The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: Mr. Green on May 06, 2015, 09:57:55 AM
-
Anyone on here live in a yurt? How has your experience been? I'm considering it for our domicile when we move. Everything I'm researching so far makes them sound superior to a rectangular house in all the functional ways that matter, and I like the cost effectiveness of the idea! Especially since we are moving to the coast and insurance companies are using Hurricane Sandy to start pillaging people's wallets. People are being forced to sign "Consent to Rate" forms or lose their coverage. All the companies are doing it so homeowners are essentially powerless to stop it. The thought of a combined insurance/tax bill of $400 a month for a 2000 sq. ft. traditional house disgusts me.
-
I have had wonderful yurt stays in Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan. They are really quite versatile – open up the roof hole if it isn’t raining to cool it off. Heats up really nice (yak dung in a stove works well). Felt sucks up the rain (although if it pours, it starts to drip, but waterproofing would need to be done). Not sure what you’d do about plumbing. We relied on digging a hole or using an outhouse. Yurts aren’t huge, to put in perspective room to put 5-6 smallish twin beds back to back in a circle, with a table in the middle. An awesome way to do this is actually go to Mongolia and have one made, see how to construct or unconstruct it. I’ve heard really good ones cost in the neighborhood of $4000 but I’m not sure how much it would cost to ship.
-
I have had wonderful yurt stays in Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan. They are really quite versatile – open up the roof hole if it isn’t raining to cool it off. Heats up really nice (yak dung in a stove works well). Felt sucks up the rain (although if it pours, it starts to drip, but waterproofing would need to be done). Not sure what you’d do about plumbing. We relied on digging a hole or using an outhouse. Yurts aren’t huge, to put in perspective room to put 5-6 smallish twin beds back to back in a circle, with a table in the middle. An awesome way to do this is actually go to Mongolia and have one made, see how to construct or unconstruct it. I’ve heard really good ones cost in the neighborhood of $4000 but I’m not sure how much it would cost to ship.
We were looking at a 30' yurt. There are about a dozen fairly well known companies (in yurt circles) in the US that build them. A 30' yurt from one of them will run 10k-20k depending on the manufacturer and any upgrades (like insulation or extra rafters for snow/wind). Since we'd be in a hurricane zone we would need the wind package. I'm sure we could built our own much cheaper but a traditional yurt requires no support poles in the middle and I don't trust myself to get everything cut and build to professional standards on the first try. Plus the canvas (instead of felt) liner would be a real pain.
Our property has a sewer connection so the yurt would be plumbed just like a traditional house. A 30' yurt with a loft built on half of upper area (cone) yields about 900 sq. ft. Though, the upper level is typically relegated to storage or an extra sleeping spot since the walls are diagonal.
That had to be a really cool experience going to Mongolia and stay in a true yurt (felt, etc, etc).