Another question about Coop & Run Flooring (2 question actually)

[Surferjo]

Hello All

I'm new to the forum. I been doing quite a bit of reading and I think I have the basics down (well some anyway). I'm picking up 4 baby chicks in 2 weeks (2, buff orpington's, 1buff brahma, and 1 speckled sussex). I live in NY (Long Island)

I'm pretty handy and I would prefer to build my coop/run myself but have a few questions about flooring. I did a search and after reading 2 pages of results I didn't find my answer.

I'm looking to build a 4x9 foot covered structure with the coop raised off the floor to give them extra room for the run. I would like to use PT decking boards on the floor with a generous coat of poly to make it easy to wash off and keep clean. I like the idea of the decking boards because the water will easily wash through them. I'm going to build the floor like a small deck raised off the ground by concrete piers. I'm going to put about 6-12 inches of drainage stone below the deck to give it good drainage. Ill use pine shavings or hay on top. Does anybody see any obvious flaw with this idea?

My 2nd question is for the coop flooring. I notice a lot of people using vinyl stick on tiles for the floor. I would prefer to use ceramic tiles. They are much more durable, easier to clean and would be a better insulator in the winter. I also want to use them up 6-12 inches up on the inner walls of the coop. At that point I could easily hose out the inside. I would also use pine shaving in the coop. Am I going wrong here with this idea?

I also plan on insulating the coop with R15 fiberglass insulation.

Can I make the nest boxes 12" above the coop floor?


Thanks


Joey

 

[4 the Birds]

The wood decking with PT wood for the coop floor will work great! No need to add any poly coating on it. Why add tiles? Keep a generous amount of pine chips and your coop will stay high and dry. I keep reading about people that spray out their coop every day or frequently and I think that is a bad idea (waste runoff!). You want to keep things DRY. The pine chips will clump any runny waste and you can rake or shovel spent bedding out each week or so and add pine chips. You could do a full cleaning a few times a year with a hose and bedding replacement. If you use insulation then it will need to be sandwiched between wood panels. Nest boxes 12" above the floor would work great. Make your roost bars up a little higher. Hope this helps!

 

[Judy]

If you do decide to use vinyl or something similar, I would use a single sheet rather than tiles. Those tiny cracks between the tiles will make cleaning harder, make it more likely they separate or loosen, and provide another spot for lice/mites to hide or lay eggs.

 

[Wildtim]

I wouldnt use deck boards. You can't tile over them and if you could you would lose the cracks for drainage anyway. Even with no cover I think you might get quite a draft coming through the floor come winter.

 

[Surferjo]

I don't think I explained my intentions well, sorry

For the covered run I want to use PT Deck boards (no ceramic tiles are being used for the run). They are meant for outdoor use and should withstand the elements nicely. I wanted to poly them due to the acidic nature of urine/poop. I'm sure a 3-6 inches if pine shavings will absorb most of it but from what I'm reading chickens love to scratch and kick stuff around. At some point it will create a bare spot and it will sit on the boards. A nice thick coat of poly should extend the life of the boards.

Now for the Hen house (not using PT Decking boards for the inside flooring of the hen house, standard 3/4 Plywood). I see a lot of people are using vinyl flooring tiles for the flooring. I was thinking an inexpensive ceramic tile would work out better. Its much easier to clean. I can keep the joints super small and tight and seem the corners and top the grout with a thin coating of aquarium safe silicone. that will make it water right. Ill also put a row of 12x12 tiles up the sides (think of it like tiled baseboard trim) of the hen house (essentially making a tile tub). the tile/mortar will be an infinitely better insulator than vinyl or just wood and now I can actually hose it out when it needs to be cleaned.


That was my thinking ( a little better explained this time

)

 

[AdirondackChick]

We are getting ready to build our new coop as well and I mentioned to my hubby the possibitly of using ceramic tile also. We live in the Adirondack Mountains.... way North of you (just below the Canadian border). He feels that with the harsh winters and frost that our coop will be shifting some during the changing seasons, thus causing the tiles to crack and seperate from the grout. SO..... we are going with a single sheet of vinyl flooring. Just thought I would share.

Tile would be awesome and so easy to clean, I do agree. But our weather here just might not allow it to hold up for one year-so not worth the cost and work of installing it.

 

[JackE]

I would not want to use deck boards, outside or inside, for a coop. Over time, crap WILL pack down in the gaps between the boards. Not only would it stink, it would also provide a great place for mites to hang out. You would have to get a pressure washer to clean it. And we are not even talking about stinking mess #2 that will take place under the deck boards in that gravel area.
Have you ever laid ceramic tile? I have(Bathroom), and with the prep and work involved to properly lay the tile and not have it come loose later on, there is no way, I would want to do that with a chicken coop. You want the best floor protector available? Go to Lowes and get a bucket of Blackjack#57, rubberized roof coat, and slather a heavy coat on to your coop's floor, and forget about it.
You do not need to add any insulation to the coop, chickens already come perfectly insulated. If you go with insulation, you will have to have interior walls. When you have interior walls in a coop, you have provided a great hidden place for mice, bugs, or who knows what else, to set up housekeeping of their own.
Sure, you can put the nestboxes at 12". Just make sure your roosts are higher, otherwise, you'll have crap filled nestboxes.
Jack

 

[Surferjo]

That's an interesting point. Although your winters make mine look like a spring day we still frequently go below freezing. I still thinks its doable. Ill put them down on 1/4" hardy backer board with masonry cement. That would eliminate the possibility of the mortar cracking and instead of grout I could silicone all the joints. That would allow for expansion and contractions without buckling since I wont have any grout. I have seen natural stone slate tiles at home Depot for $1.25 per Sq Ft (on clearance). those would easily withstand even your winters.

 

[RoostersCrow HensDeliver!]

X2 on the roof coating. I WISH I would have been smart enough to use that in my first coop.

 

[JackE]

That's an interesting point. Although your winters make mine look like a spring day we still frequently go below freezing. I still thinks its doable. Ill put them down on 1/4" hardy backer board with masonry cement. That would eliminate the possibility of the mortar cracking and instead of grout I could silicone all the joints. That would allow for expansion and contractions without buckling since I wont have any grout. I have seen natural stone slate tiles at home Depot for $1.25 per Sq Ft (on clearance). those would easily withstand even your winters.

You must REALLY like ceramic tile. Why would you want to go through a multi-step process for a chicken coop floor? Are you going to be showing it on some kind of show circuit? LOL. Man, after that bathroom I did, I didn't even want to look at a ceramic tile. Flashback, knees, baaaaack, no.