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Hi Tall Dome Yurts

The yurts were a mixed blessing.  First, they looked very cool and definitely served the purpose of supplying culturally neutral shelter.  They also looked great in the various photos and served to soften the mil look towards a much more civ look.

We did meet with a couple of challenges.  The first was that when assembled by a small group of men that have just met, the large quantity of testosterone cancelled out any common sense that might have dictated actually reading the instructions before attempting to assemble.  Thus I question whether they were assembled as you would have done it, particularly the flooring.

The second thing that was a challenge was that it got way too hot without insulation.  It was very common to be dealing with internal temps of greater than 107 F by midday.  We ended up using industrial strength Velcro to attach the Reflectix to that part of the dome from about 5′ up in the primary dome and circulating the warm air with lots of fans.  Several other attempts were made to increase the air flow but some of those messed with the structural integrity of the dome.  We were subjected to variations in the weather, always hot, always humid and sometimes raining.  And when it rained, it poured.  Typically at night when we were gone, so it meant creating the venting at the top or leaving them open at night to cool wasn’t an option.

Several people suggested some kind of easy open, easy close venting in the “ceiling” of the dome, but I’m not sure how you would do that and still assure that it would be rain proof.

Live and learn, as the saying goes.

Hi Yurt Inside Dome Hi Move Dome Yurt

The best way we have found to keep the domes cool is to shad the structure using shad cloth (90% shade preferred, but 60% still works) (you can get this at most buliding supply stores) pulled over the outside frame of the dome and tied to the clips of the dome. This blocks the sun before it gets inside the dome. Vents are fine but shade is best.