Semi-temporary hexayurt for February weather?

[RichShumaker]

Sounds like it will work well. Are you just sleeping in it or is it being used 24/7?
I would recommend 6' walls adds I think 2 extra panels on a standard 8' hexayurt.
I cut my walls to 6 feet and combine the extra 2 feet sections to form the extra panel.
I build it with 2 panel per side 4' by 6' per panel.
I would frame in a real door.
If the hexayurt wasn't so airtight I would say to try a rocket stove heater but that would probably be bad.
A small electric heater should work well as 1.6" of insulation is a good amount.
LED lights work well and bouncing them gives a nice room light with a low cost.
Have fun and let us know how it goes.
Rich Shumaker

[Chad Cole]

For something that will be semi-permanent, you may want to consider
OSB sheathing with a 2x4 frame. I have a shed built from 7/16 OSB and
2x4s and insulated with Prodex (www.Insulation4Less.com). I've used it
for a milk barn for about 18 months and it's worked great. I use a
small "indoor-safe" Little Buddy propane heater, and it warms up the
inside pretty quickly. Here are some photos:
http://yurtbuilder.blogspot.com/2012/03/osb-hexayurt-aka-milk-barn.html

If you just need a place to sleep vs a full blown living space, you
might want to try a smaller version - either 4 foot sides or the
smaller stretch version. I'm working on a small version with 4 foot
sides for a winter campout next month - if you want more details, let
me know.

Chad Cole

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[Jack Senechal]

I've been rolling around ideas about this type of usage for a while. I think you could build a semi-permanent hexayurt on the same principles just by bonding the insulation on either side with some 1/4" plywood or 1/2" OSB. Then it essentially becomes a lightweight SIP like they use in prefab housing, and you can use prefab building techniques to join the walls, etc. You can get construction grade SIP tape for the joints, for instance.

If you're not afraid of a little angle sawing with a table saw or a circular saw, you could also rip down the edges to make a nice joint. You could also rip a 2x4 to the right angle to fit into the inside corner, and bolt the panels onto it. I'm fairly certain that if your joints are solid enough, you would get a very sound structure without the need for any framing.

Give it a good coat of exterior paint, maybe even some shingles, and you've got a lasting structure.

As to the specific foam, I think any kind of rigid insulation board with a high enough R value should work fine. I think the polyiso boards have the best R values in general, but you can also get several other types from Home Depot. The aluminum surface is nice for temporary hexayurts because it provides a weather and solar barrier, but you don't need that if you're sandwiching the insulation between other materials. 

Go for  the highest R value you can get. Whatever method of heating you choose, it's always nice to use less to heat the space. The 2" R-MAX polyiso board is R13, which when paired with some plywood will get you up to the code standard for an exterior wall in a modern building. Pretty good!

I agree about framing in a regular door, and probably a window or two. Good to have light and air flow in there.

All the best,

Jack

[Lucas González]

Hi, all.

Anyone tried ferrocement (.com) on top of a hexayurt?

Insulation becomes hidden by the cement, so no toxicity or fire hazards from that angle. And it becomes permanent.

I'd do small experiments first, but won't have time or space in months, so curious about others' experience or thoughts.

Thanks for all the sharing, as always.

Lucas

[Vinay Gupta (Hexayurt Shelter Project)]

This sounds pretty sane. I can't speak for the precise difference in materials - I'd need to see the stuff hands-on to know for sure. But the general approach sounds fine.

Thermax HD is an *amazing* material, and I can't recommend highly enough that we figure out the supply chain issues and start building hexayurts this way, vs. using the softer and less long-lived materials.

From the spec, it looks like the Rmax board is pretty much the same, although I can't figure out what's on the *other* side from the heavy aluminium facer. It may be aluminium both sides, or aluminium on one side and plastic on the other. It'd be worth figuring that out.

But, yes, I think you'll be very happy in your hexayurt, and it sounds like you've thought this through very well indeed. Good luck, and please post pictures!

Vinay

[Jack Senechal]

Thermax HD sounds much stronger than Rmax. The aluminum on Rmax is more like household grade foil... not tough at all.

I'd love to see some examples of ferrocement on hexayurts. I think it's a genius way to permanentize a disaster relief hexayurt. The materials exist pretty much everywhere.

--

[Vinay Gupta (Hexayurt Shelter Project)]

Yes, but this isn't standard rmax - chech the product data sheet, it's burly stuff!

[Vinay Gupta (Hexayurt Shelter Project)]

Agree 100% on ferrocement, we've just gotta try it, maybe start on half scale models.

V>

On 13 Jan 2013 02:26, "Jack Senechal" <jackse...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Richard Ginn]

I've been thinking about ferrocement hexayurts and I have some ideas to share:

1. There are many materials that will stick directly to foam board
without any mesh having to be attached to the board, so this would be
cement hexayurt, not ferrocement, since there is no metal mesh used.
One is called Grancrete (below), but it is expensive and there are
many other options but I don't know what they are specifically. I
have a source I can ask and they may tell me (CFL, below). I've tried
to get some testing done with them but I haven't found any funds for
that yet.

2. Cement, with some mesh reinforcement, can fill the triangular open
space on the outside between two panels that is formed when boards are
not beveled. Thus the "void" becomes a strong structural element able
to support a heavier vertical load.

3. Besides being hand troweled onto the surface, there exists some
sort of hand pump sprayer for the concrete mix that fits on a 5-gallon
bucket. I found this out somewhere on the Grancrete site:
httpL://grancrete.net

Note: I followed the Grancrete trail to where they did their initial
testing at the North Carolina State University Constructed Facilities
Lab: http://www.ce.ncsu.edu/centers/cfl I tried to arrange funding
for testing from the US Dept. of Defense via the Star-Tides program (
http://star-tides.net ) but so far I've gotten nowhere. If anyone has
any other funding sources or ideas then the CFL would do testing on
various methods.

We may not need any official/certified testing, we can find best
practices and materials ourselves and just do it.

The Roman Empire used some pretty good cement and their work is still
standing, so a 100-year cement hexayurt seems very possible to build.

- ginn

On Sun, Jan 13, 2013 at 4:46 AM, Vinay Gupta (Hexayurt Shelter

[Jack Senechal]

Wow, yeah ok that Rmax does look seriously burly. Is there a way to get a hold of it other than placing a special order with the factory? I did a quick Google search and didn't turn up anyone willing to sell it in smaller batches.

[PoiToy]

Some days may be 24/7, but most shouldn't.  I'm in school and will be rehabbing an old house on the property.  The intention is to live in the hexayurt while fixing up a couple of rooms in the house. 

I like the idea of the taller yurt for ease of entry, but the basic low profile suits me better I think.  Less issues with wind (I'm in the mountains) and less air to heat.  A more serious door is a definite, though.  I was thinking of a sandwich of plywood and foam and framing out the opening to use real hinges.  I also may put in two doors opposite each other...the idea of a fire blocking exit from this thing scares the crap out of me. 

I like the LED light idea...also considering the pop bottle "lights" for daytime. 

Thanks!

[PoiToy]

Love the milk barn!   I'm actually hoping to avoid using OSB and that I can get just a month or two out of one of the foamies. 

[PoiToy]

I was told by the sales rep that Thermax is being phased out completely...the plant that produced it for the south was shutdown, leaving the northeast the only current place of manufacture.  It wasn't what I wanted to hear.  But he said the Rmax was a suitable replacement, having the same fire safety and similar R-value.  I'll see if more info is available. 

Hoping to document the entire building process, possibly incorporating it into a project for our local homeschool school on alternative building materials, and also keep a journal of the living experience, as time permits.  We'll see how all that goes : )

[PoiToy]

The local Home Depot contacted sales rep at Bluelinx and relayed to me that I could order the 1.6" in any quantity.  Any other size required a minimum order of 60 sheets.

[Robert Waldrop]

The primary difference between Rmax and Thermax is that Rmax is not as strong as Thermax.  I built a window box solar air heater last December.  The plans called for Thermax.  In discussions at a solar heater group at Yahoogroups, the general consensus was that Rmax was OK as a substitute, except that it wasn't quite as strong as the thermax.

Bob Waldrop, OKlahoma City

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From: PoiToy <ands...@hotmail.com>
To: hexa...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Mon, January 14, 2013 10:43:27 PM
Subject: Re: [hexayurt] Semi-temporary hexayurt for February weather?

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[Phil Dirt]

I built a stretch hexayurt and beveled all the edges where the panels met. I think beveling is critical to the strength of the walls and also improves the R value of the walls. Beveling is really not as difficult as some imagine. I just placed a few 2x4s on a level surface, snapped a chalk line where I wanted to cut, set the angle of my Skil saw to 30º and followed the chalk line. Wear goggles and a dust mask because this stuff is nasty. After cutting I wiped down all the panels with a rag moistened with paint thinner to remove the dust so it wouldn't weaken the taped seams. I taped the bottom edge of the walls and added a strip of peel&stick foam insulation (sold for sealing door) to reduce drafts under the wall/floor joints.

For tie downs I made sheet metal gussets with 60º bends to fit on the ridge and where the tie down straps would cross at the wall/roof joint. I used two ratcheting cargo straps to hold the yurt down and attached them to rebar stakes placed adjacent to the base of the walls. This provides a sturdy tie down without guy lines to trip over.

I cut out a door opening in one of the end panels to increase the usable space inside the yurt. I framed the door way with sheet metal bent in a "U" shape to protect and reinforce the door opening. This provides a reinforced surface I could drill through and mount hinges. The door was a piece of 1/4" plywood with the scrap piece of door cutout glued to it's back. I mounted a gate latch to the door and sheet metal frame and added a bungee cord on the inside to pull the door shut and maintain tension to keep it closed. I made a threshold for the doorway with a scrap piece of 2x2" held in place with 1" flat steel front and back that extends beyond the sides of the doorway to sandwich the threshold in place.

On Thursday, January 10, 2013 7:12:45 PM UTC-8, PoiToy wrote:

Hi all, hoping you guys have some suggestions...

I've been browsing, reading and hunting for a week or so now, trying to solidify a potential plan.  The goal is this:  Hexayurt living for the months of February and possibly March in southwest VA weather (average lows of 30F and highs of 50F, possible extremes down to 15F; some snow and rain but not serious amounts of either at one time).  Hexayurt would be put on an insulated wood platform with appropriate tie-downs for wind.  The site has electric and can be heavily tarped as needed.  I'd like to use solar heaters for sunny daytime heating and am considering use of DC current electric blankets and maybe a cool-to-touch space heater placed in the center of the space.  The goal is to be in better than a basic tent and cheaper than a cold weather canvas tent/wood stove setup.  Does this sound at all doable and safe as far as fire potential, not freezing to death, and maintaining stability in possible wet weather?

I've been making calls on materials and have been told Thermax is almost unobtainable.  I could only find one source and was offered Thermax sheathing at $46 with 2" being the only option.  The sales rep suggested using Rmax TSX-8500, indicating that this is the replacement for Thermax and has a similar fire rating, not like the off-the-shelf Rmax at Home Depot/Lowes.  Price per sheet was $37 for 1.6", other sizes requiring at least a 60-sheet order.  So the question is this:   Are there safe alternatives to these?  I've considered using foil tape to attach a fire-safe thermal barrier to the off-the-shelf Rmax 1", which put the cost at about $26/sheet and could theoretically be added when sealing the edges...anyone try that before?

Any and all ideas are welcome!