Hexayurt in Winter conditions--need experienced advice

[joseph...@gmail.com]

I'm planning on building a Hexayurt shelter for myself, but wanted to run a few things by the community before as I've never done anything like this before and have a few concerns.

The location:

A friendly backyard in Urbana, Illinois, to be used October-May. (Climate data)

The plan:

Build a Hexayurt H13 out of 1-1/2" thick Foamular (R-Value 7.5) and extra wide duct tape

The foundation will be a raised platform built of cinderblocks, earth, more Foamular, and plywood (as described at the bottom of this page)

For waterproofing, simply cover the whole thing with a sheath made of a tarp cut and sewn to approximate size (with holes in it for the guy-wires)

For a door, I will sandwich the necessary panels in plywood both for stability and so I can screw in hinges, a handle, and some kind of latch. 

Obviously this location is much colder than the Playa, especially during the time period I'm looking at. So sun reflection, melting tape, and keeping out dust storms are not problems I expect: keeping warm and dry are. With that in mind: 

-Is this yurt unnecessarily large for one person? A smaller one would be easier to heat, but I'm a slightly-taller-than-average guy (6'1") and I don't want to spend seven months living in something I can't stand up in if I can help it.

-Is Foamular a strong enough insulator for a 10°F winter night? I chose it because its about half the cost of the Burning Man-approved silver stuff with a similar R value, and I don't really want to be reflecting any heat. Off the top of my head, I could buy some extra heat retention by sandwiching it between two 1/4" thick sheets of OSB.

-Snow is a potential problem for the roof. How much weight can the roof support? I have no problem with shoveling it off my roof at a reasonably regular frequency, but I don't really want my home to collapse if it snows while I'm at work or worse, asleep inside it. I don't expect this will be a major concern--central Illinois certainly gets snow, but nothing extreme. 

-Again, I have literally 0 hexayurt experience. Does anyone see any problems with my plan?

[Vladimir Khodel]

Since portability really is not a goal here, why not just build a small well insulated shed? :) SIP panels are available in Illinois and they are pretty easy to deal with.

Hexayurts are awesome temporary structures, but once well insulated (you might have to use foam cans for all the gaps between panels), they are basically equivalent to large coolers... I can see lots of long term issues with ventilation, heating, mold growth and such.

In any case, let us know what you end up doing!

Good luck!

Vladimir

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hexayurt" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to hexayurt+u...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to hexa...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/hexayurt.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.

[joseph...@gmail.com]

The owners of the property want a temporary structure, not a shed. Mostly I think they just can't be arsed with getting a building permit--I'll see if I can't talk them into letting me do the paperwork for them.

The ventilation/humidity problem is worrisome. I guess I'll have to cut in a window for cross ventilation, and flush it out regularly. Which makes the heating problem even more of an issue. That, or buy a chemical dehumidifier (or three... in my experience those things are never as good as they say they are)

[Lucas González]

Does ferrocement.com count as temporary? In that website there's a page with what I'd call clothcement. I've seen pictures of ferroyurt (seemed very strong, speed of application of cement said to be an issue), not of clothyurt (might be tested small scale).
Interesting, but zero personal experience.
Good luck and please tell us if you find a way!
Lucas (from a not wintery place)

El 16/09/2013 21:17, <joseph...@gmail.com> escribió:

The owners of the property want a temporary structure, not a shed. Mostly I think they just can't be arsed with getting a building permit--I'll see if I can't talk them into letting me do the paperwork for them.

The ventilation/humidity problem is worrisome. I guess I'll have to cut in a window for cross ventilation, and flush it out regularly. Which makes the heating problem even more of an issue. That, or buy a chemical dehumidifier (or three... in my experience those things are never as good as they say they are)

--