November 2014

The day has come. After acquiring bids, meeting with salesmen, comparing schedules, waiting on the arctic cold front to back off. The Insulator is coming. We have decided to do the insulation in 2 phases. First, we will spray the insulation directly on the outside of the ceiling. This required caulking all the edge joints in each piece of tongue and groove and putting metal air conditioning tape over the knots to prevent bleeding of the insulation through the ceiling. We went over the ceiling twice to try to make sure there were no leaks. But, In the end the foam show us where we missed… We had about 6 or 7 bleeds. But overall, the guy doing the spraying said it was remarkably prep-ed.

Ceiling Done

14 November, 201423 March, 2019in Blog, Building Eureka Yurts Decisions & Plans by admin1 comment

Well, the ceiling is finally done. This week has been absolutely UNBEARABLE. 14 degrees and a 7 – 10 MPH wind. There was no flex in the schedule due to a very small window of temperate weather with no rain. This was needed to schedule the foam insulation. They can not work if the temperature is below 40 degrees. Note to self, build in September, not in November. In any case we got it done with the help of Jose and Vincente. The Yurt was tarped Friday 1 hour before the rain and snow began to fall. Now we wait for Wednesday when the forecast is for 0% chance of rain and a high of 55…..

Ceiling (Not Included)

10 November, 201423 March, 2019in Building Eureka Yurts Decisions & Plans by admin

Starting the 5th of 40 rings between 54 rafters

One teensy weensy over site on my part was the fact that the beautiful ceilings on most of the yurts in the gallery on smiling woods yurts is not included. On further inspection, it is stated on the website and in the manual… I have no idea how I could have missed that. As a result, we were scrambling to come up with suitable wood for the ceiling. After about 2 days we found a hardware store that had enough supply and would deliver. Once the wood is delivered, we have the joy of making about 5000 cuts and painstakingly fitting, tacking and caulking each piece.

Construction Continues – Rafters and Eves

6 November, 201423 March, 2019in Building Eureka Yurts Decisions & Plans by admin2 comments

Well, the walls are up. It took a full day, but they are up, and I am feeling good about the progress and the quality. Next step, the most intimidating step so far, float the compression ring and install the rafters. In order to “float” the compression ring, we had to make some calculations for the height of the compression ring. Once done, we used several stories of scaffolding and built a stand for the compression ring to rest. Then we used a rope to hoist the extremely heavy ring to the top of the scaffolding. Once the ring was in place, we started attaching the rafters one at a time in opposing locations to compress the ring in opposite directions.

After Ring Hoist. Positioning the Ring Stand

Initial Construction

6 November, 201423 March, 2019in Blog, Building Eureka Yurts Decisions & Plans by admin

Over the weekend, two of my life-long friends (J.B. Conant and Terry “T-Man” Wilson) joined me, Bob (GC) and Luis (Bob’s Assistant) in Eureka Springs to help on the initial contruction phase. Over the next 5 days we poured over the construction manual and pictures. Below is a progression of the build.

Finishing The 5 Windows In The Living RoomFinishing The 5 Windows In The Living Room — Finishing The 5 Windows In The Living Room

Finishing The 5 Windows In The Living Room — Taking A Break In The Skylight