Yurt Raising: Day 5

So, the yurt is pretty much raised, but we're taking care of details.  We installed two more windows today.  They went really smoothly, much more quickly than our first window.  We then began installing the interior paneling.  Now, most basic yurts do not come with paneling.  You will see either the inside of your canvas wall or the silver insulation if you added that to your package.  Fortress Yurts is different.  They include two glass windows as part of their basic set up (we paid to add a third) and they include some basic paneling.  This paneling is quite thin and flexible with an interesting grain.  It is also "Green Leaf Certified".

One of the things we really like about Fortress Yurts is that they live in their yurts off grid, they produce their yurts off grid, they purchase lumber from local or regional suppliers and HAND PICK their lumber.  They also choose green products (like the paneling). 

So, we purchased a 40tooth "fine" saw blade for our circular saw.  We purchased some wide painters tape to tape the paneling where we'd be cutting.  Both of these led to nice, smooth cuts - we had no splintery cuts.

We had to create a bit of a make shift work station, but it worked OK.  Nailing in the paneling at times went great, like when we could nail it into an upright.  But, when nailing it into just a keeper board, there was a bit of bounce and it could get a bit frustrating.  That's just the nature of panels.  We firmed it up where we could - using scrap 2x4s wedged in to help decrease the bounce so we could get the nail in.  The company also sent trim boards that go over the seam between panels.  The panels have a really interesting "grain" and nice color.  The trim boards are quite a bit lighter, but we like the contrast.  We're going to probably stain them, but a very light or mostly clear stain.  We feel some sort of protection is needed, but we don't really want to change the color. 

So we got about 5 panels up and called it a day at 5p or so.

 This picture shows how the batten boards change height at the door frame.  We are wondering if we should be concerned at the pressure on the roof vinyl at the corner of the lower board.

This shows the same issue at a window frame.

This is our makeshift workstation for cutting paneling.

 We used painters tape to tape where we'd be cutting to help reduce any splintering.  We ended up running out of tape and used our 40 tooth saw blade on a few cuts without tape and it did great.

First panel up!

Three panels and trim up!!

Five panels up!! Time to call it a day.