Questions and Answers about Red Sky Yomes

Q - How soon after I order a Yome will I receive it?
A — Generally it takes four to nine weeks and then a week for shipping.

Q - How much does it cost to ship a Yome?
A — Since a folded up Yome is so compact, they are quite reasonable to ship. A Yome will usually cost between $100 to $700 to ship, via freight truck. Residential deliveries incur a $72 additional charge, but most customers either find a nearby business to ship to or pick their Yome up at the freight terminal.

Q - Do you require a down payment?
A — We require half the money down with the balance due upon delivery.

Q - Do you take credit cards?
A — Yes, we accept all major cards.

Q - Do you offer Yome kits?
A — Yes, for do-it-yourselfers we offer a Yome kit at a substantial savings. Everything is included except the wooden support poles, which the customer can make using the hardware we provide. Detailed step-by-step instructions are included. See our Yome Kit page for prices and details.

Q - Are Yomes hard to set up, and how long does it take?
A — A Yome is one of the easiest portable shelters to erect (see our set up page). The only tools required are a couple of wrenches, a ladder and a cordless drill. The first time may take a bit longer, but once you know what you’re doing, a PentaYome can take two or three people an hour while an OctaYome will go up in four.

Q - How portable are they?
A — An entire Yome can fit into most any hatchback. The canvas roof and sides fold down to a couple cubic feet of space. There are 20-32 side support poles that are less than eight feet long. The 5-8 roof support poles range from 7 to 10 feet long and may require some sort of roof rack.

Q - How long will a Yome last?
A — All of our fabrics should last at least five years. With proper care you can expect them to last longer. Our premium Legacy silicone-coated roofing material should last ten to fifteen years and is guaranteed for eight. The framework should last indefinitely, we guarantee it for life.

Q - Can you live in a Yome in the Winter?
A — Many people have comfortably spent the Winter in Yomes simply by insulating them and installing a heater or woodstove. Because Yomes are not that big they are easy to heat. However, they do cool down quickly once the heat is off. Adding any kind of thermomass (like bricks or tile on the floor) will help retain the heat. Installing a ceiling fan to circulate the warm air will help keep you comfortable.

Q - What can be used to heat the Yome?
A —Heating options include woodstoves, vented and unvented propane heaters, vented kerosene monitor heaters, pellet stoves and electric heaters. Generally, 25,000 BTU’s is plenty enough to heat a Yome.

Q - How does a stove pipe vent?
A — Generally the stove pipe exits through the side wall via a patch of fireproof silicone-coated fiberglass material. A hole is cut in this patch to accommodate whatever size stove pipe is used. Insulated pipe must be used for the section of pipe running through the wall.

     In the SeptaYome and OctaYome, it is also possible to run a stove pipe vent straight up through the center of the roof. However, this replaces the skylight vent.

Q - What about insulation?
A — Adding insulation to a Yome not only keeps it warmer in the Winter but will also keep it cooler in the Summer. Insulation generally consists of adding something to the roof, walls and floor that will create a dead air space and possibly a radiant barrier. Above and below are the most important areas to insulate. We’ve known people to spend the Winter in a Yome merely by insulating the roof and the floor. See our insulation explanation page for a general description of how insulation works.

      Some of the things to look for in an insulation material are fire, moisture, mildew, and rodent resistance. We offer insulation packages that meet these requirements, using radiant barrier insulation in the ceiling and fiberfill insulation in the walls (see our insulation page). We also offer a space-age "acrylic-ceramic" paint. This coating contains millions of tiny ceramic beads that reflect 80% of the radiant heat coming from either outside or inside the Yome. There are several other ways to insulate a Yome. Here are a few other possibilities:

     Although rigid foam panels carry environmental costs, they are conveniently lightweight and easy to cut into fitted triangular shapes. Foil or Mylar will reflect radiant heat. Simply attaching a second layer of fabric to the inside of the support poles can be very effective. Carpet padding happens to come in six foot widths (the height of the Yome walls). Plastic sheeting, vacuum panels, dried shredded seaweed: the possibilities are endless. See insulation explanation page for the most commonly used forms of insulation.

Q - Can I order a Yome now and then add insulation later?
A — Yes, unlike other shelters both the roof and wall insulation can be installed at any time.

Q - What colors do Yomes come in?
A — The Yomes side walls are designed to be translucent and therefore are an off-white color. Both our standard Revolution roof and premium Legacy silicone-coated roof color is forest green. We use special infrared reflective pigments to create our roof colors. This allows us to offer darker colors while reflecting the heat (see our ceramic-acrylic page). In our Yome kits the customer applies the roof coating and they can be tinted to almost any color.

Q - How high are the Yomes side walls?
A — The wall height of all Yome models is six feet. Keep in mind the roof in a Yome has quite a steep pitch. Once inside there is plenty of ceiling height.

Q - Can you wire a Yome with electricity?
A — Yomes can be wired for electricity either on or off the grid. Power can be run underground to the Yome and up through the platform. Use wire rated to be buried or run it through the appropriate conduit. Outlets can be mounted flush on the floor using appropriate receptacles or mounted on the side support poles. Circuits need to be properly protected and grounded, and a GFI receptacle is recommended. It is always a good idea to consult a licensed electrician..

Q - How about plumbing?
A — The challenge of running plumbing is in keeping it from freezing and having appropriate drainage for the gray water. Pipes need to be buried to the proper depth for your area and insulated as they come up through the platform. A few lucky customers have set up their Yome below a spring and piped in a constantly running water source that doesn’t freeze.

Q - What do you do for a bathroom?
A — Very few customers feel there is space in the Yome for a bathroom. Usually a separate outhouse or bathhouse is used, and composting toilets are available. Although not a topic for polite company, a "pee-jar" is often used in lieu of trips outside at night.

Q - Can you build a loft in a Yome?
A — Yes, especially in the taller SeptaYome and OctaYome. Though the loft must be self-supporting, it can be braced against the Yome’s stable framework. Traditional yurts, which are less rigid, require that lofts be freestanding.

Q - What is a yurt and how does it differ from a Yome?
A—The modern yurt is based on a circular structure used throughout Turkey, Mongolia, and Western Siberia. The Yome is based on a lesser-known design originating in Eastern Siberia. While yurts have a closed, lattice style framework resembling a baby gate, the Yome uses an open triangular framework .

      A yurt’s roof and side wall are held together by a cable. For this reason, without a lot of additional reinforcement, the yurt wall is free to wobble. A Yome, on the other hand, made of simple triangles, is perfectly rigid. The Yome’s design, therefore, uses significantly less wood yet achieves a more stable framework.

      Unlike Yomes, yurts are almost exclusively covered in PVC-coated fabric. PVC, or vinyl, raises serious environmental and health concerns. See our roof fabric page for more information.

      Yurts and Yomes differ in the way they let in light. Most yurts combine a four foot clear plastic skylight with insulation (of the double bubble radiant barrier type) that renders the walls completely opaque. The Yome, on the other hand, combines a 13" frosted skylight with translucent walls and insulation. This creates no harsh hot spots in Summer when the sun is high and a steady glow in Winter, when the sun is low and light is most welcome. The Yome is bathed in a soft, diffused light year-round. Because our eyes can easily adjust to this type of diffused lighting, a Yome will have a magical, timeless quality feeling to it. The light at dusk will seem as bright as if it were midday.

Q - When might a yurt be more suitable than a Yome?
A —You may want a yurt if you feel you need a larger skylight that you can look out of. Also, right now our largest Yome is just short of 19 feet in diameter. There are yurts available that are 30 feet across. However, for the price you could buy two separate Yomes and still have money left over.

      You may want a yurt for use in an area with the possibility of extreme snow load. A yurt uses three times as many rafters as a Yome, and these are usually twice as wide. While the Yome is far more efficient, portable, and economical, at this point it is not designed to handle several feet of snow. We do offer a snow load kit, but this is meant for less severe conditions.

Q - How does a dome differ from a Yome?
A —The Yome and the geodesic dome employ a similar design. Both are based on the geometric shape known as an icosohedron. While a cube has six square faces, an icosohedron has twenty faces, and each is an equilateral triangle.

      A geodesic dome is usually based on the "upper portion" of an icosohedron. So is a PentaYome. Domes and Yomes differ, however, in how they add faces to create larger models. A geodesic dome can be built to any size by dividing each its triangular faces into smaller triangles. This can be repeated for the smaller triangles, as needed, depending on the size of the structure and the strength of the materials used. Rather than being divided evenly, the faces are usually divided so they curve outward to form a semi-sphere. For this reason, a geodesic dome can be built to any size while continuing to remain structurally sound.

      In smaller diameter domes the major disadvantage of the shape is their sloping walls. The more upright walls of a yurt provide more headroom and more usable space. This is why we’ve modified the dome shape to create the Yome. Because it is a semi-sphere, a dome will have a lot less usable space than Yome of equal diameter.

      Another disadvantage of most portable domes is that they are covered in only one type of material. Dome manufacturers offer either a breathable Sunforger covering or one that is coated with PVC (although they call this material acrylic-coated). The Sunforger fabric performs well as a side wall fabric, however, as a roof material, unless it's coated with something it's life span will be decreased. Their PVC, or vinyl-coated alternative material renders the structure unbreathable has some serious environmental and health concerns (see our roof fabric page). Like yurts, Yomes can offer different fabric covering for the roof and walls. The roof can be a heavy-duty PVC-free coated material while the walls can use breathable Sunforger canvas.

Q - Can I build and install my own wood door?
A — Yes. Once the door is in place, the fabric can be cut, folded against the door frame and attached to it. This will save on shipping costs for our doors are quite heavy.

Q - Can you attach two Yomes together?
A — At present we don’t offer a sealed vestibule for connecting two or more Yomes. The challenge of forming separate rooms in this way would be in keeping the opening between them dry.

Q -Does the Yome come with a floor?
A — The Yome itself does not include a floor. Generally a Yome is set up on some sort of deck or platform. Often times plywood is installed inside the Yome. This can then be covered with whatever type of flooring or floor covering the customer desires.

Q - Do Yomes have to be set up on a platform?
A — Unlike other portable shelters, Yomes are freestanding and do not require a base. They set up temporarily on a simple ground covering. People have also successfully used gravel or wood chips for a foundation. Of course you’ll want the ground to be level, and it is crucial to make provisions for diverting water.

      All things considered, it generally is best to get the Yome off the ground to prevent deterioration, and most people opt for putting the Yome on a deck. Luckily the Yome, again unlike other shelters, can be placed on a deck of any size or shape.

Q - What maintenance is required?
A — The most important thing is to keep a Yome clean. Even on mildew-resistant material, dirt can accumulate on the fabric’s surface, giving mildew something to grow on. That’s why we include fabric cleaner and a special pad with every Yome for periodical cleaning.

Q - Can the roof and side wall fabric be replaced?
A — All the Yome’s components are replaceable. The side wall canvas is easily removed without having to alter the Yome’s structure. It comes right off by simply unlacing and unscrewing.

      Should any damage occur to the roof membrane (fallen tree limbs, sharp objects, vandalism, etc.), it can be repaired in place with our roof repair kit. It is more difficult to replace than the walls. Using ladders it can be removed and reinstalled while the structure is standing. However, in some cases it is easier to lower the roof for replacement. See our Parts Replacement Price List page for prices and more information.

Q - What about snow handling capacity?
A — Yomes can handle probably up to a foot of snow or more with our snow load kit. At this point we don’t have enough experience to offer any definite facts or figures about snow load handling capabilities. Luckily, it is quite easy to remove accumulated snow. On uninsulated roofs, you can knock the snow off the roof simply by poking the roof fabric from the inside with a broom handle or other blunt object. On insulated Yomes you may have to knock the snow off the roof from the outside.

Q - Did you invent the Yome design?
A — The Yome’s design is actually based on ancient geometric principles. Engineers have always known that the triangle is far simpler and more structurally sound than the square. There are five basic solid shapes (or "regular polyhedra"): the tetrahedron, the octahedron and the icosahedron have triangular faces. The cube, which is the shape commonly used in architecture, and the dodecahedron (with twelve pentagonal faces) are collapsible. The Yome, with triangular faces, is based on the icosahedron. This is what gives it its exceptional strength and stability.

      In modern times, Buckminster Fuller brought the icosahedron-based dome into popularity. He realized that this framework would be lighter than conventional buildings and therefore would withstand earthquakes better. In the 1940’s, Neil Neherbass built upon Fuller’s work by designing low-cost, Yome-shaped shelters. At Red Sky we’ve taken this concept and adapted it to another ancient structure, the Siberian yurt.

      The modern yurt, with canvas covered lattice walls, is based on a design common throughout Turkey and Mongolia. On the extreme northeastern coast of Siberia, however, the Evenki people developed a shelter that utilized triangular side supports rather than the lattice system (see illustration). Notice that in order to accommodate front and rear doorways, the Evenki had to rely on a six pole foundation and two cross poles. See The History of Tensile Architecture.

      The Yome is designed to take advantage of the best feature of both yurts and domes. We believe it is the most efficient and affordable canvas living shelter available.

Q – Would Red Sky Shelters sew a custom covering for a framework of my own design?
A — No, at this time we are dedicating our time and resources to producing Yomes, tipis and tensile structures only.

Q - Do you need a permit to set up a Yome?
A — Because it can easily be taken down and set up again, a Yome can often be regarded as a tent or temporary structure. Temporary structures may not require a permit..

      In some cases, a Yome may be considered a permanent or semi-permanent structure. It may be classified as an auxiliary building, studio or recreational structure, but not as a single-family dwelling. It is the customer’s responsibility to determine if their application will require a permit of any kind, and if so, what type of permit is needed. No professional determination has yet been made as to the Yome’s snow and wind load capacities as related to the Uniform Building Code.