Very large flat hardware mesh roof

[Rachelz]

Hi there! New member with week old chicks in my basement brooder, frantically building a coop and run! Here is my question for anyone who is handy and has built a really large run. We're going to build a super large run, and want a very large run off a shed turned coop. The area would be maybe 12x12ish. How would you build the roof panels for the hardware wire and keep it from bowing in the middle? We could slope the run roof off the shed roofline, but it would mean a much more difficult cleaning process. Thanks in advance from a former lurker!

 

[Evadig]

Hi there! New member with week old chicks in my basement brooder, frantically building a coop and run! Here is my question for anyone who is handy and has built a really large run. We're going to build a super large run, and want a very large run off a shed turned coop. The area would be maybe 12x12ish. How would you build the roof panels for the hardware wire and keep it from bowing in the middle? We could slope the run roof off the shed roofline, but it would mean a much more difficult cleaning process. Thanks in advance from a former lurker!

Hi and ! Hang on and I'll get you a picture to show (I have that exact setup).

 

[Rachelz]

Thank you!!!!

 

[Evadig]

Sorry this is not to scale. I can’t find a picture of my own, still looking though!

 

[Rachelz]

Sorry this is not to scale. I can’t find a picture of my own, still looking though!

Anything you can add would be a complete blessing! How did you keep the middle from bowing? We are in the Midwest, so lots of snow, cold and shrinking and expanding are in our future!

 

[Evadig]

Ok. I can't find any pictures of the entire roof, but hopefully these give you an idea .

 

[Evadig]

To keep it from bowing you could put in posts, like porch columns. I don’t think it should bow too much if they’re shorter pieces. But if you have a lot of snow/rain, you might want to seriously consider a slanted run. ‘Cause mine isn’t slanted, and all the water congregates on the roof and drips through the tarp onto my birds even though I tried to make a slanted roof with plastic over the tarps.

My winterized coop/run

 

[McChooky]

I bought multiple 10 ft rolls of 1/2" hardware cloth in a close out but they only had enough of the 2 ft wide rolls.Fortunately I hadn't added my rafters yet so I placed them on 2 ft centers. (My run is 8 x 16)
It took a couple wks to get the rafters up and attach all the hardware cloth with poultry staples.I also divided my run in the middle and added a door so it has additional support in the middle.

 

[McChooky]

My roof drops 1" every foot which had been sufficient for my area zone 6. For additional support I used 4 x 4 posts in the center to attach a door and separated my chickens into 2 flocks

 

[DobieLover]

We're going to build a super large run, and want a very large run off a shed turned coop.

Excellent.

The area would be maybe 12x12ish.

This isn't that large. You can get conventional lumber at your big box stores to frame out a roof with that span.

How would you build the roof panels for the hardware wire and keep it from bowing in the middle? We could slope the run roof off the shed roofline, but it would mean a much more difficult cleaning process.

Why use hardware cloth when you can just put a solid roof on it and not have to clean anything off and not have to mess with tarps to try to keep the run dry?

Where are you located in general? It's best to update your profile with that information. For this thread, we'd need to know about live loads that your roof may experience and the soil heave on which your structure will be built.

I'm in snow country with a code footer depth minimum of 42". I also converted a large shed into a coop and built a large run off of it. My run is 12' x 24' with an 8x4' jog off the back of the coop.

I dug 42" holes for concrete piers to anchor 4x4 PT posts to at 8 ft on center then topped the two supporting walls with doubled 2x6 beams to support 14'x2x6 rafters with the tails hanging off the front and back to offer a little overhang to keep water from running down the walls. I added 2x4 PT supports at 4ft on center between the posts to support 4' wide strips of 1/2" hardware cloth on the walls and out 18-24" over the ground for the predator apron.

I decided on asphalt shingles for the roofing material but metal roofing could also be used depending on climate and the amount of shade offered at the build site. I wouldn't recommend metal roofs in the blazing sun because they will radiate heat down into the structure.