Sealing OSB floor

[ewerbos]

I mean real shellac. I found another thread here, actually, where someone recommends sealing OSB with a couple of layers of shellac covered with exterior paint. My husband is skeptical of using the paint also due to it not being as 100% safe as shellac, but I am trying to persuade him. If we do both (plus the underlayment, which I know is overkill but I'm pretty excited by), I am pretty comfortable with the solution.

 

[JackE]

I used the Blackjack 57 in my coop. The stuff has been in there over 6yrs, and looks as good as it did, when it was first laid down. For those reviews that states that it cracks, #1, they probably did not mix/stir it up enough. That's a sure fire way to failure, with the Blackjack. #2, Maybe if the stuff is exposed to all four seasons of weather extremes, on a roof, maybe it would fail after a while. It's not the most expensive roof coat product out there. That's why I bought it in the first place, it's cheap. But it holds up and does a great job under the bedding in a coop. For a coop's wood floor, I don't think you could get a better protector for it, than the Blackjack. Shellac, and paint are not going to work very well, with that waferboard, they are not going to work well, with that rough surface. The Blackjack will totally seal, and stick to it. And there is nothing easier to apply. Just stir well, dump it on the floor and push it around with a paint roller, easy. It will totally seal the floor. Plus the gap, where the floor meets the walls. Moisture, bugs, nothing will get into that sealed gap, once the roofcoat is down.

 

[jvls1942]

I am a retired building contractor.
I know the difference between shellac and poly,,, and I also know that some people intermingle the two.

after awhile the shellac will look like shattered glass.

like I said earlier, you have already made up your mind. all advice is futile.

just saying......jiminwisc....

 

[gregblackburn]

X2 I am nowhere near as experienced as PD but I can say that I have put vinyl down UNGLUED and covered with bedding with absolutely no problems that I can see for the past year. Ventilation is key...plenty of it. You'll need this summer anyway. I have painted and put chicks in new houses within 24 hours because I use a low VOC exterior paint. Again no problems because of adequate ventilation.

I do want to remind you to pay attention to your windows and NOT make the silly newbie mistake I made last year. Know which direction you are likely to get your heavy rain from and make sure you have a way to keep rain out. Thinking about your nice big windows. I didn't take this into consideration and about a month after putting chicks in I was shoveling out all my nice DL because it got drenched. Not fun. On our new chicken house we put most of the ventilation around the top and the big window will be under the covered run....to keep this from happening ever again. Just something to think about. I think it was a real pain for hubby and friend to leave all of that open at the top and cover with hardware cloth...definitely took some time but it has already worked like a charm. Tons of rain and none has ended up in the coop....but plenty of ventilation.

Good call on the rain issue, I didn't think of that. I did make a little plexiglass window that is hung by a chain so I hope that keeps a decent amount of the rain out, but I guess I'll need to check the next time it rains!

 

[royrector]

I stated a coop and run project back in 2013, then life got in the way and it was put on hold. But I am now ready to get back to it and finish the project in time for spring chicks in 2018. The coop will be 10x20, with half that space dedicated to chicken living quarters and the other half for chicken stuff storage.

Right now the plan is to lay OSB down as flooring and then fiberglass and gel coat the chicken living area, including about 6 inches up the walls. I'm not a contractor or construction industry guy (just a retired cop who was a farmer in a life before that) but I am a DIY kinda guy. I re-fiber glassed a boat floor back in the early 1990s and best I remember it wasn't hard to do at all. So I'm thinking I can relearn how to fiberglass and make a moisture proof coop floor that is easy to clean and good for 25 plus years. ;-)

 

[blackdog043]

@royrector Personally, I think your over over thinking/doing it with fiberglass and gel coat. This will do the same thing for you and be a lot easier. What about the wood expanding and contracting with the fiberglass, will it crack?
https://www.lowes.com/pd/BLACK-JACK-4-75-Gallon-Fibered-Waterproofer-Roof-Sealant/3043257

 

[royrector]

@royrector Personally, I think your over over thinking/doing it with fiberglass and gel coat. This will do the same thing for you and be a lot easier. What about the wood expanding and contracting with the fiberglass, will it crack?
https://www.lowes.com/pd/BLACK-JACK-4-75-Gallon-Fibered-Waterproofer-Roof-Sealant/3043257

Well there you go, this just might have changed my thinking and made the project easier. ;-) thanks.

 

[aart]

I used a heavy duty, foam backed vinyl for my floor and poop boards.
When shopping I bent back a corner of all the products, many of the thin paper backed vinyls broke instantly...the one I chose did not and has held up well for 4 years now. It can be slippery, even when dry, with pine shaving bedding over it...for the birds, not for me. I put in a single sheet bent up the sides with no glue just a few screws on the walls. See My Coop for pics.

 

[RonC]

I used the liquid roofing in a can that you get at one of the big box stores to seal my OSB. A couple of coats and don't forget to do the edges.

 

[Rob Tof]

Garage floor epoxy should fix the interior issue.