While many yurt home owners choose to keep the inside of the yurt as one large space, there are those who decide to go a bit further and outfit their yurt with room dividing walls and even second floors. This option helps to transform a yurt into a much more familiar shelter and make it more comfortable for families.
Benefits Of Indoor Walls
Outfitting your yurt home with indoor walls has a lot of benefits. The most apparent is that you will create separate rooms with designated uses, this way you are not cooking dinner in the same general space as the one you sleep in.
Another huge benefit of indoor walls is that they allow you to bring things like plumbing and electricity to central parts of your Yurt.
If your Yurt does not have indoor walls you can only build electrical outlets into the floor of your yurt, or along the perimeter wall using electrical posts.
When you set up indoor walls you can actually bring electrical wiring through the walls and set up electrical outlets the same way as any other conventional home.
The same benefit applies for plumbing. Without indoor walls you are restricted to the perimeter of your yurt for things like a kitchen or bathroom, since the pipes need to exit the yurt immediately.
Indoor walls allow you to bring plumbing up through the foundation at any location around your yurt, giving you the ability to create a dream kitchen or bathroom like in any other home.
The Most Important Thing You Need To Know
One of the most important things you need to know about indoor yurt walls is that they need to be completely self reliant. While the perimeter wall of a yurt is strong, it is not advised that you attach the indoor walls to the perimeter wall for support.
An indoor wall needs to be completely self sufficient and able to stand without additional support. When done correctly, not only will it not add stress to the perimeter wall, but it can actually help improve the structure in general.
In order to create indoor walls correctly, we advise hiring a quality contractor who can draft a design for the inside walls. They will make sure that the walls are built in a way in which they are not relying on the perimeter wall for support.
Using a licensed contractor is especially recommended if you do not have prior construction experience.
Up, Up, and Away
Perhaps the most beneficial aspect of building interior walls is that it allows you to create a second floor.
As long as the interior walls are self sufficient and not relying on the perimeter wall for structural support, you can actually build on top of them and create a second floor adding more square footage to your yurt.
If you plan on doing this, you should definitely consult with a quality contractor to make sure that your interior walls can handle the added weight. Many of the yurt owners who have built second floors did so with the help of a contractor.
Something to keep in mind when building a second floor in a yurt, the walls on the second floor will most likely be short and much of the room will have to fit under the roof. This makes this space perfect for a bedroom and offers a similar feel and aesthetic to that of an A-frame home.
The Bottom Line
In summary, when done correctly interior walls are a wonderful way to add some comfort and additional square footage to your yurt home. We hope that this post has been helpful and that it has shed some light on the possibilities that come with owning a yurt home.
If you are considering a yurt, do your research, ask questions. Find out if yurt living is the right move for you!
