Yurt update

Yurt update 19Jan09

I have been doing some more work on materials.

One of the items that is used as insulation is Reflectix. It is a thermal barrier material – a mix between a space blanket and bubble wrap. Lowes has it available in 4ft by 25 ft and 16 inch by 25 feet rolls (P/Ns 13358 @ $49.85 and 13353 @ $19.73, respectively) – about 50 cents per square foot. At ~260 ft^2 walls and ~170 ft^2 roof, it'll run about $250 – a not insignificant expense.

I have also been looking at canvas for the walls. A 12# canvas is recommended[1]. The canvas needs to be waterproofed for longevity, but I have not been able to find waterproofed canvas rolls. Textilesforyou.com[2] has 12# canvas rolls. They have 50 and 100 yard rolls in widths of 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12 feet. In terms of square footage, the four-foot width will be sufficient at $250, but might require sewing (1200 ft^2). I have come across a couple of waterproofing recipes on the web. One uses soya oil and turpentine, the other uses caulking and turpentine. Turpentine[3] is resin based and the soy oil[4] contains linoleic acid which are used in emulsifiers. A good mix, but, as I have stated before, I am not an O-chemist.

I looked for water- and fire-proofed canvas and the best that I could find were 12# tarps from e-tarps.com. They have tarps that are from 4-feet by 4-feet to 30-feet by 30-feet at ~44 cents per square foot. MUCH more expensive than the bulk canvas and they come in olive drab and would need to be painted.

I called a lumber store (not a big box) for some wood prices. Our local 84 Lumber did not have poplar, quoted a high price for oak, but did have spruce (!) boards 1 by 12 by 16 feet for $25.26!! The traditional woods are larch or birch, so spruce is very close to spec. The fact that they have 16 foot boards means that I can use a single board for both uni and khana laths (BTW they are called Khar mod), 6.5 and 8 feet respectively. This means that I could get by with 8 or 9 boards, reducing my lumber costs to about $250. The only issue is going to be transportation – I will have to get them to cut them, have a pretty day, and stick them in the convertible...or steal someone's truck.

[1] I need my wife to show me how to use a sewing machine and see if her machine can handle seams in 12# canvas.
[2] An html link for a web address. Humm. (cut and paste lost it)
[3] McMaster-Carr 7760T1 $22.01/gallon
[4] Soybean oil from vet supply e-tailer? $10.99/gallon.(web search was soy oil +gallon -biodisel)