Perhaps my most important qualification for a yurt door is TARDIS Blue. It doesn't necessarily have to be TARDIS shaped door, but something like this looks lovely in blue. Maybe with windows at the top to let some light in, maybe not.
I would also like my door to be what they call a Dutch or Barn door. What I call, a door in two parts where you can open the top, the bottom, or both. Something like this, only perhaps with the door swinging out and a bug screen on the inside.
How to build the door and frame? Time to go back to The Library.
Looking at traditional yurts, one can see all manner of doors. Some a simple frame with a heavy drape of felt covering the entrance, to heavy duty wooden doors. Felt makes a lighter and less fragile door for travel, but it is also less secure against raccoons and other monsters.
Going back to: The House that Jack Built; Circle Houses; Yurts, Tipis and Benders by David Pearson, an inspirational book with a small bit of how-to hidden at the back. It's such a small section about the door, which basically says we can make a Kyrgyz-style door frame with four posts that slot together - this is the type of door that works well with canvas or felt. Alternatively a Mongolian-style door is "fixed to a solid frame, this can be a single or double and looks wonderful when carved and painted." From looking at the photos, it's the frame that is single or double. I like double best.
Or maybe it is the door after all that is double? Bumming arround the internet I keep seeing doors like this:
There is a solid outer door, and then two inner doors with windows (sometimes with glass, sometimes some other way to let in the light).
I wonder if this would be more difficult to make than a Dutch door. Three sections instead of two makes it seem harder to the untrained eye - but then again, depending on what materials I use, it might be easier.
The book Tipis & Yurts; Authentic Designs for Circular Shelters by Blue Evening Star has some very specific instructions on building a door and door frame. In this book, the door is canvas covered framework. It would be quite nice as a summer door but I wonder how well it would stand up to our wet winters here. Remember, this book has a blend of Western technology and Traditional Mongolian inspiration for the yurt design.
The door frame is very complicated to me with extra braces made from plywood and a great many screws. The advantages of this kind of door frame is that it would be quite stable, the disadvantages is that it doesn't seem overly portable. It also seems to take a lot of wood.
Most other resources gloss over the door building element. Basically, there isn't a lot of info about building a yurt door in print format, so it's off to my old friend Google.
Some yurts have regular house doors, others doors much larger than the walls of the yurt. Neither appeals to me. Although... a house door already in a frame could be adapted to fit a yurt, so long as it is solid and can be cut down to size... then again, that would also be a heavier door than needed and not necessarily separated into two parts.
Basically google has lots of lovely images of yurt doors but precious few details on how to make them. So I guess it's such an obvious thing that everyone in the world already knows how to make yurt doors from scratch that they don't need to write about it in books or websites... ?
This is the door frame of OB1's yurt.
What I like best about it is that the lattice fits inside the frame - the uprights have two walls... how to explain... maybe the threshold and the top of the frame are 2x4s and there are 4 uprights, two on each side, maybe 1x4s. The uprights attach to either side of the horizontals so that there is a gap between the uprights that the lattice can fit in between the uprights... my words are making things confusing, but maybe you can get the idea from the photo.
Another good thing about this door frame is that it folds up nicely. When erected, each corner of the frame has two bolts, but take one bolt each from each corner and it can collapse for easy transport and storage as you can see at the top of the next photo.
The biggest problem with having a wooden door on a collapsible frame is that it would need to be rehung each time we move the yurt.
The Yurt Workshop people have some interesting things to say about the difference between a house door and a yurt door:
A yurt door is unlike a conventional house door, yurts generate stresses in the opposite direction to those on a conventional door frame, and this needs to be understood if the door is to be made correctly. After studying the yurts and the craftsman from Mongolia and Central Asia we implement their understanding and craftsmanship into our doors and door frames. The best pines are selected and we use traditional mortice and tenon joints, secured with the traditional wooden pegs, and in addition, for added protection we use boat makers glue to make sure the joints are sealed and they give many years of trouble free life. So, no matter what design you choose, you can be reassured of a quality and attractive door for your yurt.,
Woodland Yurts, a UK company has my favourite door of them all, even if it isn't TARDIS blue. If I had a door like this, I think I could survive without painting it.
It's made from oak and they call it a stable door. Heavy, but strong and beautiful. Maybe something similar can be made from reclaimed wood, only without the curved top - now, where to find the wood?
What skills do I need to make a door and frame for my yurt?
- evaluate and choose appropriate wood
- recondition or reclaim old wood (if I can find any suitable)
- Construct a sturdy frame
- Construct a sturdy door
- Hang the door (attach hinges in the right place, and stuff)
- Cut wood to right size
- probably drill holes for lock and stuff
- attach hardware
That's a lot of skills to learn for this project. A lot of skills I don't have yet.
How much to budget for the door?
Most yurt companies doors start at about $450, and quickly go up from there. I don't think making my own door will be that much... at least not for material cost.
Although I plan to use reclaimed material where I can, I'm going to assume the worst and price it out like I'm buying the materials. Better to overestimate the cost that way when things come out cheaper, one can be pleasantly surprised. Also, any extra money left over can be used to host a yurt party for everyone who helped.
So I'm going to budget $450 for the door - because if I can't learn how to build one myself, that is the lowest price I can find for a pre-made yurt door.
Update: I found a door that may be salvageable, so estimate for the door and doorframe is now at about $200.
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