HexaYurts

[Annexai]

I'm planning to build my first Hexayurt this year. Rather than spend large amounts of money on polyiso (which I can't find around here anyway), I came up with the idea of using regular cardboard, taped together in 3-4 layers for sheets about an inch thick. I'm planning to paint the sheets with a Borax mixture for fire resistance.

I'm not ruling out the possibility of rain, though. Any ideas as to what would be the best way to waterproof this thing? If the edges are already taped, would exterior paint be enough?

Thanks guys!

[diane o'thirst]

Entheon Village did something like that a few years ago. Follow the link and scroll halfway down to "Zendo."

http://www.entheonvillage.com/content/b ... ory/18/40/

The best way to make corrugated cardboard sturdy enough for a load-bearing wall is to glue the layers so the corrugations alternate between horizontal and vertical. They'll support each other and won't fold. It's surprising how rigid and strong that stuff is if you work it right.

[klondike_bar]

well i went on my home depot shopping spree today, and came home with 150' of bright pink/yellow nylon rope, various bungee cables from 10"-4' long, a ton of zipties, some red sheathing tape (apparently super-strong, they didnt know of filament tape), some ducttape, and 6 24' rebar sticks to be caned.

however, i failed to find a suitable material for the yurt walls. it comes down to 3 options at this point:

1) 3/4" x 4 x 8 boards of styrofoam insulation with sticky reflective plastic attached to both sides. its fairly rigid, but has some flex to it nonetheless. (11$/sheet)

2) 1/4" (or is it 1/2?)' x 4 x 2 boards of plywood. quite rigid and sturdy. fairly lightweight. (3$/sheet)

3) 1/4" x ~3 x ROLL sheet of single-corugate cardboard at my work. VERY flimsy, but can probably be overlapped for a more rigid body. (2 brownie points/sheet)

the foam boards seem my best bet, but they are different from the unobtainable tuff-r boards, which apparently are FOIL coated and fiberglass reinforced.

I plant to make a 6' yurt, so would simply taping the boards help give them enough strength to last a week?

[Annexai]

Entheon Village did something like that a few years ago. Follow the link and scroll halfway down to "Zendo."

http://www.entheonvillage.com/content/b ... ory/18/40/

The best way to make corrugated cardboard sturdy enough for a load-bearing wall is to glue the layers so the corrugations alternate between horizontal and vertical. They'll support each other and won't fold. It's surprising how rigid and strong that stuff is if you work it right.

Brilliant. I hadn't thought of alternating horizontal and vertical layers; I'll definitely be doing that. Thank you!

[ConnieH]

anybody have experience driving with the yurt strapped to the top of a car? I'm thinking of getting a yakima brand q tower roof rack so that I can put the yurt on top of my car just not sure how well it'll hold up driving on the highway especially since I got a long way to go coming from dallas. It just seems like there will be a lot of force from the wind getting put on the rack system and I'm not sure how well it'll hold up.

also how much of a mpg decrease did yall notice by driving with the yurt on the car?

The roof rack is definitely more affordable than buying or renting a trailer because I would have to buy a hitch system as well which costs even more $$ =/

I have a VW Passat with a 42" Yakima rack. The yurt fits up there fine and I got it cinched down real tight, but on my short excursion down the freeway a few weeks ago, the front "lifted" a bit. Might be solved with a strap running from the front end to the front bumper, but it created enough lift that I am concerned about gas mileage, so I'm going to install a hitch on my car. A friend has a trailer I can borrow, and I may still lose considerable gas mileage with the trailer, but at least I can put other stuff on it and not have to worry about driving down the road with a literal sail on the roof of my car If it were a shorter drive I wouldn't worry about it, but it's at least 500 miles from here to the desert.

[mikep_95133]

[quote="klondike_bar"]well i went on my home depot shopping spree today, and came home with 150' of bright pink/yellow nylon rope, various bungee cables from 10"-4' long, a ton of zipties, some red sheathing tape (apparently super-strong, they didnt know of filament tape), some ducttape, and 6 24' rebar sticks to be caned.

however, i failed to find a suitable material for the yurt walls. it comes down to 3 options at this point:

1) 3/4" x 4 x 8 boards of styrofoam insulation with sticky reflective plastic attached to both sides. its fairly rigid, but has some flex to it nonetheless. (11$/sheet)

2) 1/4" (or is it 1/2?)' x 4 x 2 boards of plywood. quite rigid and sturdy. fairly lightweight. (3$/sheet)

3) 1/4" x ~3 x ROLL sheet of single-corugate cardboard at my work. VERY flimsy, but can probably be overlapped for a more rigid body. (2 brownie points/sheet)

the foam boards seem my best bet, but they are different from the unobtainable tuff-r boards, which apparently are FOIL coated and fiberglass reinforced.

I plant to make a 6' yurt, so would simply taping the boards help give them enough strength to last a week?[/quote]



I had to go to 3 different Home Depot's to find the 1 inch R-Max that we are using. Keep looking. In fact, just ask them to look up what the other HD's are carrying so you don't have to drive around so much.

Here is our version of a foam board Yurt. It's going to be one giant hinged piece with little to no tape. The key is in the hinge design.

http://rotordesign.com/bm/

Mike

[stack]

could you sandwich the foam board between some cardboard? those hinges look good btw...

[mikep_95133]

[quote="stack"]could you sandwich the foam board between some cardboard? those hinges look good btw...[/quote]

Thanks!

You could if you wanted too.

Mike

[SilverOrange]

That looks like a great idea Mike! I hope you come back and let us know how it worked.

[mikep_95133]

[quote="SilverOrange"]That looks like a great idea Mike! I hope you come back and let us know how it worked.[/quote]

I certainly will!

Mike

[sambojones]

just found this site for the tape http://www.goodbuyguys.com/catalog/prod ... cts_id/742 at $25.99 per roll of 6" without having to order a case of it is even cheaper than the findtape website case price. It's not a huge savings, but with how crazy expensive the tape is every little bit helps

[Craftsmn]

just found this site for the tape http://www.goodbuyguys.com/catalog/prod ... cts_id/742 at $25.99 per roll of 6" without having to order a case of it is even cheaper than the findtape website case price. It's not a huge savings, but with how crazy expensive the tape is every little bit helps

They even point out the tape is good for building Hexayurts. He He

# Extra Strong Bi-filament Tape with Fiberglass Reinforcement
# 6 IN x 60 YD Clear
# For sealing, palletizing, repairing and edging
# Minimum Stretch
# 220 LB Tensile Strength in Both Directions
# Synthetic Rubber Adhesive
# Great for Hexayurt Building-even stronger than 3M 8959

[TEFKAA]

I've posted some info on my attempts to acquire hexacomb cardboard over in the hexayurt google group. I thought I should post it here, so that fellow burners could get in on this if they want to:


I just spoke with Bill at Pregis again today, and apparently 48x96x1 hexacomb is not being stocked in California or Oregon...the closest west coast place is Tharco in Algona (sp?) Washington.

Bill is calling me tomorrow (7/21/09) with a freight rate on a pallet shipped to central California (where I live). There are 48 sheets to a pallet, and my group requires 35 of them. If anyone wants to get in on this, or increase the order and lower the cost for all, please do contact me asap and I will do my best to organize this so that we can all benefit.

~TEFKAA "The Experience Formerly Known As Anne"

[Kacey]

For your viewing pleasure...a timelapse video of our test build...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/funwithfred/3737288783/

[C.f.M.]

Any opinions on Shelter Systems?

http://www.shelter-systems.com/playadomes.html

Seems similiar, and easier.

[klondike_bar]

Any opinions on Shelter Systems?

http://www.shelter-systems.com/playadomes.html

Seems similiar, and easier.

but much more expensive. one of the biggest benefits to the hexayurt is its relatively low price.

[C.f.M.]

Any opinions on Shelter Systems?

http://www.shelter-systems.com/playadomes.html

Seems similiar, and easier.

but much more expensive. one of the biggest benefits to the hexayurt is its relatively low price.

True, but for a single person (ie, setting it up alone) with no room for big boards, no tools, etc., the ease can be worth the money.

[SpacemanSpliff]

As the owner of a Playadome, I can tell you that it's a real bitch to set up alone. Both that and a Hexayurt are definitely two-man (or woman) tasks.

[C.f.M.]

As the owner of a Playadome, I can tell you that it's a real bitch to set up alone. Both that and a Hexayurt are definitely two-man (or woman) tasks.

Well, the video on their website looked alright, and another burner said she can put hers up - and it is the 14, I'm looking at the 11 - by herself...it can't be any harder than dealing with all the poles of a tent of comparable size, no?

I'm certain it will take more time than my EZ Up, but since I can't take that to the playa, and gotta buy a new tent anyways...

[Demannu]

We're located near Seattle and 5 of us are each contributing $250 to our camp. We're small, but we know what it means to be confomfortable at BM. Basically our living enviroment will be designed to sleep, eat, relax. We'll be building a series of HexaYurts that connect to make with a larger common area. 5 small rooms. One attached per wall to the Hexagon. The entrance will be a double barrier to better control dust. We used the foldable military design for the small hexayurts. Our cold air supply comes in from two direct custom 12v (solar charged) swamp coolers.

The swamp coolers work great and are also foldable. They move about 200 cubic feet of air per minute. Although we've not been able to test with playa temperatures, we are able to keep the air very clean, lower the temperature by about ~ 20 degrees F, and raise humidity considerably. Don't forget air movement, as AIR keeps you alive. If done properly, the Hexayurts can be extreamly air tight. This is why we have chosen two ventilation units. Also we have a double filtered vent at the top of each dwelling unit with a 12v fan on the inside pointing up. Total we have about 700sf of very comfortable space. Also... keep in mind these structures are very durable if they are built correctly. I'll post some pics later on.

[stack]

I really like the idea of several yurts together! We're the only hexayurt in our camp, but may be next year there will be more and we can link them together.

I'd be interested in seeing more info on your swamp cooler setup. I've got 5 92cfm computer fans that I was going to use for a cooler/exhaust set up, also run off a solar panel, but have pretty much abandoned the cooler portion.

I was successful in making a swamp cooler out of a plastic tub, some swamp cooler batting from Home Depot, 2 fans and dryer tubing (it used a float switch and water pump to keep the tub filled). While it worked, I just didn't think it put out that much cool air; you basically had to be right in front of it to feel it. So now, I'm just planning on 2 exhaust fans out of the top and using the other 3 fans to circulate air within the yurt.

Take some pictures, show us some details, let's see it!

[jkisha]

For your viewing pleasure...a timelapse video of our test build...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/funwithfred/3737288783/

That was fun to watch. I wasn't expecting you to use the "anwar" door? I think it's called. How do you think it will stand up to high wind with that door style?

JK

[Kacey]

This will be our first year with a hexayurt so I do not have actual experience witht he anwar style door...with tie down points on either side of the door (6 in all for the yurt) I am expecting we will be OK. Others have used similar style doors on the playa and they seemed to do fine.

The anwar door makes the entry/exit and interior head room MUCH better than crawling through a < 4' door IMO.

[jkisha]

This will be our first year with a hexayurt so I do not have actual experience witht he anwar style door...with tie down points on either side of the door (6 in all for the yurt) I am expecting we will be OK. Others have used similar style doors on the playa and they seemed to do fine.

The anwar door makes the entry/exit and interior head room MUCH better than crawling through a < 4' door IMO.

Yes, you are totally correct--bending over is a bitch--especially at my age! We were thinking of actually adding two feet to the bottom of the walls as it looked like it would be more stable than that Anwar doos.

We can compare notes after the event.

JK

[stack]

I ran across this guy's website a few days ago and have been super impressed with what he's doing down in SW Texas. Here's a link to his "Pepino Swamp Cooler" that I think could easily be adapted to a hexayurt. Look for the temperature read outs that demonstrate that it works in a hot desert environment (his house is similar in size to a hexayurt). It does use a fair amount of water, but may be it could be scaled down just a bit.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/texasdeser ... 888462649/

[Sync]

Just about done with the stretch hexayurt build, found Rmax at home depot and the tape at findtape.com. I went round and round on the cooling system. Some claim that if the airflow is sufficient a spray bottle can cool it down to chilly, that will be the back-up. The most fundamental problem for using an air conditioner seems to be power consumption for those of us that have small gens. I may have a partial solution to this. I have 2 120 amp deep discharge marine batteries and a 1200 watt converter. The 5000 btu air conditioner was under a hundred bucks, and is rated at 15 amps to cool 100 sq feet. Each battery should be able to run the unit for 2-3 hours from the converter while the gen charges the other battery. As the hexayurt’s actual cubic footage is much less than a 100 sq ft room, and is much better insulated, I suspect keeping the temp livable will not require that much running time each day, hopefully 30 min or so three or four times a day.
I’m probably going to have to set it up alone, but one of the u-tube films shows a stretch hexayurt being set-up by one person in less than ten min, a quickie version in which the walls and roof panels are pre-tapped together, but not to the degree that a full folding version is. I figure the full taped-up and tied-down version will take about two hours if I can’t find help. Probably an after sunset build so that there is less chance of it being windy. Does anyone know if there is going to be an actual hexayurt camp?

[Korwedge]

[quote="sambojones"]just found this site for the tape http://www.goodbuyguys.com/catalog/prod ... cts_id/742 at $25.99 per roll of 6" without having to order a case of it is even cheaper than the findtape website case price. It's not a huge savings, but with how crazy expensive the tape is every little bit helps[/quote]

A decent savings here, but has anyone purchased this tape? Is the quality sufficient for yurts? Is it the same tape that can be found at findtape?

My hexayurt worked great in 2008. I left it in the back of my truck wrapped in the floor tarp for most of the rest of the year, however, without cleaning it, and where some rain water contacted the playa dust on it's surface, the reflective coating was tarnished and is no longer reflective. I just bought a can of silver spray paint for $4 and it covers those spots up like new, and it seems to add some waterproofing as well!

[mikep_95133]

Hi All,

I'm made some fair progress on the one giant piece folding K-Hinge Hexayurt. Not sure what to call it for now. Tonight I drew up a Hexayurt in CAD. That way it's easier to show how the hatches can be opened. Tons of detail on the blog. I hope I get this beast done soon! I 'm worried that I won't.

http://rotordesign.com/bm/

Mike

[mayermar]

Virgins with a hexayurt,
My daughter has finally convinced me to take her to buurning man. Me 49, her 20. I'm a crazy designer/ engineer and ran across the hexayurt and fell in llove with the idea. I thought I would tell what I learned from building it for the benefit of others.
Bought rmax panels at home depot.
Cut all the diagonal
First problem: couldn't get any 3 in. Wide tape to stick to the edges (edge sealing only MOOP).
Solution: spray mount 77 half inch from edge all around both sides using apiece of cardboard as a handheld mask. Xtra work but saves u from having to use 6 in wide bidirectional tape @ 32$ a roll. Just used 2 in. Strapping tape for edges. Sticks great.
Test built it in the backyard. Nailed the roof beautifully the first time by making sure to leave the gap at the top.
20 by 16 tarp
Transport on roof between 2 pieces of half inch plywood. Wrap lengthwise in tarp. Sides folded like a xmas present and taped. Don't skimp on tiedowns (ratchet type)
I had a brilliant idea today for the door.
I will partially precut the door in one of the sheets of plywood.
Buy two hinges and a latch or two. Predrill
I will tape the plywood to the front of the yurt when finished. Bond the rmax door to the plywood door and voila the best door I think I have been able to find yet.
Let ya know how that goes. Don't be afraid to build one of these they are easy and fun. Should look great after my daughter does some artwork on it.
See you at BM,
Mark and Lacey

[robtwyman]

Does anyone have any experience actually assembling one of these (non-folding) by themselves on the playa? I'll be going solo and while I'm sure I could find someone to help I want to be sure it is feasible to do before I start buying all the pieces. The time lapse video posted earlier scared me a bit because of all the helpers used. After reading all the posts I am super fired up to try it but I have visions of sheets blowing away as I try to tape it together. Thanks for any advice!