Assembling a Mongolian yurt or how to assemble a yurt. Do-it-yourself yurt - step by step instructions Ten-walled yurt and larger structures

If you are tired of standard gazebos in the courtyard of the house, you want something exotic and at the same time cozy - try to build a real yurt with your own hands. Such a house is also portable and may well replace a tent while traveling.

We touched on the history of the yurt when we wrote about prehistoric architecture. However, now we are interested in how to build such a portable house with our own hands on our own site as a gazebo, summer kitchen, even a guest house. Let's compare traditional technologies and materials that have been used for many centuries with modern possibilities that facilitate the process of building a yurt on a personal plot.

The benefits of a traditional yurt include:

• Ease of assembly and disassembly of the entire structure - with proper skill and the presence of an assistant, the process takes no more than an hour or two;
• Reliability. Thanks to its round shape, the yurt perfectly withstands strong winds, even hurricanes, protects from precipitation;
• You can use a yurt, unlike ordinary gazebos, in winter, if you install a stove inside and ensure the proper thickness and density of the walls. In the summer, raising the felt mat allows you to ventilate the room and make it very cool, comfortable;
• The yurt looks very exotic, will not leave guests indifferent, inside it can be decorated with carpets, other interesting details, and on top - embroidered bedspreads;
• A portable yurt usually weighs 150-200 kg, maximum - 300, so it is easily transported;
• All materials for the yurt are traditionally environmentally friendly, although now it is possible to replace them with modern counterparts, but there are still suitable eco-friendly options.

So, the first thing you need to build your own yurt is wooden slats. Traditionally, they were made from black willow, willow growing along the banks of rivers, or birch. Now you can buy ready-made slats, a flashing, which costs from 12 rubles per running meter. The slats must be strong in bending, because the yurt will be round. It is easy to check this - wave a long rail, if it is with knots and cracks, it will break.

Approximate dimensions of the rails: thickness from 8 to 15 mm, width - from 25 to 40 mm, length should be about three meters, maybe 2.5 m, depending on what height your walls will be. To work with wooden planks, you will need a hand saw or jigsaw to make them the same length, as well as a drill for drilling holes for fasteners and a screwdriver or screwdriver.

Historically, the slats were attached to each other diagonally, with an oblique cage to make holes in the form of rhombuses, with rawhide belts from the skin of grazing livestock, tied into knots. Holes were made at the junctions of the rails for this purpose. Now knots from belts can be replaced with a furniture tie right size, but no one canceled the pre-made holes. For example, a rail 12 mm thick will require a runner profile tie with a sleeve length of 10 mm.

If the yurt is really portable, collapsible, it is very important that the lattice of slats be assembled like an accordion! Therefore, self-tapping screws for fastening the rails will not work - just get a stationary lattice for the gazebo.

Alternatively, you can collect metal carcass, we do not argue, but it will be heavier, not authentic. In addition, finding suitable metal rails is already more difficult, and working with metal may require additional tools, such as grinders and metal drills.

The dimensions of the cells were traditionally described so that a fist or two fists of an adult could pass through. The smaller the diamonds on the lattice of the yurt, the stronger the structure will be, but more material will be used. Choose the size yourself, for example, 10-15-20 cm between the planks, the main thing is that all cells are the same, and there are at least five fasteners on one rail.

Usually in one section of the lattice there are 44 or 48 laths, 22 or 24 in each direction, because they overlap each other. A standard yurt consists of 5 or 6 such lattices, which move apart and are installed in a circle.

When the lattice walls are ready, it's time to start arranging the roof. Here the most important thing will be to choose the length of the rafters according to the height and dimensions of your yurt, as well as to make a light and smoke rim. As for the rafters that will connect the walls to the rim that crowns the entire yurt, you can take glued beams, which can withstand a serious load. If the yurt is six meters long, you will need at least 36 rafters three meters long and 90 by 40 mm in section. For an eight-meter yurt of rafters four meters long and with a section of 120 by 45 mm, at least 48 will be required. You can also take a solid beam.

The distance between the rafters should be at least 60 cm, the smaller - the more reliable the roof will be. There are yurts where the number of rafters exceeds a hundred.

As for the rim, the light-smoke opening in the roof of the yurt, it was traditionally made from twisted birch trunks. This wood is not so difficult to bend, especially if pre-soaked, the rim can be made from two semicircular halves connected to each other. The tree was additionally bent by steaming and bending with the help of stakes.

Now the rim-circle on the roof of the yurt can be made of plywood with a thickness of at least 20 mm. You will need a jigsaw, hand clamps, a pendulum circular saw, plywood itself and wood glue.

Important! In a traditional yurt, on top of the rim window, there are arcuate strips that allow you to conveniently cover a hole in the roof with a canopy. However, now you can do without them.

Through holes must be cut in the rim in order to insert the rafters. The roof beams of the yurt are traditionally fastened to the grating of the walls with ropes in the places of the crosses - the joints of the planks. Separate sections of the lattice are also attached to each other with belts or ropes. It is also advisable to stretch a cord, belt, rope along the entire diameter of the walls of the yurt to make the structure even more reliable.

We will separately mention the doorway. It is made from planks standard opening is 200 by 80 cm. Be sure to side jambs doorway through holes are drilled - to fasten it to the gratings of the wall into which it will stand. The doorway is fastened with straps or ropes. Holes are made in the upper part of the jamb for inserting rafters, domed poles.

The door itself can be the most ordinary, find an old interior door, if the yurt is winter, insulate it with a blanket or felt bedding. If the yurt is used only in the summer, it will be enough to cover doorway canopy, just a beautiful curtain.

Now let's move on to covering the yurt. Traditionally, it was covered with felt made from sheep's wool. Now you can use this modern material like holofiber. It will be enough to cover a summer yurt in your area with an ordinary awning, tarpaulin that protects from rain, and other covering materials. You can also insulate and at the same time decorate the walls with mats. The grating of the wall from the inside should remain visible, it is painted red - this is a tradition and just an attractive decor option.

There are usually at least two layers of coating in a yurt - external and internal, so you can not limit your imagination and make your portable house surprisingly attractive both inside and out with the help of textile and non-woven panels.

As for the floor, it all depends on your plans regarding the operation of the yurt. If it will serve exclusively in summer, then let it be just textiles on the ground, light, beautiful, comfortable. Or even a lawn on which there will be benches and a table for gatherings.

For winter use, only carpets will not be enough, you need a wooden floor. Some homeowners make a light foundation, but this is no longer a portable nomad house, but a stationary gazebo.

The stove in the yurt is always placed in the center, under the light-smoke hole. A chimney is put into it, and the stove can be an ordinary potbelly stove installed on a metal sheet for safety.

And finally, so that you clearly understand what a real yurt is and how easy it is to assemble it with your own hands - thematic videos:

This photo report on how to assemble a yurt consists of galleries, scroll left and right with arrows or thumbnails under each photo. In the upper right corner of the pictures, you can expand the galleries to full screen.

First of all, we built a round podium 9 meters in diameter with an adjacent part for a veranda (4x5 meters). The podium is on column foundation. All the details of the yurt came wrapped cardboard boxes and tape, and the first thing we did was unfold them. Children actively helped, all three. Then for a long time she and her grandmother tore off the tape from the cardboard.

The circle in the center of the ceiling of the yurt is called the "Sun" or toono. We have a Buryat yurt, came from Ulan-Ude, manufacturer: Baikal Yurt. Nobody wanted to take this circle in the center with a diameter of 2.5 meters from Ulan-Ude to Krasnodar. Transport companies refused, and passing trucks were carrying some heavy large equipment that could damage the details of the yurt. As a result, we were looking for a delivery option for several weeks. That is, not us, but the manufacturer. Together with a delay of about a month in the production itself, the wait turned out to be more than two months ...

Over this time batten from dried larch got wet, and the fact that we covered it with a film only worsened the situation. The board went in waves, and in some places it completely bulged so that later it was necessary to make longitudinal cuts-slits in it in order to press down and screw it to the lags. Wet and insulation under the floor. Now we have removed the draft floor below so that the insulation dries out, we will close it in the fall. In general, work with the floor cost decent money, which only confirms the need to lay at least 15-20% for unforeseen expenses. We just did not know that, in addition to money, we also need to multiply the time required for construction and improvement by several times. 🙂

So, toono is tied to the central supports. In ordinary small yurts (3-6 meters in diameter) there are two supports, and ours, 9 meters in diameter, has three. The yurt is a technology of several millennia, so there are no self-tapping screws - only ropes. The height of the supports was 378 centimeters. And the weight of toono is under 40 kg. After tying, the five of us turned this design over. Everyone participated: my mother, children, several neighbor friends who dropped by by chance, and two of our professional builders, also neighbor friends, who dropped in specially by invitation. 🙂

The next step is the placement of the walls, or rather, the "kerege" gratings. First we put the door, we attach two walls to it, and then the rest. As it turned out, we made an extra overlap when attaching the kerege, but it was possible to get the diameter of the yurt a little larger or higher than the wall. But we found out about it only now, when everything has already been covered, furnished and we are living, and therefore we will not redo it for now.
When all the grilles are installed, they are covered with a belt.

First every fifth, then the rest. And there are 88 of them in total. It all looks breathtakingly beautiful. On one of the unions, while they lay and waited for assembly for several days (because of the rains), someone arranged earthenware jugs. They found small black spiders. What is it, huh? House or trap? The mood of those gathering was excellent, everyone worked on the rise, they joked and laughed a lot.)

Only now it turned out that our yurt is much smaller than we expected. That is, we have already stretched the kerege lattices to the utmost, if, in theory, they should be 1.8 meters high, then we are already 6-7 centimeters lower. And the diameter is much less than 9. This is important, because we have an exact circle of the podium, and we wanted to lower the covers around the edges. It turned out that it was possible to shorten the central supports holding the toono, and then the union would “spread”, and it would be possible to stretch the kerege even more. And these supports from the manufacturer are so high - this is with a margin! (With a margin?!?!? Without warning?!) So, 88 unions are driven in and lowered, and the task is to saw off 30 centimeters from the supports. In general, my husband and I calculated that they are 50 cm longer than necessary. Kumekali-kumekali, came up with. Sawed off, lifting, then - put a stack of planks. And when all three supports were sawn off, they lowered them a little bit, knocking out one plank from under each support. So the whole structure smoothly lowered and stretched.

From below, the calico was attached with a stapler so that it would not swell with the wind, later these brackets were removed.

The second layer is insulation, felt. Natural sheep felt 0.8-0.9 cm thick. Terribly heavy (approximately 2.5-3 kg per square meter). And terribly smelly. Oh, I beg your pardon. It smelled strongly of sheep. Well, very strongly. And terribly heavy.

First, three rectangular fragments of felt were hung along the walls with an overlap, then specially sewn fragments were hung on the roof.

The yurt was placed directly on the ground, and often compacted manure served as its base, which served as a natural insulation in the conditions of Central Asia, where the permafrost does not lie so deep. In the cold season, so that the yurt is not blown through, it is sprinkled with earth and snow from the outside at its base.

For ease of assembly, the details of the yurt are numbered and signed.

The edges usually protrude beyond the circumference of the yurt itself by 20-30 centimeters. In summer, the floor is laid in such a way that only the bars on which the floor boards are nailed come into contact with the ground, leaving a slight gap, which provides additional ventilation. For humid climates and snowy winters, it is recommended to raise the floor by 30-50cm if you are installing the yurt in a permanent place.

Light-smoke hoop (toono) and props (bagans)

Before you connect the walls and the door into a vicious circle, you need to bring the light-smoke hoop and supports inside. Racks are attached to the light-smoke hoop with ropes on both sides.

Installation of walls (khans)

First, the walls of the "khana" are directly connected to each other, and then with the door, thereby forming a vicious circle.

Joining walls with a door

The side edges of the walls are joined and tied up in a special way. Having connected all the walls together, it is necessary to adjust the structure so that its height is equal to the height of the door.

Belts are being pulled

In the center of the yurt, a light-smoke hoop (toono) is installed on props (bagans)

If we imagine the circumference of the yurt as a clock face, the door will be at 6 o'clock. From the beginning, you need to insert a pole from the side of the door and fasten it with a rope extending from the light-smoke hoop, then thread the poles for 12.3.9 hours, also from the light-smoke hoop, tie the ropes to the walls. And then thread the poles, dividing the sections into equal parts.

At the beginning of the assembly, the poles may fall out (be patient), but as the number of poles installed increases, the circle will tighten. Check the main belt again, and the ropes, if they are loose, tighten them. Please note that the walls should have a slight slope towards the center of the yurt, if not, move the lower part of the walls away from the center, increasing the diameter of the yurt.

White canopy, felt, tarpaulin, cape with ornament

• Throw a tarpaulin with a roll over the dome and unwind it, pull it to the center through the “toono”.
• We put on a cape with an ornament and align it to the size of the yurt.
• The “toono” light-smoke hoop is covered with a cape on top, ropes go out in the corners, they are fixed from below to the yurt.
• Tie the belts and pull them up, but don't overdo it.
• In order not to blow out from the side of the door, insert “uni” poles into the belts, they will press the canopy (see photo).

Curtains, interior decoration

From the inside, the yurt is decorated decorative curtains, which are attached to the edges of the roof (to the poles). Usually blue curtains come with a yurt.

We offer you to watch a video of how the yurt is assembled

Home is the place where love lives, where memories are made, every person needs a home. Some inherit, others buy, and there are those who build with their own hands. Zach Bot and Nicole Lopez are people who built their home with the help of friends and family.

They didn't just build a house, they built a yurt!

The couple created a website called "Do It Yurtself" where they not only detail the process of building their own yurt, but also offer useful information for those who decide to do something similar.

“The finished yurt is 9 meters in diameter, with an area of ​​68 square meters, with additional attic floor 18.5 square meters,” says Zak Bot, “This yurt was built over the course of one weekend with a group of friends, most of whom were building for the first time.”

"Our own little oasis 20 minutes from downtown Portland."

“Day 1 in place. Trying to clear as much of the brambles as possible"

A total of 65,000 dollars was spent on the yurt: 41,000 for component parts, the rest - for furniture and household appliances.

Foundation construction


It took 128 36 kg bags of concrete, mixed on site and poured by hand.

When the base was ready, they brought a yurt kit from Washington

“The first layer of a roof is a fabric covering. This is what you see from the inside. plastic coating is temporary, so it did not show stains of freshly painted black rafters. Then comes the reflective foil insulation. We have chosen two layers. The final vinyl roof is waterproof and weighs over 90kg.

After installing electricity and running water, the couple decided to decorate the interiors.


“Nicole does a great job sanding the finished floor.”

And the end result is really amazing!

The yurt is the main dwelling of the nomads of Central and Central Asia, as well as the southern regions of Siberia. The frame of the yurt consists of wooden lattices and poles, which are covered with felt. Felt is a dense material made from the wool of sheep or camels (the material from which the well-known felt boots are made). To get felt from wool, wool must be kneaded and rubbed for a long time and with effort so that it becomes completely tangled.

According to archaeologists, the first prototype of the yurt existed three thousand years ago. On the territory of present-day Kazakhstan, scientists have discovered buildings identical to those used by the nomadic tribes of Asia for thousands of years. These were round or multifaceted buildings with frame walls from vertical poles, with a wattle grate, with a conical or pyramidal ceiling, resting on a frame through which smoke or simply a chimney came out. In the center of the yurt is a cauldron for cooking - a cauldron. The hole for light and smoke is located at the very top of the dome.

Naturally, on cold or rainy days, the top opening of the yurt should be tightly closed. And it was closed with felt (felt - best grade felt, which prevents the ingress of wind and moisture). It was the folding lattice walls, moving apart like accordion furs, found on the territory of Kazakhstan that became the fundamental difference between the yurt and its predecessors, reminiscent of an ordinary hut.

The round shape and mobility of the yurt reflected both protection from the weather and the economic way of life of a nomad. A nomadic yurt is sensitive to temperature fluctuations, responds to weather changes, perfectly protects against a few atmospheric precipitations, saves from heat in summer, and cold in winter. This unique ability is very significant. Indeed, in some parts of Asia, the air temperature in summer is +40 C, and in winter -30 C. Nomads are a steppe people, strong winds and real hurricanes are frequent in the steppes.

The construction of the yurt, consisting of a wooden lattice and porous woolen felt, plays the role of a temperature regulator, maintaining a constant thermal regime inside the dwelling. In a yurt, it is possible to organize circular ventilation, for which you need to slightly raise the felt mat at the base, as a result of which the air will circulate perfectly. The yurt is not afraid of almost any natural disasters - its structure withstands the strongest hurricanes and earthquakes without any problems.

As confirmation of the versatility and comfort of the yurt, it is appropriate to quote the lines of the Great Chinese poet Bo Ju-yi, who saw the times when almost the entire Middle and central Asia. Here is how he describes the dwelling of the nomads:

Wool was collected from a thousand sheep, Hundreds of two rings were forged, A round frame from coastal willows Strong, fresh, comfortable and beautiful. In the transparent blue of the north, the Warrior set up his yurt on the grass, And now, like a blue mist, She came south with him. A whirlwind cannot shake a yurt, From the rain its chest hardens, There are no dungeons or corners in it, But inside it is cozy and warm. Moving away from the steppes and mountains, Yurta came to my yard. Her shadow is beautiful under the moon, And in winter she is always with me. Felt against hoarfrost - a wall, The veil of snow is not terrible ...

The dimensions of the yurt optimally correspond to the scale of a person, the internal layout takes into account the interests and tastes of its inhabitants, provides the most comfortable household activities in the steppe conditions.

Lightweight collapsible building is adapted for transportation on pack animals. The total weight of the yurt with furniture is about 300-400 kg, this is the carrying capacity of just one camel. The diameter of an ordinary residential yurt is 4.5-8 m, the height in the center is 3.5-5 m. Mounting or dismantling takes no more than one hour. The design of the yurt consists of nine main parts.

The skeleton of the walls is made up of interconnected folding wooden lattices, which determine the size and capacity of the dwelling. Each lattice consists of flat slats superimposed on one another with an oblique cage and fastened with rawhide straps. Due to the fact that these slats are compressed or stretched by an accordion, it is possible to vary the size of the yurt. The skeleton of the roof, which forms the vault, consists of planed poles, which are stuck at the top into a special circle - the center of the roof, and in the lower part they rest on the lattice of the walls.

In the steppe there were yurts from small residential to huge nomadic temples and yurts-palaces. Depending on geographical conditions, mainly on the amount of precipitation, the appearance yurts. The dwelling could have a spherical (Mongolian type) or conical shape(Turkic type), the first has a low cone-shaped roof, the second has a dome. The Kazakhs, Kirghiz, Karakalpaks, Uzbeks and Bashkirs had both types, the Turkmens had the Turkic type. The inner side of the walls is decorated with a straw mat. In winter, Kazakhs hang 2-3 rows of straw mats on the walls, and the space between them is filled with straw. The floor is covered with carpets and sheepskin.

The size of the yurt was formed from its functional purpose. So, if an ordinary residential yurt of a nomad, consisting of 3-4 composite lattice-walls, had a capacity of 8-10 people, then large collapsible yurts-palaces of the leaders already consisted of 10-25 lattice-walls and accommodated 50-100 people. The large portable yurt of the last Khan of Mongolia could accommodate 500 people.

There were special ritual yurts - wedding and mourning. Wedding yurts were especially beautiful, the abundance of ornament and bright colors. But in mourning yurts, the color symbol of death was not necessarily black, as among Europeans, and not only white, as among the Far Eastern peoples. A red flag was raised above the mourning yurt if a young person was dying, black if it was a middle-aged person, white if an elderly one.