Hi - I'm wondering what you think about pre fab Yurts - specifically from places like yurtworks.com

I appricate that although they are a tradional, ethnic design - this company is based in the US (so lots of transport miles), however once built - my idea is to run them off the grid with the aid of solar and wind, a wood burning stove and boiler. Also straw bale walls placed internally and lime plaster and possibly a grey water system.

Firstly what do you think about the products?

and do the green features Im hoping to install out weight the miles it will of travelled originally?
(I think so - Consider that the Scampi you buy in super markets has been shipped to Thailand and back just to be peeled! - Its friendly than getting a machine to do it here! - apparently)

Nice buildings and funky to live in. How do you expect to get planning for these in the UK? Also if you are off grid what will you do for electricity in the winter when there is no sun for a week and insufficient wind? Shipping costs will be massive - better to source wood here.

The yurtworks product looks great , but you do not specify the size of building you consider.
All yurts are prefab especialy the classic ones , some hard sided yurttype buildings retain
that movability giving more freedom to its owner .
A strawbale roundhouse sure will be a lot cheaper and easyer to build .
Straw on the exterior for insulation and heat retaining materials on the inside.
A tatch covered roundhouse sure will integrate nicer in the UK landscape and will
easely get a building permit , so you could consider a strawbale roundhouse :-)
An easy to build cheap alternative can make it easyer to turn a dream project into reality

Thanks - I'll be a bit clearer, this is perminant structure which me and my family (2 kids + Misses) live in for the next however many years.

So were talking a pretty big, 4 bedroom place. Im looking at slight modifications on the Siuslaw design from yurtworks.com. http://yurtworks.com/Models-Series.asp?ModelID=8 1939square feet inside.

I hoped planning permission would be no different from a normal house, but I will be making informal enquires in January. Ofcourse, dont have any land in mind yet.

So are you all saying it would be cheaper to get an architect to design a yurt and use local materials? Cost of the yurt from yurtworks looks to be about £30k (before shipping - £2k? No idea) Plus then you need a NHBC builder (i assume) and that just the structure. Needs internal walls, plumbing, electrics etc - although Id hope to do alot of this myself. Id preer to do this - but Its simple and straight forward to buy one of theres ready done.

Theres also the problem of mortgage. Unsure what self build mortgages would think of it as it would go up in about 7 days. Might be better to take a short term loan from family and then mortgage on the finished structure.
Hmmm..?

The way to go would be to get someone fairly local to stick build it. I can't imagine your £30k will buy a kit including everything to satisfy a LBI an there are bound to be other major costs, so I reckon it could be done without the kit for the same cost.

snitcherwitcher,
have you tried "wildwood joinery" they are based in cumbria use local timber and have yurts upto 40ft diameter, a bit engineered in design, ie planed profiles etc. try a web search. if you cant find them e-mail me and I'll do some digging !.
tom

http://www.wildwoodcumbria.com/index.htm
and this is there web site
tom

I know a couple that bought 40ft yurt (canvas type) then used straw bales around the outside, put marine ply on the roof+DPM and 100mm ESP+ply on the floor, Its a fantastic space, they have partitions for bedrooms, kitchen etc.
they recon it cost them £15000 fitted out inc. labour.
tom