to spend that much money, why not build something that you can use for a long time, something that will appreciate in value, like a small building that could later be turned into a garage?

(And then last week's tornado demolished our yurt. We still haven't found the front door. But luckily, we were no longer using it for shelter.)