We built the classic 4' high wall structure as hexayurt first timers this year, out of hexacomb.
Summary: Fantastic. I slept until noon every day that I chose to (my personal goal for the yurt). Notes: 1. We had enough material to build the 6' wall version... but screwed up in the cutting and execution, and pulled back to the 4' design after realizing our screw up. Blame the last minute packing scramble and the pre-Burn festivities. That said, the 4' version was fine. Yes, getting in and out of the door of the 4' design was slightly annoying, but not that big a deal. I'm 6' tall and not a small guy, and it was no biggie. 2. We used the full 11 tape anchor approach (subtracted 1 anchor for the door side of the yurt). Considering the lower wind this year 11 was probably overkill, but boy was that yurt tucked in nicely. The big revelation for me in attaching the anchors was the function of the big looong 6" wide tape over the yurt, terminating in an anchor on either end, with the anchor firmly ratcheted into mama earth via a good rope and rebar stakes. With only 3 of those in place (=6 tape anchors), it's hard to imagine that yurt going anywhere. 3. We applied Reflectix (basically a consumer version of heavy duty tin foil) to the cardboard hexacomb with 3M 77 spray on adhesive. Seemed to work great - until the sun action on the two materials overcame the adhesive. The foil was almost totally bubbled off the hexacomb by day 3. Luckily, with every edge well taped, the bubbled foil had nowhere to go - no effect on the reflective quality. The foil was much less tear resistant on take down, though. We'll probably have some repair work next year, but nothing a quick piece of foil tape can't fix. 4. We used three 12"x20" furnace filters for air vents. Results weren't great. They clog with fine playa dust every day. I spent the first few days cleaning them, but finally just let them clog. Improvements for next year: 1. Roof vent and fan - I'll be looking for a decent wind operated roof fan, to cycle out the warmer air at the top of the structure. 2. Swamp cooler 3. More furniture and shelving - it's a big space! We had one long coffee table, two cots and a couple of chairs, and stuff ended up just accumulating in all the empty space along the side of the walls. Better then with a tent in past years, but we can do better still... 4. I'm hoping to find a better set of vents for the windows. Maybe something automotive related, that's better at handling the small particulates? Tip: 1. We had spare hexacomb covered in reflectix (see earlier screw up) and some leftover tape, and we ended up improvising insulated boxes built alongside the outer wall of the yurt. It was great for water and cooler storage - ice lasted a couple of days longer when the coolers were fully protected from the sun. See you next year -Mark On Sep 8, 1:28 pm, Craig Clayton <[email protected]> wrote: > For those that went to Burning Man, how did everyone's yurt hold up? Any > suggestions about what went really well or not so well? > > For my part I built a 6' stretch hexayurt with no windows or vents (didn't > get around to creating them) but with a swamp cooler and I must say it was > quite cool in there with that swamp cooler on, although I suspect a fan > might have been just as good. With a queen size air mattress it was a bit > crowded with our boxes so if we use it next year we'll have to figure out a > better organizational system...maybe vertical shelves/drawers. > > We put 12 tape anchors on it and it barely moved at all during the week but > I think we could have gotten away with just 8 - putting tape anchors 2' > apart on the short walls seems overkill. We used long pointed stakes > instead of rebar and it was much easier to put in a take out of the playa. > After a week the tape was starting to detach but wasn't a problem. We > bought 3 rolls of tape and still had .75 of a roll left after taping the > seams and putting together. > > All in all a great experience! Lots of people asked about it - good > conversation piece. > > --Craig --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hexayurt" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/hexayurt?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
