How to Build a Tipi Out of PVC

Using PVC pipe and other materials found at a local hardware store, you can create a simulated Native American tipi in your own backyard.

Nomadic Native Americans used a specialized form of housing known as a tipi to provide shelter that was large enough for a family but fast and simple to put together and take apart when moving. Using simplified techniques and modern materials, you can create a Native American-style tipi in your back yard using PVC pipe and other materials found at any hardware store.

Things You'll Need

• 12-by-9-foot canvas tarp
• Measuring tape
• Marker
• Spool of rope
• Large bolt or tent peg
• Scissors
• 10 PVC pipes, 3/4 inch by 8 feet
• 2 straight and smooth twigs

Instructions

1. Fold the tarp in half lengthwise and lay it out flat on the ground. Measure 1 foot in on the folded side and mark the spot with a marker.

2. Tie rope onto a bolt or peg and push it into the ground as close as possible to the mark without puncturing the tarp. Have someone hold the rope instead if you are working indoors or on a hard surface. Pull the rope tight and measure 6 feet and cut the rope.

3. Tie the open end of the rope around a marker, then keep the rope tight while moving in an arc across the tarp. Keep the marker down so you create a semicircle line on the tarp. Remove the marker, rope and bolt or peg.

4. Cut a rectangle from the mark and 6 inches toward the inside of the tarp, making a total rectangle of 12 by six inches in the corner. This corner will be used as the top of the tipi.

5. Place three of the PVC pipes parallel and tie them together with the rope, being sure to leave a little slack. Stand them up so that the bottoms create a triangle in the diameter your tipi will be, then lean the rest of the PVC pipes against them with the bottoms evenly spaced out.

6. Pull the tarp around the PVC pipes, then cut four small holes evenly spaced around the top of the tarp. Push the two twigs through the holes so they rest on top of the PVC and hold the tarp in place.

7. Cut a small hole near the bottom of the tarp at each PVC pipe, then put rope through the hole and tie it to the PVC on the inside of the tipi. Leave one flap untied so it can be opened and used as an entry.

Tips & Warnings

• Be sure to use a canvas tarp. Vinyl tarps are noisy in the wind, do not fall properly on the PVC and are prone to tear when cut and tied.

References

• Disney: Backyard Tepee
• We Do Things: How to Make a Tepee in 9,000,476 East Steps