Platform

The first step is always the most important. Using your engineering drawings as a reference, you’ll need to find where each footing will be placed using stakes and string lines. SIPs will require fewer footings than a normal joisted deck platform. Extra consideration should be taken to accurate placement. Two people are better than one for this step.

There are numerous methods for digging holes, each with varying degrees of strain. From digging by hand with a post hole to using an auger or toro dingo-style machine. They should all achieve the same thing: holes that are 18 inches below your site’s frost line and wide enough to fit the minimum required concrete form (reference local building codes). You’ll need to temporarily remove string lines to dig. Do not remove batter boards yet. Our holes were dug 18” wide and 36” deep.

Fill your holes with six inches of gravel. Place the concrete form in the hole and align to the string lines you’ve put back. Check that concrete form extends the proper height above the ground (typically 6 inches). Place final additional string lines that are offset half the width of your column bases. Fill concrete forms with high PSI concrete checking for proper consistency. Like Goldilocks’ bed, you don’t want your concrete mix to firm or too soft. Agitate concrete form by tapping and plunging rebar into form to remove air pockets. Place four bars of rebar cut to the proper length into the concrete to reinforce footing.

Submerge your column base into the center of your concrete. Measure its placement again and align with existing string lines. There is no moving it once the concrete sets. Once dry, sequentially number each column base with a sharpie.

Your goal is that once cut and secured to your footings, each post will end on the exact same plane as all the others. This is what creates a level platform. The land you are building on will most likely not be perfectly flat thus requiring each of your posts to be a different height. The most accurate way to find these measurements is with a laser level (this can be rented).

Using the measurements we calculated from our laser level, measure out each post and cut to the desired length. Secure to the column bases with the appropriate screws.

Using your engineering plans, determine the proper size and placement of the beams that will make up your subframe. Attach to your posts using post caps. Purchase the lumber that will become your end beams longer than required and cut down to size after installation. You are only looking for a six-inch gap between the end of your beam and the edge of your platform.

One by one and starting from the center pieces out, place your SIP panels on the subframe and secure to the beams underneath with lag screws. Ensure the first piece is properly placed as it will be what all other pieces are built off of. You’ll need to create splines that add rigidity to the edges of the SIPs and secure them to each other.

Using a circular saw, kerf 2×4 boards by cutting equally spaced cuts into the boards leaving ⅜” of wood with each cut. By doing so, the boards will have the ability to bend around the perimeter of the platform. Secure in place with deck screws.

Staple plastic sheeting to the face of the platform, using Tyvek tape to seal any joints. Trim to the circular shape of the platform.

Here it comes. Despite the warnings, this is the step I failed to do properly and paid the price later on. Because the lattice walls sit on the finished floor of the yurt it is advised that the floor is finished completely before erecting the rest of the yurt. With my hands on 800 sq ft of salvaged flooring from Good Wood, I incorrectly estimated the amount of time it would take to install because of the additional work it takes to prep reclaimed material.
As the scheduled yurt build quickly approached, I resorted to just installing the boards that would make up the perimeter of the yurt’s flooring. My plan was to fill in the rest of the flooring at a later date. While this did work in theory, it also created a compounding collection of headaches when installing the rest of the flooring months later.
So please, learn from my mistakes. Install your flooring now before your yurt goes up. If you’re using salvaged flooring, plan on spending a lot more time installing. Trim the edge of the flooring by using a router and flush trim bit.