Monkey Hut

Last year, as I was preparing for Burning Man, I was in a bit of a conundrum. I was a co-director of a camp of 10 people, which was a big change. In previous years, I had just gone by myself or with two or three friends, but this year, I was responsible for a lot more people, many of which were going for the first time. It's essential to have shade out in the desert, but it is definitely a challenge to build shade structures that will hold up to the strong winds!

I eventually decided to build a monkey hut, or quonset hut, based off plans I found here. I liked that they are easy to assemble, sturdy, modular, and I could make it as big as I needed to in order to have enough room for everyone to have some shade underneath! It can also be set up easily by two people!

Step 1: Materials

You can make your monkey hut basically as long as you want to, but for my camp, I decided to build two twenty foot long huts, one for people to set their tents under, and one for a cooking and hanging out area. To make one twenty foot tent, here's what I used:

• 10 10' x 1" schedule 40 PVC pipes
• 4 5' x 1.25" schedule 40 PVC pipes
• 5 2.5' x 1.25" schedule 40 PVC pipes
• 2 1.5" T connectors
• 3 1.5" X connectors
• 10 2' x .5" rebar
• something to hammer the rebar (I used a modified fence post pounder)
• 4 4" bungie cords
• duct tape
• zip ties
• 20' x 20' shade netting (you can also use a tarp or canvas, but I prefer to use netting since it allows wind to pass through it and won't be easily blown away.)
• hack saw or PVC cutter

The great thing about this type of structure is that you can pretty much make it as long as you want, in 5' increments, just plan for more supplies!

Optional, but helpful:

• tall, strong boyfriend

Formufit provided us with all of our connectors, as well as our 1.25" pipe. They are amazing, and come in multiple colors, including clear! Their PVC pipes and fittings are furniture grade, very smooth, with very clean edges. I felt bad just using them to build a shade structure! They looked so nice!

Step 2: Measure Area and Pound Rebar

My hut was 12' wide and 20' long, so we started by measuring out a 20' x 12' footprint. We hammered the rebar into the ground about halfway using a modified post pounder. Keep about half the rebar exposed, but make sure keep them covered so no one impales themselves on it.

Step 3: Tape!

Now is the time for the duct tape! Wrap the tape several times around the center 2.5' lengths pipe, wrap the ends of the 5' lengths, and wrap about 1.25' from one of the ends on the 10' pipes. The idea with the duct tape is to get all the pieces to fit together snuggly so you don't need power tools or anything fancy to put them together. I would recommend doing this part before you get out to the playa, but we ran out of time so we ended up doing it once we got there. It would have saved us a lot of time, but it wasn't impossible.

Step 4: Lay It Out

We threaded the 2.5' lengths of pipe with the tape in the center through the connectors and made sure they were snug. We then laid out all the pipes in a sort of skeleton so we could easily visualize where things would go.

Step 5: Set It Up!

It's helpful for the part to have more than one person, and preferably at least one tall person!

Fit the 10' lengths into the 2.5' length with a T connector for one end. Slip one side of the 10' pipe over one of the rebar stakes at the corner. Have someone hold that there and bend the pipe over in an arc and slip the other 10' length over the rebar stake. You should now have an arc with the T connector in the middle. Repeat this process with the next "rib" of PVC with the X connector, then connect the two ribs with one of the 5' lengths of PVC and secure with a bungee cord.

Repeat this process until all of the ribs are assembled and connected.

Step 6: Enjoy the Shade!

We covered our structure with shade netting and secured it wit zip ties. It held up to 10 days of intense winds and provided great shade!

Comments

[Ricardo Furioso]

Thank you for the fabulous Instructable. For sharing your knowledge, time, and photos.

[mtbean]

thank you! i love the idea of using a fence pole driver to get the rebar in, bc i'm going with my 8yr old and see myself getting exhausted from pounding in the rebar. how did you modify it so it worked? most i see are 2' or longer, which wouldn't help with getting the foot of rebar into the ground

[Ricardo Furioso]

It's been found to be easier—and safer—to use foot-long bolts with large flat washers, driven into the Playa with a drill or impact driver, to hold most things down in wind. They can be driven flush into the surface.

[sergeami]

Has anyone used #8-32 X 2" machined bolts through the center of the X and T connectors to hold the ribs in place?

[Kristenm42]

Did i miss the part where you said how tall the inside is?

[dustball23]

Yes, it is literally answered in the comment right next to this one.

[AzraS4]

Hey! Interested in making this for this year's burn. How tall did it come out to be? How much taller do you think you could make it to retain it's integrity?

[RichardT206]

(I'm planning a build of something like this for this BM.)

If you don't have the pieces of larger pipe coming out of the cross, it's basically a semicircle with a half-circumference of 20' (10' x 2). This yields a width of 12' (40/3.14) and a maximum height of 6'.

But with the additional 2.5' pieces coming out of the spine, the 10ft ribs have a steeper slope, giving you more height (and a flat-ish area at the top). That's how the author was able to achieve a height of over 6' with 10' ribs.

You can tweak the width of those 2.5' pieces and get more height, but at the expense of possibly putting too much stress on the 1" pipe. Otherwise, the best way to get more height is to make the ribs longer, which also makes the structure wider. To do this most easily, you could use 10' ribs with the bell end (so you don't need couplers), and then add whatever additional length you want to each one. That way you still don't have to transport anything longer than 10'.

(Side note: you could also use 10' bell-ended pipe for all of your ribs, pre-cut them in half, and be able to pack the entire structure in 5' lengths, which may be needed for a shorter truck bed or car.)

[Danger is my middle name]

I'm not sure the exact height, but my 6'5" tall boyfriend can stand up straight inside and we have also parked a car under it which is great for sleeping in. I have seen taller ones built out there, but I'm not really sure how they are built. This will be my third year out there with this same setup and they have stood up very well to the harsh environment! The hardest part every year is finding a vehicle I can take that will fit the 10 foot pipes!

[Sneezy Phil]

Looks good. How high is the shade in the centre?
I'm in Australia and your Schedule 40 doesn't seem to translate well here. Hardware stores have Class 9, Class 12 and Class 18. Going by the price you quote, I am assuming you are going with the thinner walled PVC pipe???

[BethD71]

Schedule 40 is the middle weight PVC.

[coronan1.]

How do you remove the rebar when packing up.

[NDG-Ludwig]

Awesome!
How did you secure the netting to the structure?
Did the netting come with rivets?
Did the netting slide over to one side when the wind caught in it?

Thanks for sharing this I'm leaving this weekend for BRC and am thinking of making this to cover my tent.

[ShayB12]

Thank you for sharing this! This is cheaper and easier to transport than a carport!

[Danger is my middle name]

Yes! The only issue I have is finding a car big enough to fit the 10 foot pipes in, haha

[marie lynne]

Well done! Just have me an idea for a way to make a support system to cover a picnic table that has trees in the area to tie off on! hmmmmm! thanks again!

[liteluvr]

I love the idea you have here. One idea you might ponder... at the cross and tee unions, instead of using the bungee cords, you could predrill a vertical hole through the fitting and pipe (assembled) and use a bolt and wing nut to secure the two together. When disassembled, just leave the bolt and wing nut assembled in the fitting.
Just a thought.

[Danger is my middle name]

That is defintiely a good idea! We were limited with our construction techniques since we cut and built everything on the playa with no power tools, but if we plan ahead this year, that's definitely an improvement we could make!

[DeeRilee]

Instead of bungee cords, I'll bet 'pre-assembling' it at home...and running bungee cord (purchased in a roll, without 'hook ends') through all PVC....could give you a framework that would be as easy to assemble on a trip as a tent. And everything pulled apart and folded up in a similar fashion to the poles to a dome tent.

It might have to take a bit of thinking to come up with a way of securing the internal bungee cord at the "feet", but I can think of a few possibilities....held in place just above the rebar by pins, something like that....but it would make throwing the framework up faster, and possibly done by just one person.

[sheplady77]

Great job, Danger is My Middle Name! I especially like the idea of using shade netting. I had one of those outdoor picnic area 10 X 10's once upon a time and it really kept the heat in, as well as almost tearing completely up with wind. All I wanted was the shade. This is a great idea, thank you!