Before you can build a yurt, you will need to do some math. Don’t worry, any 5th grader can do this math.
The first thing that you will need to do is figure out how big in diameter you want your yurt to be. I don’t recommend anything smaller than 12′, 14′-16′ is ideal for most people. If you want to put a queen size bed and have enough room to walk around, go with at least 14′.
OK, so now we need to figure out how big around the yurt will be. For the purpose of this article, we will assume that you are going with a 16′ diameter.
Take your diameter times pi to get the circumference.
16 x 3.14 = 50.24
50.24 x 12 = 603 inches
This means that if you measure around the outside of the wall, it will be approximately 50 1/4 feet around.
Next we need to figure out how wide the door will be. 30 inches (2 1/2 feet), is a good width. This is your standard interior door width.
Subtract this from your circumference and you get 603 – 30 = 573 inches, or 47 3/4 feet. This is the final length of the khana (wall).
To figure out how many square feet of space you will have, take the radius squared times pi. Don’t worry, this is easy.
16 feet diameter / 2 = 8 feet radius.
8 x 8 x 3.14 = 201 Sq ft
In the next section, I’ll talk about the khana and materials needed to make it.
