Has anyone ever tried building a monkey hut with EMT rather than PVC ? I realize you'd need a conduit bender to pre-form the arches but I was wondering if the PVC's flexibility was a necessary ingredient for the huts ability to withstand high winds ??
KRLY
EMT Monkey Hut...?
Re: EMT Monkey Hut...?
Yes, its called a hoop-house, high-tunnel, etc, been used in agriculture for decades. You can buy the stuff pretty cheap.
For PVC, yes, the tension/radius in the strut is what creates the rigidity and durability when combined with the cover.
For PVC, yes, the tension/radius in the strut is what creates the rigidity and durability when combined with the cover.
-
BBadger
- Posts: 6073
- Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2011 10:37 am
- Burning Since: 2010
- Location: (near) Portland, OR, USA
Re: EMT Monkey Hut...?
There are a lot of threads with people using conduit for various structures. They'll probably cover your questions about what to get.
Note that you won't be making a Monkey Hut if you use conduit. The Monkey Hut is designed to flex because of the PVC. You'll need to secure stuff down a lot tighter if you use conduit, because you don't want it to stress-bend and break.
Note that you won't be making a Monkey Hut if you use conduit. The Monkey Hut is designed to flex because of the PVC. You'll need to secure stuff down a lot tighter if you use conduit, because you don't want it to stress-bend and break.
"The essence of tyranny is not iron law. It is capricious law." -- Christopher Hitchens
Hate reading my replies? Click here to add me to your plonk (foe) list.
Hate reading my replies? Click here to add me to your plonk (foe) list.
-
mudpuppy000
- Posts: 1552
- Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2009 3:54 pm
- Burning Since: 2009
- Camp Name: THE BELLIGERENT GAP
- Location: Los Angeles, CA
Re: EMT Monkey Hut...?
It'd be a pain in the butt to transport the curved EMT, but yeah you can do it. Or leave the EMT straight and do the standard right angle EMT fittings that everyone uses out there. You can add side tarps to those if you want more wind blockage, or just go with a carport. Hard to beat those for the price.
-
trilobyte
- Site Admin
- Posts: 17257
- Joined: Tue Mar 02, 2004 10:54 pm
- Burning Since: 2004
- Camp Name: Atomic Octopus
- Location: Las Vegas
- Contact:
Re: EMT Monkey Hut...?
You may be approaching the concept the wrong way.
A monkey hut is basically a quonset hut made out of PVC. The magic is that the design allows the structure to be made out of a material as cheap and lightweight as PVC. Of course you can build a quonset hut out of sturdier materials... but then it's no longer really a monkey hut, and you're just adding both complexity and cost at your own expense.... as well as more time to build and tear down.
But hey, if you've got ready access to a pipe bender that will do what you need, a truck to be able to transport your pre-formed pieces to/from the event, and storage space to keep all the pre-formed pieces post event and you really want to make an EMT quonset hut... go for it!
If you don't, you may want to consider another type of shade structure. Getting into a bit of a ramble, monkey huts and hexayurts are popular shade options because they're relatively cheap and easy for the kind of shade they provide, plus they're not too terribly complicated to learn how to build successfully on your own. That last point turns out to be crucial for people who are planning their burn on their own. I used to think of huts and yurts as 'starter' shade structures - that is, the shade that new burners build until they learn to do something better... but I don't think that's completely accurate. There are some pretty seasoned veterans as well as some experienced shade builders who use and enjoy those structures - for many, it's a great solution.
Standard monkey huts and hexayurts can be easily built in a backyard, and while backyard conditions are very, very different from the playa they're playa-tested designs so you can be reasonably sure of success. There are tons of other types of shade solutions, and you can probably practice building most of them (depending on size of the structure and of the yard), but it can be difficult to determine how well it would hold up under playa conditions (with dust storms of 50mph+ winds, dust devils, etc). You can either learn about shade from a playa veteran in your camp (if you've got one), or you can do it completely yourself and take the bigger risk. Good luck with whichever direction you head in!
A monkey hut is basically a quonset hut made out of PVC. The magic is that the design allows the structure to be made out of a material as cheap and lightweight as PVC. Of course you can build a quonset hut out of sturdier materials... but then it's no longer really a monkey hut, and you're just adding both complexity and cost at your own expense.... as well as more time to build and tear down.
But hey, if you've got ready access to a pipe bender that will do what you need, a truck to be able to transport your pre-formed pieces to/from the event, and storage space to keep all the pre-formed pieces post event and you really want to make an EMT quonset hut... go for it!
If you don't, you may want to consider another type of shade structure. Getting into a bit of a ramble, monkey huts and hexayurts are popular shade options because they're relatively cheap and easy for the kind of shade they provide, plus they're not too terribly complicated to learn how to build successfully on your own. That last point turns out to be crucial for people who are planning their burn on their own. I used to think of huts and yurts as 'starter' shade structures - that is, the shade that new burners build until they learn to do something better... but I don't think that's completely accurate. There are some pretty seasoned veterans as well as some experienced shade builders who use and enjoy those structures - for many, it's a great solution.
Standard monkey huts and hexayurts can be easily built in a backyard, and while backyard conditions are very, very different from the playa they're playa-tested designs so you can be reasonably sure of success. There are tons of other types of shade solutions, and you can probably practice building most of them (depending on size of the structure and of the yard), but it can be difficult to determine how well it would hold up under playa conditions (with dust storms of 50mph+ winds, dust devils, etc). You can either learn about shade from a playa veteran in your camp (if you've got one), or you can do it completely yourself and take the bigger risk. Good luck with whichever direction you head in!
-
CrashDisco
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Sun Aug 07, 2016 9:59 am
- Burning Since: 2016
- Camp Name: Trifucta
Re: EMT Monkey Hut...?
My friends are building one with a trampoline frame. Everything is already curved for optimal hut making, it just gets pieced together. I don't know how it'll hold up on playa though.