How to Live in a Yurt: 11 Steps Edit Article Edited by Colette, Flickety, Carolyn Barratt, Jordan and 11 others A yurt (ger) is a very basic, traditional tent-like structure favored over centuries by nomadic Turkic peoples stretching from Mongolia to Central Anatolia. The yurt has traveled well over time from basic living quarters for nomads and soldiers, to hippie or recluse housing, to very modernized versions today that are used often in the recreation industry for "get-away" experiences. And yurts can also be places of residence for people who want to live without too many encumbrances and yet still be comfortable, have access to power and technology (if wished), and remain budget-conscious. If you want to know if yurt-living might be for you whether for a season or for life, consider the following suggestions. Ad Steps 1Bear in mind the point of your yurt. 11Enjoy your time living in the yurt. Video Tips Have plenty of rugs, blankets, and warm items to keep you warm. Warnings
Yurt Buildng Here is a free copy of my book Build your own yurt, written in 1995, It has been used by a great many people who have built their own yurts. Our designs have progressed enormously since 1995. For a much more comprehensive guide see The Complete Yurt Handbook or see the rest of our website A complete guide to making a Mongolian Ger by P.R. Third Edition Fully revised and expanded for 1998 Internet Edition Jan 2000 The Yurt The English word Yurt comes from the Russian Yurta describing a circular trellis walled framed tent. The Kirgiz yurt with bent-wood roof poles and crown and a domed overall shape. The two tiered yurt with a pointed roof and two layers of wall section placed one on top of the other. The Mongol or Kalmuk ger with straight roof poles, a heavy timber crown, often supported by two upright poles, and fitted with a wooden door. This proven design is equally well suited to the many uses for moveable dwellings in this country. Figure 1.
The Forgotten Technology If you can not see above picture, please download Quicktime by clicking here to view this and other moving pictures on this site. Note: The start location is marked with a bucket. Total weight here is 21,600 lbs. How It All Began I am a retired carpenter with 35 years experience in construction. At one of these times, about 20 years ago, I had to remove some 1200 lb. saw cut concrete blocks from an existing floor. Using a few rocks and leverage, I removed the blocks from below the floor to an area that the machine could reach them for removal. Page 2 If you have any questions regarding the information within this site, please email us at Questions@theforgottentechnology.com ã 1999-2012 W.T.
How about a yurt, dome or tipi as a spare room? -Low impact living info, training, products & services Here’s an interview with David Field of World Tents about how a tipi, yurt or dome could be used as a spare room in the garden. Lowimpact.org: Hi David – so who might this type of ‘spare room’ be for? DF: People who want their own little private haven that they can retreat to and feel at peace – to be in their own space, undisturbed, to do their own thing. Lowimpact.org: For example? DF: An art space, some kind of studio or workshop, or for meditation, yoga etc. Lowimpact.org: Why especially teenagers? DF: How can I put this? Lowimpact.org: What about neighbours? DF: Well, artists, meditators and yoga practitioners probably won’t make much noise – but teenagers might. Lowimpact.org: How would you provide power? DF: There are several options. Lowimpact.org: What about bathroom facilities? DF: If you were really keen you could have a separate yurt/dome/tipi as a compost loo / solar shower – but it may be easier to let the occupants use the facilities in the house.
Teenager builds tiny home to avoid mortgage trap Sixteen-year-old Austin Hay of Santa Rosa, Calif., has been sleeping in a work-in-progress 130 square foot "tiny home" in his parents' backyard for months. The project came about because "like every teenager, I want to move out," says Hay. Hay learned basic construction skills in woodshop during his first two years of high school, and has applied those skills to roughing out a fully functional, self-contained home that sits atop a conventional trailer. He says it's "plenty of space" and hopes to live in the home after college. Showing an unusual level of awareness of the roots of America's current fiscal crisis, Hay said that "I don't think bigger is better — too many chores […] plus, there's no mortgage on it. Living small means less bills." Hay estimates the total cost for the home is $12,000; most of the materials were acquired at salvage yards.
Green Home Building:Yurts yurts.com Pacific Yurts made in Oregon goyurt.com Go Yurts are made in Oregon. yurtworks.com in Oregon blueridgeyurts.com Blue Ridge Yurts in Virginia, USA. laurelnest.com in North Carolina coloradoyurt.com Colorado Yurt Company. rainieryurts.com Rainier Yurts from Washington state. smilingwoodsyurts.com in Washington state. spiritmountainyurts.com Spirit Mounbtain Yurts in New Mexico. tiopanchosyurts.blogspot.com Tio Panchos Yurts in New Mexico. thenomadyurt.com The Nomad Yurt made in California. yurtpeople.com from California lightfeetyurts.co/ made in California. nomadshelter.com Alaskan yurts. alternativebuildings.com fiberglass yurts suntimeyurts.com has traditional yurts; located in Seattle, WA. yurtco.com made in Canada. lfy.ca Littlefoot Yurts in Canada. mandalahomes.com groovyyurts.com imports yurts from Mongolia. albioncanvas.co.uk Albion Canvas yurts are made in the United Kingdom. yurts.fsnet.co.uk in the United Kingdom. highlandyurts.co.uk Highland Yurts in the United Kingdom. worldtents.co.uk
Do-It-Yourself Downsizing: How To Build A Tiny House Want a Cozy, Affordable Home? Build A Yurt In 1996, I bought 10 acres in Saranac Lake, N.Y. At the time, I was living in Pennsylvania, but I had visited small town New York several years before while visiting Paul Smith Forestry College, and I had always wanted to return. Following the death of my father and getting divorced, it seemed a good time to start on my dream. Until I was able to move to Saranac Lake permanently, I worked many hours at a utility company and spent my vacations camping on the land with my two kids. Getting Started In 2009, when the company I was working for scaled down, I accepted a good severance package and decided to cash out and move to my land. I laid out plans for the deck and base for my yurt. To grade part of the property and pull out some tree stumps, I rented a track hoe. That July, I laid out my lines for the yurt and started digging post holes. The Community Chips In After I figured out how to stabilize the first post, I continued digging away a little each day. Learning Along the Way
Shrinking your crib: when home is just 65 square feet In a land where the average home size has grown steadily for nearly 15 years and is now over twice that of Europe, there's a growing group of Americans embracing a small is beautiful philosophy and living in homes "smaller than some people's closets." Call them tiny houses, wee homes, mini dwellings, "sensibly sized" or microhomes, there's a new movement afoot in the United States, that the Small House Society explains includes "movie stars who have downsized into 3000 square feet, families of five happy in an arts and crafts bungalow, multifamily housing in a variety of forms, and more extreme examples, such as people on houseboats and in trailers with just a few hundred square feet around them." While they assert it's not a movement aimed at being "tinier-than-thou", there are those micro-homeowners like Jay Shafer who lives in a very wee 97 square foot home, which he admits is part political statement. "[S]ince 1997 I have been living in a house smaller than some people’s closets.
Building A Yurt From Scratch: Resources Yurts (and more interestingly to us, Gers) are front and center on the Milkwood research table currently. We’ve identified these structures as a likely cost-effective, climate-appropriate solution for our coming need for weatherproof, windproof, cosy crew-space come Spring at the Farm. While there’s many solutions to easily yurt oneself if you have a reasonable budget ($8-$10,000), we need to find a solution more in the DIY realm. So we have searched far and wide, and here’s what we’ve come up with in terms of build-it-yourself-from-scratch Yurt and Ger resources. Firstly I should clarify that I do mean a Yurt. A really truly, portable, cosy, weatherproof structure that, once the pieces are fully assembled, can be set up or pulled down in a couple of hours. More precisely, we’re looking at resources to aid us to build a Ger. Lower roof means easier heating, and warm crew quicker, with less wood burned, on a windy rainy night. Online Build-Your-Own yurt / ger resources:
Small House Society and what the Small House Movement is about So what is the small house society and the small house movement all about? Let’s start with downsizing to a smaller house. If you want to simplify your life one of the smartest things you can do is move into a smaller space. And that’s what the small house movement is all about, isn’t it? Normal houses have become… Too expensive A pain to maintain Toxic to the environment Completely wasteful Basically these houses keep us strapped to what we all know as the rat race. And once we’re in, and have kids, we’re just stuck and it’s hard to get out. But that’s where a lot of people miss the point. The small house society is about… Simplicity and enjoying the beautiful things in life like nature, bicycling, walking, parks, books and other activities Technology. There’s an official small house society website that you can visit, the link will open up in a new window.
How to Build a Low-Cost DIY Yurt from Sticks, String and Mud – Green Homes – MOTHER EARTH NEWS In 2007, I visited Bill Coperthwaite at his home in northern Maine and fell in love with the only round house I've ever been in that really works. The beauty of it grew directly from the circle itself; Bill didn't try to make it fit a squared-off floorplan: no right angles, and the big spaces (the main living space is about 30 feet in diameter) were simply divided in half or in thirds. People in one portion had privacy but could reach any other part of the building easily via a generous circular "room" that was open all the way around the perimeter. Bill's designs would make a wonderful book (in addition to his classic, A Handmade Life), but I went home wondering how I could combine his ideas with my own favorite material: mud. Creating a Structure from Basket-Woven Willow My first attempt was a hybrid stud frame building with wattle and daub infill. Folks were delighted to learn the sophisticated carpentry required to cut all the compound angles with hand saws.