This was on /r/DIY earlier this week. I was a heavy critic to say the least.
The post just didn't feel like a genuine DIY project.
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OP is a very talented videographer/photographer and it definitely pushed this out of feeling "DIY" for me. I'm glad to see that OP removed some of the forced marketing content to focus purely on the DIY side of this project. I don't really get the whole yurt thing (especially on cost compared to a more traditional route), but it's a neat project.
Even though parts of it were kit, it looks like they designed and built a lot of the interior themselves. I wonder if either one took off a sabbatical from work or if they did this all on weekend or after hours.
It's pretty neat and a lot of work, even if not entirely DIY. I mean, at some point you're going to buy pre-made parts. It's not like people grow their own trees, cut them down and cut their own planks. It's not a log cabin.
I don't agree with the negative comments, but I do understand them, and I don't think it just has to do with the use of a 'kit'.
A common theme I see on r/DIY is that for a project to be popular with other DIYers, the project itself has to seem like something that can be reasonably accomplished by am average person with only a little bit of help here and there. For example, something like remodeling a bathroom is still a popular DIY project even if you use a 'kit' for stuff like the shower and sink. The big appeal though is that installing new tiles, lighting elements, sinks etc are something that a lot of people can look at and say "yea, I could do that!"
This post, on the other hand, has a very "professional experience required" feel to it. From the use of heavy machinery, to having help from friends who are professional designers and hiring professional electricians, to the professional-grade photography, and even just the scale of the project itself, this definitely doesn't seem like something that an average person could reasonably expect to be able to actually "do it yourself".
I don’t get the fascination with Yurts. It’s a tent. People stopped living in tents as soon as they could, because they don’t stay cool, don’t stay warm, and don’t stay dry. They only work well in gentle, temperate climates.
The one advantage to tents is mobility, but Yurts are pretty much permanent tents. They’re the worst tent.
If you’re a nomadic group in the plains with not much wood around and a herd of animals it makes sense. Build tents with skins, burn the poo for fire.
16x40 tiny house built by the amish costs 16k delivered. Includes 2 lofts for beds. Exterior completely done, interior is up to you (that includes wiring, sheetrock, carpet, insulation appliances etc.)
49k gets you quite a lot of interior. Total square footage is 6x this yurt. Pretty though.
I think Portland is pretty temperate compared to Mongolia, where such dwellings are traditional. Also, they better insulated than the mobile kind of tent and therefore are not Pareto-inferior.
Your premise is wrong. In all of your analysis, you forgot that people have hobbies, they get bored, and they do things for fun. Don't judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree.
You can set up plants in you bedroom like that today.
Why haven't you done it?
The yurt changes nothing, it's just a normal bedroom.
If you don't want to install a skylight it'd be possible with leds in a subtle/attractive/fancy way, go the HN angle
Anyway, point is, they have added bedroom porn to the yurt to hack you brain, you go wow awesome bedroom, but it has nothing to do with a yurt.
If a yurt actually interests you look at the shell and costings only. Not the interior design.
The plants will also be dead soon enough, is there a Tumble of these plant gardens after a year? Hard to setup, but impossible to keep going. There's a startup idea, pretty indoor/vertical gardens that don't die.
Some terrible, hyper-critical comments so far. A 3d-printed concrete cube with a fridge full of Soylent would be vastly more efficient for productive techies. Can't we just admit that this is an incredibly creative hybrid of old & new. The end result is breathtaking.
Some terrible, hyper-critical comments so far. A 3d-printed concrete cube comment with a fridge full of Soylent would be vastly more efficient for productive techies writing comments on HN. Can't we just admit that this is an incredibly creative hybrid of old & new commenting. The end result is breathtaking comments.
I think people are turned off by the near professional quality of the photos for some reason. The one of the guy using the router in slo mo could be out of a Craftsman commercial.
As someone who tries to build things myself, I think of it as a valid way to monetize what you have learned as passive income to make up for the time it took you to do it. Another well done example is https://faroutride.com/ . They have a very detailed and highly useful journal of their camper van build.
I might be missing something here, but I'm not sure this makes any sense to me.
Why should you be owed more than a yurt should you decide to build a yurt? If you're making a post to advertise a service, all I expect is a notice disclaiming as much. Otherwise, it certainly feels dishonest.
Never heard of a definition of DIY that did not include building something of professional quality. I think it’s as simple as the name implies: you can do it all by yourself.
I don't think it's being abused at all. If you have the time, finances, and willingness to learn how to do it, you can DIY. I think the same goes for most DIY projects.
The guy who put together this yurt is also the same guy who converted a van to a camper van (link was on Hacker News a while back: http://thevanual.com/). I recall he had next-to-nothing in construction experience.
Ah yes! That insulation! I definitely learned my lesson afterwards from the s*storm that ensued. Maybe there will be a vanual 2.0 in the future that resolves these issues, but at the very least, Id like to make some edits to correct that info on the current site.
This was my response to a similar comment on reddit:
Personally, I think a professional is someone with training and experience who is paid by someone to build something for them. We have no training (except youtube videos), very little previous experience (built out a campervan before) who built a yurt with our friends and family for us to live in.
But I’ll add, I’m a professional filmmaker and producer which is maybe why some people are thrown off because the images are a step up from the normal iphone/dslr photos and videos people typically post. Ideally, the quality of the documentation is appreciated, especially for something that is free and hopefully useful for people trying to do something similar.
This is exactly, what came to my mind after adoring the beautiful first and following pictures. The whole setup looks very adorable, with the plants inside the bedroom area and i guess it could be very plesant to stay there for holiday.
But i guess the winters will be horribly cold without anything that could be called decent insulation.
And the whole weight of the roof (and maybe snow) is on that little wooden fence. And its better not going to get windy, because as as you can see in https://i.imgur.com/i3o9MBj.mp4 the bars are mostly just hooked into the top of the fence. As someone who learned basic structural engineering, this is giving me shivers. The roof can hold itself pretty nicely like an archway,... but if you get lots and lots of wind from the side, my guts say that it might evolve into a big problem.
The round shape sould help against wind. I agree with the lack of insulation though. The heating part could be partially remediated with radiant heat. With a heavy masonry stove instead of a simple wood stove.
They are using a wood burning stove which will adequately heat the space. Instead of controlling for a constant temperature like a modern insulated/HVACd house, they heat as needed. Its an older approach but will work perfectly fine. The walls will have zero problem supporting the roof as it is incredibly light compared to modern US roofs.
In the project page https://doityurtself.com faq page the faqs talk a little about climate control. Apparently they don’t do great in extreme heat or cold (lacking great insulation?). Not benchmarking but something:
“
Yurts do not do well in extreme heat. It's best to find a location for a yurt that is in a mild climate and in a place where you can build in some partial shade. During the summer months, you can use fans or potentially an A/C unit if you have the power to run it.
“
I’ve stayed in Yurts like this in the Sawtooth range of Idaho in February with night time temps of -10F. They fare well when there is a wood fire going, and better if there is a solar/battery ceiling fan to circulate the rising warm air.
In the summer direct sunlight can warm them considerably, but if well placed in shaded areas then the temperature is well moderated. Some units have a vent in the oculus at the top for use in the summer.
There is zero mildew if platformed well and clad properly with water protective barriers.
Ironically, traditional yurts very similar to these are used in places that go from -40C to +40C throughout the year (Mongolia, Tuva... though true, when it’s -40C, hopefully you’ve packed up your yurt and moved it down the valley to the winter grazing location that’s a little less harsh...).
The yurt manufacturer's website has snow loads available on it. I didn't take the time to figure out exactly what model was being used here, but they've definitely done the calculations and have upgrades available for higher snow load areas.
Is this Portland Oregon or Portland Maine? I thought it was Portland Oregon, but then they mentioned the footings were 12 inches below the frost line, and there basically is no front line in Portland Oregon since the winters are too warm and rainy. But I assume there is a frost line in Portland Maine.
That's crazy. In the 2 decades I've lived in Portland, I've never seen more than the top inch or two freeze, and that's typically only for a few days to a week when a real cold snap sets in. Then it starts raining again and quickly thaws out. I can't imagine it has been cold enough for long enough to freeze down to 18" since the last ice age.
The problem is you can't have your buildings destroyed every 30 years with freak weather. So the frost line for building is set at X00 year depth, and then a little extra.
Either way I can't imagine this can be very comfortable in the winter with basically zero insulation, unless you plan to run the wood stove all day and night. For summer it's great, but it sounds like the author wants to live there all the time (he mentioned not having to shower at the gym after installing the shower).
I spent a few nights in a yurt in Mongolia. You are correct. Our fire went out at about 4 am one night and I very quickly got cold enough that I wondered for a bit if I was going to die (spoiler: it was fine).
I had the identical experience - so cold! The smell of those horse dung stoves are amazing.
However, the most memorable thing arriving in Ulan Bator was seeing two different yurts on fire. Fabric buildings containing wood (dung) burning stoves and chimneys have not looked tempting since.
Oregon is a pretty warm climate. Just eye balling the terrain, they look to be at a pretty low elevation and probably won't see more than a few weeks of below freezing weather per year. Not sure this would be practical in a more punishing climate.
A common misconception is that insulation is about heating only. It’s not, it’s about keeping the indoor climate as steady as possible, which means cool in the summer. Even a moderate summer will be balming hot in a tent.
There is no law regarding time off. At my work I get 10 fixed days (christmas, thanksgiving, etc.) + 1 day per pay period - so about 36 business days off a year. However, the days can roll over from year to year and I hardly ever take time off because I enjoy working. I currently could take off about 3 months of paid vacaton. Every 5 years I get a 6 week paid sabbatical.
Make sure you check your state laws around paying out acrued leave. You won't feel like it now, but eventually your current job will come to an end and if it's during turbulent times for the company you may find yourself really missing that 6 weeks of pay if they don't pay it out.
I am the same, typically accrue a bunch of leave then when I move to a new job they have to pay it out. But I have been burned before.
They had one of these (Sukup Safe-T-Home)[1] at my hometown county fair this year and it seemed like a very interesting take on the yurt. It's basically a grain bin that they've modified slightly to work as a shelter.
Definitely spent a few minutes fantasizing about having one of these as a cabin in the woods someplace.
Looks a bit more optimized for Instagram aesthetics than being practical [1]. It seems like it would get pretty warm in there especially with the bed being at the highest point of the whole yurt.
This looks really incredible! While I see a lot of cynicism in the comments I think this is a really neat project and would love to live in something like this. I love how remote work and self employment let arrangements like this be a viable way to live.
Imgur for a while has been hostile to non users for a while but never enough for me to outright dismiss a link simply because it's Imgur. They ride the line between functional and hostile tightly.
The "users" are the ad exchanges that are buying ad space on imgur. They probably have contracts and SLAs about how slowly ads are allowed to be loaded. In a pinch, ads will always be loaded first. Happens on every site.
It's especially ironic taking into account how imgur came to be: as a simple image hosting website for reddit without ads/fluff. Now it's the polar opposite.
Note that they redirect mobile users to https://m.imgur.com/6WAZZpN?r in order to serve them ads, encourage them to install their PUP on their device and break their ability to zoom on the image (the image embedded is thumbnail size).
They use UA sniffing to disguise this behaviour from technical users on desktop. They also detect if you're using curl and spoofing a mobile UA (which sends Accept: * / *), in which case this dark UX pattern is disabled.
Imgur has taken in $60 million in funding and the founder has had the usual delusions of grandeur regarding their "mission" (I interviewed there). The grand ambitions haven't panned out and I'm guessing that the VCs now want some return on their investment.
The plants are real, it's just that they are not directly planted in a planter with soil but the plants remain in their plastic pots (which do have soil in it).
This is second time in a row I posted factual, on topic information and I am being downvoted. It is well known fact that oxygen level is lowest just before sunrise [1], [2]. In the first photo there is absolutely ridiculous amount of houseplants for such a small room so obviously CO2 levels before sunrise are concern. What are the numbers? Did they measured it. Few plants are fine but so many plants? I would do the measurement just to be safe.
Because you're linking measurements to small enclosed containers to try and make a point and it's simply nonsensical.
A small dog will put out significantly more CO2 sleeping beside your bed than all of those plants will. A person even more - if it was a single person, would you caution them against having another person sleep over due to co2 production? What if they were bringing in a third person to spice things up? Or more pets? Friends crashing on the couch downstairs?
We should pay more attention to CO2 levels than we do, especially in offices and particularly enclosed meeting rooms, but plants expire so little co2 in comparison to animals that there's really no reason to worry about them in anything regarding a normal situation.
With this particular project the con list also includes a compost toilet and the need to climb up and down the ladder to get to your bed. It's OK for few days, but I can see it getting very tiring really quickly.
It's not really an issue for a fit person, and serves to preserve one's fitness.
When you configure your surroundings for maximum convenience and minimum effort you're more likely to grow fat and lazy sooner than later, it's basically accelerating the aging process.
> If you assume—like I did—that your yurt could be built on leased land and moved at a later date if necessary, you are entering yourself into a world of pain. My biggest regret with this project was building the yurt on land owned by someone I barely knew. If I had waited patiently until I could purchase land of my own, I would probably feel quite the opposite.
Wow, I'd like to know more about what happened there. He installed all those concrete pilings on land he didn't own?
I guess the point is people like different architectures. They have different opinions of what feels like home. And what's with the $800k land? Maybe in cities.
No, but this looks way too unprofitable (you can't really sell a yurt, so it's much like flushing money down that composting toilet) and very little fun. At least to me.
Pacific Yurts is the only company that declined to complete the company questionnaire that I created. Maybe if enough people email them, they'll change their mind :)
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[ 5.2 ms ] story [ 71.2 ms ] threadThe post just didn't feel like a genuine DIY project.
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OP is a very talented videographer/photographer and it definitely pushed this out of feeling "DIY" for me. I'm glad to see that OP removed some of the forced marketing content to focus purely on the DIY side of this project. I don't really get the whole yurt thing (especially on cost compared to a more traditional route), but it's a neat project.
It's pretty neat and a lot of work, even if not entirely DIY. I mean, at some point you're going to buy pre-made parts. It's not like people grow their own trees, cut them down and cut their own planks. It's not a log cabin.
A common theme I see on r/DIY is that for a project to be popular with other DIYers, the project itself has to seem like something that can be reasonably accomplished by am average person with only a little bit of help here and there. For example, something like remodeling a bathroom is still a popular DIY project even if you use a 'kit' for stuff like the shower and sink. The big appeal though is that installing new tiles, lighting elements, sinks etc are something that a lot of people can look at and say "yea, I could do that!"
This post, on the other hand, has a very "professional experience required" feel to it. From the use of heavy machinery, to having help from friends who are professional designers and hiring professional electricians, to the professional-grade photography, and even just the scale of the project itself, this definitely doesn't seem like something that an average person could reasonably expect to be able to actually "do it yourself".
I applaud you
The one advantage to tents is mobility, but Yurts are pretty much permanent tents. They’re the worst tent.
If you’re a nomadic group in the plains with not much wood around and a herd of animals it makes sense. Build tents with skins, burn the poo for fire.
16x40 tiny house built by the amish costs 16k delivered. Includes 2 lofts for beds. Exterior completely done, interior is up to you (that includes wiring, sheetrock, carpet, insulation appliances etc.)
49k gets you quite a lot of interior. Total square footage is 6x this yurt. Pretty though.
Feel free to email me if you want, email in profile.
So... Portland, OR?
Why haven't you done it?
The yurt changes nothing, it's just a normal bedroom.
If you don't want to install a skylight it'd be possible with leds in a subtle/attractive/fancy way, go the HN angle
Anyway, point is, they have added bedroom porn to the yurt to hack you brain, you go wow awesome bedroom, but it has nothing to do with a yurt.
If a yurt actually interests you look at the shell and costings only. Not the interior design.
The plants will also be dead soon enough, is there a Tumble of these plant gardens after a year? Hard to setup, but impossible to keep going. There's a startup idea, pretty indoor/vertical gardens that don't die.
Why should you be owed more than a yurt should you decide to build a yurt? If you're making a post to advertise a service, all I expect is a notice disclaiming as much. Otherwise, it certainly feels dishonest.
> He has a do it yurtself website w/ all the fancy content, presumably he's planning on selling that.
Not surprised
Yet it's something that you can do yourself, since all resources are available (contrast this with something like cutting edge electronic devices).
The guy who put together this yurt is also the same guy who converted a van to a camper van (link was on Hacker News a while back: http://thevanual.com/). I recall he had next-to-nothing in construction experience.
But I’ll add, I’m a professional filmmaker and producer which is maybe why some people are thrown off because the images are a step up from the normal iphone/dslr photos and videos people typically post. Ideally, the quality of the documentation is appreciated, especially for something that is free and hopefully useful for people trying to do something similar.
In essence, this house has not been benchmarked.
But i guess the winters will be horribly cold without anything that could be called decent insulation. And the whole weight of the roof (and maybe snow) is on that little wooden fence. And its better not going to get windy, because as as you can see in https://i.imgur.com/i3o9MBj.mp4 the bars are mostly just hooked into the top of the fence. As someone who learned basic structural engineering, this is giving me shivers. The roof can hold itself pretty nicely like an archway,... but if you get lots and lots of wind from the side, my guts say that it might evolve into a big problem.
The stains on roofs are from mildew. They will likely have to power wash every few months, assuming the water doesn’t cut through eventually.
I’m unclear about ventilation or the ability to do basic maintenance like walking on the roof.
“ Yurts do not do well in extreme heat. It's best to find a location for a yurt that is in a mild climate and in a place where you can build in some partial shade. During the summer months, you can use fans or potentially an A/C unit if you have the power to run it. “
In the summer direct sunlight can warm them considerably, but if well placed in shaded areas then the temperature is well moderated. Some units have a vent in the oculus at the top for use in the summer.
There is zero mildew if platformed well and clad properly with water protective barriers.
https://www.oregonlive.com/weather/2014/11/notable_winter_st...
However, the most memorable thing arriving in Ulan Bator was seeing two different yurts on fire. Fabric buildings containing wood (dung) burning stoves and chimneys have not looked tempting since.
I am the same, typically accrue a bunch of leave then when I move to a new job they have to pay it out. But I have been burned before.
Definitely spent a few minutes fantasizing about having one of these as a cabin in the woods someplace.
[1] http://www.safethome.com/Safethome
[1] https://www.instagram.com/youdidnotsleepthere
Eg: When I click an i.imgur.com/xxxxxxxx.png link I expect to be taken to the image file, not be redirected to the horrid, slow and bloated mobile UI.
The company is prioritizing ads over user content and I can see no world where users desire this.
They serve a lot of traffic, and the bandwidth expenses are probably quite big.
They've been pretty hostile for a while. Look at this disgusting behaviour:
Note that they redirect mobile users to https://m.imgur.com/6WAZZpN?r in order to serve them ads, encourage them to install their PUP on their device and break their ability to zoom on the image (the image embedded is thumbnail size).They use UA sniffing to disguise this behaviour from technical users on desktop. They also detect if you're using curl and spoofing a mobile UA (which sends Accept: * / *), in which case this dark UX pattern is disabled.
That and the ever present obnoxious prompt to download the app.
[1]: https://i.imgur.com/JwAMOsG.jpg
Wish the plants were real.
Pic from the glass roof of the starry night is a must.
[1] https://www.picotech.com/library/results/plant-measurements-... [2] https://www.quora.com/Is-the-level-of-oxygen-maximum-in-the-...
A small dog will put out significantly more CO2 sleeping beside your bed than all of those plants will. A person even more - if it was a single person, would you caution them against having another person sleep over due to co2 production? What if they were bringing in a third person to spice things up? Or more pets? Friends crashing on the couch downstairs?
We should pay more attention to CO2 levels than we do, especially in offices and particularly enclosed meeting rooms, but plants expire so little co2 in comparison to animals that there's really no reason to worry about them in anything regarding a normal situation.
https://doityurtself.com/is-it-for-you/
Of course, that was decades ago...
When you configure your surroundings for maximum convenience and minimum effort you're more likely to grow fat and lazy sooner than later, it's basically accelerating the aging process.
Wow, I'd like to know more about what happened there. He installed all those concrete pilings on land he didn't own?
https://doityurtself.com/choosing-a-yurt-company/
if you've ever stayed in an Oregon State Parks Yurt they were built by https://www.yurts.com/