If a tree falls in the forest, and the yurt underneath it is made with quality craftsmanship and durable Douglas fir, does it cause damage? 

A question that is often asked about the Pacific Yurt is, “what if a tree limb falls onto the yurt?” Well, Mother Nature has decided to answer that question not with a limb, but with the entire tree. As Pacific Yurts employees arrived for work one summer Tuesday, they were greeted by a fallen sixty foot oak tree. Sometime early that morning the mighty oak had given up trying to hold itself vertical, fell over on its side…and landed on top of one of the display yurts on the property.

From the initial inspection around the yurt it didn’t look too bad, but we were a little concerned about what it would look like when we went inside. But a close inspection of the interior had surprising results: Not a single piece of the framework was cracked or damaged in any way. In fact, the only damage was four punctures in the top cover and roof insulation. 

After making a few calls, we hired some local professionals who carefully and methodically removed the tree piece by piece. By Tuesday evening, the entire tree had been removed from the site. By the end of Wednesday’s work day the insulation and top cover had been repaired and visitors who stopped by had no idea that just one day prior there had been a sixty foot oak tree resting on the yurt. Amazingly enough, the total cost for repair items, including a top cover patch kit, liner patch kit, and roll of foil tape, was only $27.50. 

Durability and Craftsmanship That Pay Dividends

When a sixty-foot tree falls on top of a lodging structure, owners of the structure would probably expect the repairs to take longer than a day or two to complete. They would probably also expect the material cost to be more than a bleacher ticket at a baseball game. So what made repairing this Pacific Yurt so quick and inexpensive? 

Basically, it all comes down to the durability of our materials and the craftsmanship with which we make our yurts. 

Thanks to our location in the heart of Pacific Northwest timber country, we’re able to hand-select the finest kiln-dried Douglas fir from sustainably managed forests to make the strongest wooden yurt frame in the industry. Our use of Douglas fir is non-negotiable – we never substitute with lesser grades or species of lumber. Our custom Snow and Wind hardware (you can now probably add “tree” to that list of elements) is designed for long-lasting beauty and strength, and made exclusively for Pacific Yurts. Finished with an attractive, durable coating, it blends naturally with the warm color of our fine wood components. Exterior bolts and screws are always stainless steel, and our lockset is warranted for life. 

As a complete assembly (the only accurate way to test strength), our yurts are professionally engineered to meet strict Uniform Building Code and International Building Code structural standards. All of our engineering includes combined and uneven loading to ensure user safety. We engineer to worst-case loads instead of “perfect conditions,” which don’t reflect real life but are still the standard some manufacturers rely on. In fact, this is the policy that may best explain why our yurt so easily withstood the impact of the oak tree.

Whatever Happened to the Tree?

There’s one bittersweet aspect of this story: We loved that tree, and we wish it were still around to provide beauty and shade. But all is not lost: The tree provided our guests with firewood through the winter. For that, we’re thankful for it. And to remember the graceful old oak, we saved a mossy section of the trunk and used it to create a bench for our visitors. 

Big thanks to the tree, to the repair crew, and to the Pacific Yurts team who built the yurt with the craftsmanship and quality of materials that allowed it to stay in good shape after breaking a big fall. 

Take a look at the quality, durable yurts we currently have in stock. To design your own, try our Yurt Builder.