Building New Coop/Barn...Phase 5 Great Barn Build, OCCUPIED! 3/6/16

[aart]

Quote: I've been building a deck for the past 2 days, I can't say enough about a dose of ibuprofen before a scalding hot shower.

 

[speckledhen]

I've been building a deck for the past 2 days, I can't say enough about a dose of ibuprofen before a scalding hot shower.

Oh, yeah, sounds like where I'm headed in a few minutes. DH made me a hamburger and french fries. He can transplant the grapevines since I did all that heavy stuff today. Hard to believe we're forging ahead with this. I asked DH if he preferred to pay off the Honda CRV or do the building, either would be fine and he said he wanted the building done. We'll have the CRV paid off in less than a year anyway. I didn't argue with that choice, much as I really wanted to

(NOT, lol).


ETA: Deciding on roof and siding colors. Don't want a dark colored roof, but not a white one, either. Maybe the lighter gray? Here are their available colors. Have the name of a man who does steel buildings, may check on his price for the same building:

 

[speckledhen]

We have the granite sand, aka paver base, aka M10 here! It's covered with a humongous blue tarp I found in my dad's basement, didn't realize it was this big, but I'm super glad! Here it is.


This was some excess he dusted off the truck so thought I'd show what it is if you haven't seen it before-this might be the perfect solution for us. I'd never have thought of it, SO much cheaper than an actual concrete slab but it will solidify when wet down (hence the tarp) and form a good base for the metal building and make a good floor, much better than dirt would be, much cheaper and easier than constructing a raised wood floor frame.

 

[1muttsfan]

Cyn, are you concerned the rock dust may be dusty in dry weather?

I would go light color on both the walls and the roof as heat is more of a concern that cold where you are. eg tan walls/white roof ( I like the pebble beige)

 

[speckledhen]

Cyn, are you concerned the rock dust may be dusty in dry weather?

I would go light color on both the walls and the roof as heat is more of a concern that cold where you are. eg tan walls/white roof ( I like the pebble beige)

Actually, the rock dust will be wet down and become solid- it hardens somewhat like concrete, basically what you set sidewalk pavers into. Shouldn't be dusty at all.

I absolutely agree on the light colors for both walls and roof. I'd go white except I keep seeing green mildew on it in my mind, being under the trees, and from our deck, I'd be seeing the roof quite a bit. I wish there was a lighter gray than even the pewter gray. My house is forest green with burgundy trim and the standing coops are shades of green or gray-green, with the smallest and last one we built being almost a bluish-green (oops paint from Walmart). The one closet to the new barn will be the current Old Hens' coop, this one, which is why I thought gray would look good nearby.

 

[aart]

Sweet Pics....love to see all the details.

 

[speckledhen]

Sweet Pics....love to see all the details.

I love watching someone build a huge coop. There are certainly bigger ones but this to me is close to a real barn, which I've always wanted, ever since I played in my grandfather's hayloft as a child.

Back on color again-Maybe the clay or sandstone for the walls and pebble beige for the roof? I love gray but those two shades they offer seem not light enough to me.

 

[aart]

If you're concerned with mold/mildew/whatever grows in the shade there, maybe a light color should be avoided?
Have you had problems with over heating in the dark colored coops that you already have?
You're going to have that huge fan and maybe insulating the roof would be a good idea?

 

[speckledhen]

If you're concerned with mold/mildew/whatever grows in the shade there, maybe a light color should be avoided?
Have you had problems with over heating in the dark colored coops that you already have?
You're going to have that huge fan and maybe insulating the roof would be a good idea?

The entire building will be insulated, certainly, but especially the roof to avoid condensation from moisture inside. We have a metal roof on the original coop but it sits on plywood, not just on metal rafters, so haven't encountered any issues with condensation. We haven't had any real overheating issues with our wood coops, other than Deacon's old coop which wasn't insulated and got full afternoon sun on a big end wall, but this being a metal building, I wanted to do as much as possible to keep it cool in every way I knew how, including using lighter colored metals rather than green or red or dark brown on the roof.

 

[speckledhen]

Rained all night, still raining. So glad we had that giant tarp from Dad's basement to protect the granite sand pile!

This photo is what will be installed on our foundation, except ours is larger and directly behind that big opening in the storage room on the outer back wall will be a 6' roll-up door. My question is this: if we insulate the entire building, walls and roof, how do I insulate that metal roll-up door, or can I? Could be we'll just have to be sure the door we put in the big opening into the main building from the storage room is a solid one, closing off the storage area completely from the chickens' area. The company doesn't offer double doors, only single entry and garage type roll-ups which is why we had them leave that big opening. I want regular doors there, not another roll-up. I had to have the roll-up to allow a wheelbarrow to come in to remove bedding, etc. since that big rubbermaid lawn cart we have wont fit through a regular entry door and I sure ain't taking out shavings one bucket at a time. I mean, the point of this building is to work smarter, not harder, eh?