Lindsay, An 8 ft hexayurt would be plenty big enough for three. I think a 6 ft stretch hexayurt would also be adequate, cheaper, and easier to set up and take down, but a bit more cozy. Depends on how much stuff you want to bring inside with you. I built a 6 ft hexayurt for last years burn and mostly put it up by myself. I only had to ask someone to help lift the roof in place. I took it down by myself.
I see no need to use mechanical hinges. You'd spend more money for hardware because you'd need a lot of them and would still have to tape the hinges to the joints. Tape hinges work fine and also serve to seal the joints from dust. I built my door out of 1/4" plywood sized about 2" larger than the door opening on the top and sides (2' x 2'). I trimmed down the foam board that I cut out for the door opening 1" on each side and glued it to the back of the plywood to provide insulation from heat loss and noise. I bent sheet metal flashing into a "U" shape 4" on each side and 1-1/2" wide (the thickness of my foam panels) to fit over the foam on the top and sides of the door opening. This serves two purposes: it protects the edges of the foam around the door opening from abrasion as people come in and out of the door and serves as a reinforcement where I could mount the door hinges and latch. The door hinges were just a couple of regular gate strap hinges bolted through the sheet metal on one side and the latches were hinged shackles (like the kind you would mount a padlock to) that I bolted to the plywood of the door inside and out and the other ends were bolted through the sheet metal flashing on the opening side of the doorway. I added a 3/4" strip of adhesive peel 'n stick weatherstripping around the outside edges of the door to create a seal against dust. I also made a removable transom from a scrap of 2 x 2 (2' x 1-1/2" x 1-1/2") with metal strips that extend 2" beyond the door opening on both sides. This is to help seal the doorway and reduce dust from entering the yurt. The transom slips into place after the yurt has been erected and is removed for folding and transport. Finally, I put an eye bolt through the flashing on the hinge side of the door and another through the plywood of the door and used a bungee cord stretched between them to keep the door closed. Definitely windows. It can get funky inside after a few days of sweat and accumulated dirty underwear. And without windows you'll need a flashlight any time you go in the yurt. I cut two 1' x 1' windows, one on a side wall and one in the opposite end through the roof. The positioning is for ventilation so cooler air enters through the bottom vent and exits through the top one. I used furnace filters taped to the outside. They are corrugated paper so you want to mount them with the ridges pointing up and down rather than side to side to help keep dust from collecting in the ridges. Save the foam you cut out for the window vents so you can tape hinge it on the inside to close the window. I had enough light filtering through the furnace filters to see OK during the daytime. The three of you should be able to erect it by yourselves, but it's easy to just ask anyone nearby to lend a hand when you need to set the roof on top of the walls. I like your idea for sealing the floors. Taping the walls to the tarp floor is a hassel and waste of tape. I bought a tarp for the floor and marked the outline of the yurt with a magic marker during my test set up at home, which made it a lot easier to position the walls in place when erecting the yurt on the playa. I just sealed the floor/tarp joint with a bunch of rolled up towels, but your tube sock sounds much more elegant. This year I plan to put foam peel 'n stick weatherstripping on all the bottom edges of my walls so the weight of the yurt will compress the foam and create an easy seal. Good luck, Bill On Jan 9, 9:39 pm, Colorado_Althea <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi everyone!!! > I am the handy girl in my group so I have decided to tackle to > hexayurt for our shelter needs. I am thinking for 3 girls this is a > pretty perfect set up. I do have a few questions though before I get > started and and maybe one suggestion. So my first question, is it > better to "hinge" the pieces together with tape or should you use real > hinges? Second, what is the best way to help the door latch closed? > Third, windows or NO windows? Finally do you think three girls could > get this up by themselves? > I did have one suggestion for a dust barrier when it comes to the > floors. I made several very long tubes stuffed with beads and cotton > to act a a draft stop to go all the way around the inside where the > walls meet the ground. It should work, it keeps the cold air out of my > house. > > Thanks for all of your help in advance!!!! > > Lindsay -- 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.
