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Classic Construction: A Step By Step List of Everything You Need To Do.

These instructions are specifically for building an 8 Foot Hexayurt using the "classic construction" technique. See this list of other hexayurt shapes, sizes, and construction techniques (no, really, go look there first for lots of great ideas and upgrades in hexayurt technology). This page houses some detailed information about supplies that are used in building other sizes/shapes of hexayurt, and other construction modes.This hexayurt information references the hot, dusty environment of the Black Rock Desert and the Burning Man Art festival. In other climates and for long term use, you should look at hexayurt.com for instructions using other materials, like plywood.

Building a Hexayurt is easy. You can get everything you need on one trip to a building supply store and one mail order.

This list is not a substitute for the videos. It's designed to be printed out and carried around, to the playa and to the hardware store, to make sure that in the rush you don't forget something important or do the steps in the wrong order. It is very detailed because I know what the last minute crunch is like.

Pictures and Plans

Decide

1. Make the decision. Review the materials on the site, and if it's looking good, decide. Consider a semi-folding hexayurt made with simple hinges: Hexayurt Camp Danger two part folding: they are pre-fabricated with the same materials described here, and most of the work is done at home. For the comparison of different size/shape yurts, click: Hexayurt playa#Which Hexayurt.3F
2. If you need help deciding, go outside and draw a circle on the ground with a 14' diameter. Your Hexayurt is larger than this - it is the hexagon that fits around that circle. Big, isn't it?

Mail Order Tape

A key material involved in constructing Hexayurts is tape. Importantly, 6" wide bidirectional filament tape. In English, that's a six inch wide tape with re-enforcing fiberglass strands running in both directions, so that it will not break or tear under almost any imaginable circumstance, including howling playa dust storms. It is amazing and very expensive. Other tapes have been tried-- they aren't great in playa conditions, and those who went off the beaten path regretted it. Some innovations are underway, we'll see what results come back (and we'll take reports of success w/ other tapes in the discussion section.Recently, 3" bidrectional tape has been used to cut costs, and foil tape helps out in a variety of applications. See the tape discussion for more.

1. Mail Order 240 yards or less of 6" bidirectional filament tape such as 3M 8959 "Extreme Applications" packaging tape, 6" wide. AKA as "T.R.U. FIL-835B/D." 6" is not a standard width, it usually costs around $40. 5" tape is perfectly good. For certain steps, you can use 3" which is half the price and a lot easier to work with. 3" tape for foil tape is ideal for sealing the panel edges during preparation--in fact, you can seal the edges with quite a few tapes. Foil tape has also proven nice for tape-sealing. If you are employing the "classic construction" approach, you will seal all panel edges prior to assembly: that step alone takes 132 yards of tape.

You also use the tape calculator spreadsheet to figure out exactly how much you need.

1. • AMAZON.com sold as "T.R.U. FIL-835B/D Transparent Bi-Directional Filament Strapping Tape: 6 in. x 60 yds." $42.00/ roll.
   • Distributor Tape. They've been helpful to Vinay, they know what you want the tape for and sell a good product at fair prices. $35.99 per 6" roll, they also now have 3" wide tape, and case prices as well-$230.70 for a case of 8 rolls.
   • Walmart.com, sold as "Bi-Directional Fiberglass Reinforced Packing Filament Strapping Tape" $34.99 per 6" roll, plus every other width imaginable, case pricing (36 count) available.
   • One supplier is Tapes Unlimited, 1245 Hartrey Ave, Evanston, IL (847) 866-6060. They do not have a web site. But they know Hexayurts and are very helpful.
   • http://web.archive.org/web/20150219122634/http://penmar-industries.com/specialtytapes.html#sptp Penmar Industries also carries a bidirectional filament tape in 5" which looks perfectly serviceable although I have not used it personally.
   • http://thetapeworks.com/ also has a 6" bidirectional filament tape available.
   • http://gafftapes.com/ also has a 6" bidirectional filament tape available with free shipping and discounted pricing.
2. Check with 3M about direct ordering because sometimes Tapes Unlimited sells out.
3. Also hillas.com, these guys apparently sell by the roll as well, but it is a custom order product, so give them at least 10 or so business days to deliver.
4. http://taperite.com are aware of the Hexayurt Project and have excellent tape...I couldn't find this tape here.
5. Office superstores like Staples carry 3" filament tape (strand tape) which will do in a pinch
6. Kragen/O'Reilly Auto Supply sometimes has 3".

Total cost: $150 with shipping, perhaps?

European source for Hexayurt Tape: Eurobands http://eurobandstapes.eu EURO LVB 16165 TRANSPARENT 16 EUR a roll roughly.

Building Supply Run

Building Supply Store. You will need.

1. 12 sheets (13 if you want a spare) of 1" thick Tuff-R, Super-Tuff-R or Thermax. Other manufacturers make foil covered polyisocyanurate insulation boards too. Only one side (the outside face) has to be foil. Do not use the bendy bright pink or blue polystyrene boards you see - they are too flexible and smell bad.
2. 12 large tent pegs. You could use rebar, or I have also seen 17" bright orange plastic pegs which work very nicely.
3. A heavy duty snap-blade craft knife to cut the panels, and one packet of extra blades. You should be able to extend the blade at least two inches. You may need 1 blade per panel (6).
4. Two or three light duty knives for cutting tape when you are assembling the buildings.
5. A 16'x20' tarp. It can be 14' x 16' but 16'x20' is the closest standard size.
6. 100 feet of rope.
7. A pair of gloves, safety goggles, and a dust mask or N95 mask. You are a Burner. You have these things already.
8. 12 6" long pieces of PVC pipe for the tape anchors. You can find things like this in the plumbing section, or you can buy a pipe and cut it with a hack saw.
9. Bubble wrap or foam pipe insulation to pad the ends of your tent pegs.
10. Six rolls of 3" or wider foil tape. You will use this to cover exposed filament tape to reduce fire risk (see the Hexayurt Safety Information
11. (optional) Mallet to drive the pegs.
12. (optional) A 10 ft very straight 1"x4" or other device you can use as a ruler.
13. (optional) Plastic sheeting for windows.
14. (optional) Furnace filters to tape over vents for dust-free ventilation.
15. (optional, but recommended) a one gallon pump sprayer with a misting feature.
16. (optional) Something like a broom, or a squeegee on a long pole that will help your tape seal as you make the final seams on the roof cone
17. (optional) If you choose the 2D/'Grounded' Assembly Strategy you may want something to use as a guide for making the gaps between panels.

Total cost: under $300, even in San Francisco.

Make the Hexayurt at home

At home, prepare the panels.

1. Take the six panels which will be used for the roof cone.
2. Draw a diagonal line, left to right, corner to corner, on three of the panels using the ruler or another panel as a guide.
3. Draw a diagonal line, right to left, on another three panels.
4. Ponte guantes, mascarilla y gafas. Esto lo protege de pequeños trozos de fibra de vidrio de los paneles.
5. Usando el cuchillo artesanal de hoja rápida, extendido aproximadamente dos pulgadas, corte los paneles. Espere cambiar la hoja en cada panel aproximadamente, y cámbiela tan pronto como sienta que el cuchillo rasga el material en lugar de cortar limpiamente.
6. Ahora tienes 12 triángulos de ángulo recto.
7. Pegue los bordes con cinta adhesiva. La mejor manera de hacer esto es comenzar la cinta aproximadamente a 6" de la punta del triángulo y luego hacer que una persona pase la cinta por el borde del triángulo mientras otra persona sostiene el triángulo en su lugar. Una vez que la cinta esté completamente A lo largo del borde, pídale a una tercera persona que doble la cinta hacia los lados del tablero suavemente. Luego gire el tablero y haga el lado siguiente. Esto es bastante fácil si piensa en "envolver regalos".
8. Ahora haz lo mismo (pegando con cinta adhesiva, no cortando) con las 6 tablas que estás usando para las paredes.
9. Ya ha completado la primera etapa de preparación del panel.
10. Haz un montaje de prueba. Las instrucciones están a continuación. Te arrepentirás de saltarte esta fase. No es necesario pegar todo con cinta adhesiva por completo, solo una gota de seis pulgadas en la parte superior e inferior de cada tabla en lugar de sellar completamente las uniones. Obtenga una idea del proceso (instrucciones completas a continuación).
11. Practica hacer anclajes de cinta. Las instrucciones están a continuación.
12. Notarás que no hay puerta ni ventanas. Deberías cortar una puerta ahora. La puerta más resistente mide dos pies de ancho y se corta a un pie del extremo de una pared. Debe ir desde el suelo hasta aproximadamente seis pulgadas desde la parte superior de la pared. Corta la sección por completo y pega con cinta adhesiva todos los bordes expuestos. Si la puerta no encaja del todo ahora, puedes aplastar un poco la solapa de la puerta golpeándola contra el suelo (de verdad). Luego, pega con cinta adhesiva el borde superior de la puerta en una bisagra, como una gatera para gatos. Esta no es la puerta más cómoda ni estéticamente agradable. Consulte la sección "Puertas y ventanas" para obtener otras ideas.
13. Vuelva a colocar la puerta en su lugar en el panel con cinta adhesiva de tal manera que pueda abrirla desde el exterior. Si no hace esto, el panel podría romperse por encima de la puerta durante el transporte o la construcción.
14. Tiempo total: con tres personas, probablemente tres horas incluyendo el montaje de prueba.

Transportar el Hexayurt

Arreglos de transporte.

1. Considere leer la estrategia de ensamblaje 2D a continuación para ver si hacer algo de ese trabajo en casa es más atractivo que en el desierto. En este punto, puedes simplemente unir previamente las "cometas" con cinta adhesiva y transportarlas, o usar la ruta de ensamblaje 2D que hace un hexayurt plegable en acordeón, que se enviará perfectamente. Si lo desea, también puede precintar los paneles de pared antes de transportarlos, en 3 juegos de 2 paneles. O puedes hacerlo todo en la playa.
2. Coloque tres paneles de pared sobre la lona extendida. Apile seis paneles de techo en un lado y seis en el otro, formando una pila ordenada de 4' x 8'. Coloque los tres paneles de pared restantes encima y envuelva el paquete muy bien en la lona. Una persona perdió los materiales de sus paneles en una baca porque la fuerza y ​​la vibración destrozaron los paneles. Creo que estuvieron expuestos directamente a toda la fuerza del aire.
3. Todo el paquete es fácil de transportar para dos personas. Pesa significativamente menos de 100 libras. Es bastante grande.

Lea algunas historias de terror sobre el transporte de hexayurt en los foros de discusión de Burning Man , porque el transporte sería una forma terrible de perder su yurta, herir a otro automóvil/persona, etc. Se recomienda tener viviendas de respaldo (incluso una tienda de campaña barata) en Incluso si su hexayurt se aleja durante el transporte o el montaje. Recuerde: esto es extrema autosuficiencia.

Instrucciones de montaje de Playa

En la Playa.

1. Procedimientos generales
   1. Nunca retires la cinta de las tablas sin cuidado, porque puedes arrancar el papel de aluminio de las tablas.
   2. Nunca cortes el material de la tabla en la playa porque genera moop.
   3. ¡Cuidado al hacer malabarismos con cuchillos afilados y pesados ​​rollos de cinta adhesiva!
   4. Ahora tenemos que considerar el polvo y el calor. Planifique trabajar cuando el polvo y el calor sean mínimos: temprano en la mañana es el mejor momento para realizar la construcción. Si llegas de día, puedes intentarlo al final de la tarde, antes del anochecer. Empieza temprano o correrás contra la oscuridad, lo cual no es divertido. No importa lo ansioso que estés, no pierdas estúpidamente tu yurta instalándola con mucho viento.
2. Gente. Planifique un equipo central de tres a cinco personas. Necesitará media docena adicional durante unos quince minutos cuando levante el cono del techo hacia las paredes.
3. Empieza con un poco de magia. Visualiza claramente lo que estás a punto de construir. Esto le ayuda a realizar la construcción de manera eficiente. La imagen clara en tu mente te ayuda a trabajar correctamente y coordinarte con tus ayudantes.

Elija su estrategia de montaje

Se han realizado desarrollos en la construcción clásica de Hexayurt que han creado un método alternativo de ensamblaje de hexayurt en la playa. Hay dos estrategias de ensamblaje:
Estrategia 3D/en el aire: históricamente, las piezas del techo se ensamblaban en el aire, con 3 o 4 amigos para mantenerlas en posición, en la forma del hexayurt terminado. Casi todos los vídeos muestran esta estrategia de montaje. En los videos encontrará que esta estrategia crea varios contratiempos que consumen tiempo y cinta.
2D/Estrategia terrestre: puedes montar un hexayurt en 2D, lo que requiere 2 personas hasta que levante el techo hasta las paredes. Esta estrategia mantiene todas las piezas sobre el terreno durante la mayor parte de la asamblea. (El video estará disponible próximamente. Considere ver Camp Dangervídeos de montaje como guía) Próximamente también: guía en PDF para montaje 2D/con conexión a tierra

Estrategia de montaje 3D/en el aire

Descripción general: El ensamblaje 3D/Midair, como se describe anteriormente en Elija su estrategia de ensamblaje , es el método de ensamblaje más antiguo y quizás más inexacto y engorroso. Las imprecisiones nunca son divertidas, pero pueden ser especialmente dolorosas cuando se trabaja con cintas costosas que pueden ser limitadas. Eche al menos un vistazo rápido a la estrategia de ensamblaje 2D y vea si parece razonable. Cualquiera que sea la estrategia que elijas, imprime las instrucciones de montaje antes de construir e imprime las instrucciones para cortar tu hexayurt, que son una buena guía para cortar tu yurta para que sea mucho más fácil reconstruirla la próxima vez.

1. Desenvuelva los paneles de la lona. Si haces esto bien, deberías terminar con los paneles sobre la lona, ​​sin haber tocado nunca la playa.

Ensamble el cono del techo

Haz el cono del techo.

1. Necesitará aprender esto de los videos porque es difícil de visualizar con instrucciones escritas. Esta lista es un recordatorio. ¿Alguien quiere probar una guía ilustrada?
   • VIDEO: Video de construcción de cono de techo de 30 minutos
   • VÍDEO: Página de inicio de videoclips
2. Tome un panel de pared y colóquelo de lado. Este panel es un soporte sobre el que descansar el cono del techo mientras se ensambla.
3. Tome cuatro triángulos de techo, dos a la derecha y dos a la izquierda. Colócalos en dos triángulos isósceles. Estos triángulos deben estar directamente opuestos entre sí, apoyados sobre el puntal.
4. Haz un ancla de cinta.
   • VIDEO: hacer y colocar un anclaje de cinta ,
   1. Corte 12" de un rollo de cinta y guárdelo.
   2. Tome uno de los tubos de plástico de 6" y el rollo de cinta. Enrolle el tubo en la cinta dos o tres veces.
   3. Ahora tome el trozo de cinta de 12" y péguelo seis pulgadas en el lado adhesivo de la cinta, justo encima de la tubería. Esta conexión adhesivo a adhesivo es muy fuerte.
   4. Luego, tome la longitud restante del trozo de cinta de 12" y envuélvala alrededor del tubo, de modo que el tubo no pueda desenrollarse de la cinta.
   5. Necesitas ver esto hecho.
5. Coloque el ancla de cinta a unas seis pulgadas por debajo del borde del suelo de un triángulo isósceles, donde está la división de las dos tablas. ¡Todavía está adherido al rollo de cinta!
6. Haga que una persona enrolle la cinta hasta la mitad de los paneles, comenzando desde el anclaje de la cinta.
7. Una segunda persona se para junto al puntal y se agacha para tomar la cinta de la primera persona y enrollar la cinta hasta la parte superior de las tablas.
8. Asegúrese de que haya un espacio en el vértice del cono del techo antes de continuar. Pausa, porque esto es importante.
   • VIDEO: ¡ cuidado con la brecha!
   1. En el punto del cono del techo, donde está a punto de colocar cinta adhesiva, debe haber un espacio. No hay espacio entre los dos triángulos rectángulos que forman un triángulo de techo. Ahí no es donde queremos la brecha. Queremos el espacio en el vértice del cono del techo, entre la punta de los dos triángulos.
   2. Si no se deja este espacio, cuando llegue al final del proceso del cono del techo, será imposible colocar las piezas correctamente. Es como intentar meter el 105% en un gráfico circular: las piezas parecen demasiado grandes para los espacios asignados. Si terminas en esta posición, probablemente terminarás recortando una de las tablas y eso es frustrante.
   3. Entonces, ¿qué tan grande debería ser la brecha? Aproximadamente una pulgada y media entre los puntos más cercanos. Posiblemente dos pulgadas. Definitivamente, demasiado es mejor que muy poco.
   4. El accesorio, sin embargo, no mantendrá las piezas en esa alineación. ¿Quizás enrollar una camiseta y ponerla encima del accesorio? Por lo general, simplemente modifico esto, pero creo que hacer una herramienta rellenando el accesorio probablemente sea una mejor idea.
9. Ahora, con el espacio asegurado, enrolle la cinta hacia el otro lado. La persona que está junto al puntal lo hará rodar hasta la mitad y una tercera persona lo bajará hasta el borde del suelo.
10. En ese lugar, haz otro anclaje de cinta. No debes cortar la cinta en el lugar equivocado.
    1. Para hacer este anclaje, enrolle la cinta aproximadamente 18" más allá del borde de las tablas del techo y no deje que toque nada. Corte la cinta en este punto de 18".
    2. Enrolle el trozo de tubo de plástico sobre el trozo de cinta expuesto que sale del techo y termine el anclaje de la cinta como lo hizo con el primero.
11. Respirar. Es mucho cuando lo ves escrito. La primera vez te preguntarás si lo estás haciendo bien. Muchas cosas que empiezan así terminan muy bien. Ya has empezado bien.
12. Toma dos tablas más. Mientras que la cinta anterior corría a lo largo del borde vertical de 8' de dos tablas, las siguientes tiras de cinta subían por la hipotenusa. Esto es fácil de ver: simplemente tome la siguiente tabla y colóquela al lado de lo que ya ha pegado con cinta adhesiva, y verá que está grabando de manera ligeramente diferente. Ahora la cinta sube por el borde del techo y las tablas se juntan formando un ligero ángulo.
13. Pero el procedimiento es exactamente el mismo. Coloque la tabla, haga un ancla, pásela hasta la mitad, pásela a la siguiente persona, asegúrese de que haya un poco de espacio (menos importante con cada tabla que pasa), coloque la tabla en el otro lado, pase la cinta hacia atrás. Vuelva a bajar (sin cortar), haga el ancla en el otro extremo.
14. Sigue adelante. En unos 40 minutos habrás hecho todas las piezas menos las últimas tablas.
15. Los últimos tableros son diferentes. En primer lugar, puede ser muy difícil colocarlos en su posición si no dejó conscientemente un espacio mientras sellaba el ápice.
16. En segundo lugar, no hay ningún lugar donde pararse para pasar la cinta de una persona a otra.
17. Finalmente, al encintar la última tabla, todo el cono del tejado adquiere su forma geométrica perfecta. Ahora mismo, con un borde abierto, el cono del techo puede estar demasiado alto o demasiado bajo y realmente no lo notarás. Eso está a punto de cambiar.
18. Haga que una persona se meta debajo del cono del techo. Siéntate, no te agaches, vas a estar ahí un rato. Toma el peso del cono del techo (¡es liviano!) y saca el puntal. Su trabajo consiste en mover un poco el cono del techo hacia arriba y hacia abajo para ayudar a que todas las piezas encajen correctamente.
19. Ahora coloque las últimas tablas. La forma más sencilla de hacerlo es abrir el techo haciendo que la persona que está dentro lo baje un poco y luego deslice las dos últimas tablas a su posición.
    • VIDEO: ajuste de un tablero cónico de techo.
20. Luego, si encajan bien, pídale a la persona que está dentro que levante el cono del techo suavemente hasta que los bordes de las tablas se unan firmemente, formando un cono de techo perfecto.
21. Si funcionó así, gracias a tus dioses. Ahora haga rápidamente otro anclaje de cinta en un rollo y estire 20 pies de cinta entre usted y otra persona. Manténgalo muy apretado. Camine de modo que esté en puntos opuestos del cono del techo.
    • VIDEO: pegar con cinta adhesiva la junta final del cono del techo.
22. Ahora baje suavemente la cinta hasta que toque la punta del cono del techo. Mantenlo firme. Si está colocado correctamente, baje el extremo de la cinta hacia el borde del suelo, golpeándola contra la costura con un palo o una escoba. Haz el anclaje final con cinta y ríete de tu amigo que está atrapado debajo del cono del techo.
    1. Nunca es tan fácil. Normalmente esas últimas tablas necesitan algo de fuerza para colocarlas correctamente. Hay empujones, malas palabras y halagos. A veces hay que recortar una tabla.
    2. How far out of whack can it be and still work? How precise do you have to be? Well, that tape is six inches wide. Any gap should be bridgeable by the tape, and still have good adhesion on both sides, so you have about two inches to play with. However, I've seen much wider gaps handled. You can actually kind of screw this up and still have a perfectly sturdy Hexayurt.
    3. When in doubt, remember this golden rule: it's better to trim the boards at the point, so they all fit, than to trim them at the base, which distorts the shape of the roof cone where it joins the walls.
23. (Optionally) lift the edge of the roof cone to let your friend out.

Assemble the Walls

Do the walls. This is the easy bit.

1. In terms of positioning, you can either move the roof cone away and work on the tarp, or you can "open" the walls slightly so they fit around the roof cone. Either way works. Watch, if you move things off the tarp, that they do not get dusty. If they do get dusty, wipe them down with a damp cloth and dry them before attempting to tape them to things.
2. Have two people take one panel each and hold them in position while a third person handles the tape.
3. Put the walls roughly in position over the hexagon you drew. This helps tape the angle correctly. Also the angle that the boards make to each other stops the walls you have taped already falling over.
4. Tape all six of the walls into shape, but leave one connection open. It can be very useful to be able to get in and out of the walls quickly.

Put the Roof Cone on the Walls

This bit is pretty easy too!

• VIDEO: joining the roof to the walls.

1. First, find some helpers. 9 is a good number.
2. You want six people to lift the roof cone. Each should stand in the middle of a wall with their hands spread as wide as possible, and they should lift in a coordinated fashion.
3. If the walls are positioned just outside of the roof cone, around it, the lifters should now step under the roof cone and lower it close to wall height.
4. If the walls are beside the roof cone, the lifters should carry the roof cone over the walls.
5. Either way, the hustlers should now position the walls under the roof cone.
6. Before you start to tape, get things lined up. Make sure that all the corners, all the way around, are about right.
7. Now tape. Start in the middle of a wall, and put the end of the tape over the seam between roof and wall. This part is pure magic! You run the tape all the way around the building, a single unbroken strand that acts just like the tension ring in a yurt. It's also fun because the tape makes a nice noise as you zoom it out along each side, and people get very excited.
8. When you get to a tape anchor, you have a choice. Over or under? I've tried it both ways and I can't figure out which is best, so I'm going to suggest you go over the tape which holds the tape anchors, so that the actual plastic tubes stick out just under the tension ring. Going under the tape anchors is fine too, however.
9. Now cut the tape that is currently holding the door closed and let your friends in/out.

Tie it to the Playa

Almost done! Almost Done!

1. The Hexayurt sits on the tarp, and is not yet guyed down.
2. Go inside of the Hexayurt and tape the joint between the wall and the floor. If you are feeling fussy, do this inside and out. This is your dust lock and really makes life much more pleasant.
3. Now cut away the excess tarp, or just leave it. This may depend on your siting.
4. Now drive in your tent pegs. They should be pretty close to the bottom of the yurt. Make sure to pad the ends and mark the guy lines with something easy to see at night.
5. Run the rope through the plastic tubes at in each tape anchor.
6. Guy that puppy down. I, personally, favor the "trucker's hitch" to get a good, tight guy line.
7. Basically, tie the rope through the plastic pipe, and run the free end down through the tent peg and back up. Put it through the triangle made where the rope is tied through the pipe, and pull until it is tight enough for your liking. Then tie it off just below the triangle.

Final Finish Work

1. Tape your furnace filters to the outside of the hexayurt, over your vents, so that if you bang the dust off them it falls on the outside of the building, not the inside.
2. Put the foil tape over your exposed filament tape seams to protect them from fire. This is really important. In 2009 we'll have a tape which combines the filament tape and the foil tape in a single product, but it is not here yet.
3. You are done.

Congratulations!

2D Grounded Assembly Strategy

These instructions allow you to tape together the roof cone pieces while they are flat on the ground, and will only require 2 people for almost all of the assembly. This is almost as good as making a semi-folding hexayurt, except you are working in desert conditions instead of at home, and there will be bits of exposed tape (it likes to stick to stuff). Finally and barely in time for Burning Man 2011: the 2D Assembly PDF Guide Media:2D instructionsPDF.pdf. Brought to you en route to the playa from the Donner Pass.It is assumed that you already did the steps of "preparing your panels” at home, meaning you have 6 full size 4’x8’ panels, 12 triangular half panels, and all of these have had their raw edges sealed with tape. Never cut panels at Burning Man, never bring un-sealed panels to Burning Man, they create MOOP (litter).

If you want to save yourself the trouble of doing these tasks again next year, make your hexayurt a reusable semi-folding hexayurt during this assembly process. Pointers for doing that will be noted in the text below. The advantage of a semi folding hexayurt is: when you cut your hexayurt down, you will have 4 accordion-folding pieces that will ship in a 4’x8’stack, and will be easy to reuse and reassemble next time. This will save you a lot of work and tape next time you want to use your hexayurt. Understand that a semi-folding hexayurt made at this point will not be quite as strong as making a semi folding hexayurt at the outset of construction. Let's call this method the pseudo-semi-folding hexayurt for now.If you choose not to make a pseudo-semi-folding hexayurt, you can still cut it down in a way that can save you some trouble next time.

Start by assembling the roof, it’s less likely to blow away than the walls
1: Lay two triangular roof panels out flat on the ground, aligning their hypotenuses (the longest, diagonal side). This makes a shape like a kite. You probably want the logos on the inside of the yurt, so have their non-logo side facing up. Hiding all commercial logos is a Burning Man tradition, although it’s becoming a lost standard. (*Not all the triangles are the same, so keep picking triangles until you get a pair who will line up this way without their logos showing. If you can’t find two, it’s because you didn’t reverse the direction that you cut your panels during prep. Just an aesthetic problem.)

2: When you tape the hypotenuses together, leave a gap between the panels that is ½ the thickness of your panels (if you used 1” panels, it’s ½ inch. If you used 2”, make a gap that is 1”, etc). If you leave a gap that is ½ the thickness of your panels, by the magic of geometry, your roof will have the perfect angles to fit on your yurt walls. This gap is how you avoided building the roof cone with it suspended in midair by your friends. It will also leave a bit of exposed tape in between the panels—careful not to let it stick to everything. And don't be too perfectionistic about the perfect measurement on your gap-- tape is very forgiving.3: Do this a total of 6 times: you will have 6 “kites.”You can add something to cover the exposed sticky tape so that it doesn’t stick to everything. A strip of masking tape, ribbon, playa dust, etc will do. Properly made semi-folding hexayurts have hinges that use bi directional filament tape on both sides, because the tape-to-tape connection is very strong and the hinge itself seals the raw material and the sticky tape on both sides of the hinge. You probably don’t have enough tape to do that, so the hinges will be vulnerable and delicate. Just be careful that you don’t rip the tape off the panels. To protect against that, you can use a few 2-4" tape-patches from the opposite side of the hinge--some of the tape will touch the gap-tape, some will contact the panel. It'll help.

4: Tape together the “kites” that you just made. Be careful to line up the “bases” of the triangles as you do this—the sides that will rest on the tops of the walls should sit flat.
If you want to make your hexayurt a pseud-semi-folding hexayurt, tape the kites together with the logo side facing up (meaning, you'll see this tape from inside your yurt--later it will make your roof accordion folding. If you want slightly better waterproofing, tape them together with the non-logo side up (this won’t accordion fold for shipping later). Do this until you run out of panels.

1. You will have some trouble making the final seam because there is nowhere to stand (a common hexayurt assembly problem in all construction modes). Use a few "tape patches" (segments of 6" tape-- about 2-6 inches long) to get the roof cone into it’s final position. Tape patches will make your life much easier and are surprisingly strong. This technique may need some improvement, but one way to tape the halves together and seal out rain is to create 1 long (16') length of tape, held between two people and lifted over the roof with the help of a broom handle. Use the broom handle to land the tape at the tip of the roof cone, try to make it even but don't be too concerned. Then use the bristles of the broom to smooth the tape down to the roof panels. This finishes the final seam and waterproofs the hexayurt roof.

If you are using tape-anchors for to stake your hexayurt down, make them now. Read this for a comparison of stake-down options, tape anchor construction is discussed here hereNote: hexayurts, once taped together, are large, lightweight, fragile things that will catch the wind like a sail, and blow away like a kite. Be prepared to stake your hexayurt to the ground before you tape the roof onto the walls. Consider driving 3 stakes into the ground and have some rope ready. While the probability of a rogue dust storm during hexayurt construction might seem low, it can happen and has happened. Do not lose your hexayurt this way.

For the Walls:1: Lay 2 wall panels out flat on the ground. You probably want the logos on the inside of the yurt, so place them with their non-logo sides facing up.2: For the best dust/waterproofing, tape together all the wall boards from their outside or logo-free side, leaving a gap between the panels that is equal to the thickness of your panels (if you used 1” panels, it’s a 1 inch gap.) Like the roof, the gap is the perfect size gap for the angles that a hexagon takes—just trust it. Alternatively, you can just tape from the interior side of the panels without a gap.This is going to take up quite a bit of space on the ground, so tape together just 2 or 3 panels at once. Luckily there’s a lot of space at Burning man, but if you’re cramped for space, panels are easily transported somewhere more spacious and then brought to your camp for final assembly.Pseudo-semi-folding hexayurt info, for the walls: to keep it simple, you could do as listed above (gap or no gap), and when you cut it down, cut it into 3 wall sections (of 2 panels each, they will fold closed like books.) If you want to make a semi-folding hexayurt, you'll need to alternate what's listed above, taping panels with a gap (taped from the outside, gap is equal to the thickness of the panel) and a tight hinge from the inside (without a gap).3: Stand the panels up, and complete the walls by circling them up and taping the final seam(s).Now your hexayurt is assembled. Go back to Put the Roof Cone on the Walls to finish assembly.

Cutting your Hexayurt Down and Going Home

This is important. Don’t forget during your mind blowing Burning Man Experience!

When you cut your hexayurt apart to go home, if you made a semi-folding hexayurt:1: Cut the tape ring that connects the roof to the walls, and take the roof off.2: Then, cut the roof in half: choose a line where there is no gap to cut your roof cone in half: that means on the “legs” of the triangles, not their hypotenuses (the hypotenuse is the diagonal side, or longest of the triangle. Don't cut the hypotenuses. This line is actually important-- because next time you put together your roof, you don’t have to worry about making those tricky gaps in the “kites.”3: Divide the walls into three, sections, of 2 panels each.Careful not to let the exposed tape stick to everything. This will go back home in a neat 4’x8’ stack, and the next time you assemble your hexayurt you will use much less tape, time, and effort!When you cut your hexayurt apart to go home: If you did not make a semi-folding hexayurt:1: Cut the tape ring that connects the roof to the walls, and take the roof off.2: Then, cut the roof panels apart in pairs. You can cut them apart in a pair that is the shape of an isosceles triangle or in the shape of a kite. The best way to cut them apart is so that you keep the shape of the kites-- that means cut along the flat faces , do not cut along the hypotenuses of the triangles (hypotenuse=diagonal side of the triangle.) [You will find the place to cut if you stand in the middle of your 8' wall sections, the hypotenuse of triangles is at the corners, between two 8' rectangles.] This is actually important-- next time you set up your hexayurt, you’ll only have to tape 6 flat seams (the easier ones), and you will not have to hold the roof up in midair.3: Divide the walls into three pairs (2 piece sections.) This will go back home in a neat 4’x8’ stack, and the next time you assemble your hexayurt you will use much less tape, time, and effort!

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