Another weekend has finally arrived... back to work on coop

[gtaus]

What are the cheapest slabs of wall material that I can get at Home Depot or Lowe's that can somewhat withstand weather?

The least expensive option I found was to use 7/16 inch OSB and then paint it. My coop is only about 8 months old, but the painted OSB appears to be weathering just fine.

 

[Panhandler80]

For the roof and sides, I prefer Metal. If you are going to put shingles on the roof, 3-tab shingles are very easy to work with. On the back side of the shingles, they have marks on where to cut-making it idiot proof! Architectural shingles are more durable (and look better imho). They are thicker, making them just slightly more cumbersome to work with. Try it match the color of shingles to the roof of your house. I strongly suggest you lay 30# felt on top of the OSB before you put your shingles on. It's usually the same price but far superior to the 15# felt. Don't forget to install drip edge, this helps protect the edge of your OSB. If doing a standard pitched roof ( looks like a /\ ) and not a single slope, I highly recommend adding a full length ridge vent. This adds ventilation the full length of the structure. And finally FWIW-I don't recommend flat roofs. They will ALWAYS leak! Just my 2 cents.

Have some leftover tin. As do most folks here thanks to Hurricane Michael (sustained 155 mph storm, btw. Most folks didn't hear much about it for some reason). Going to put 5/8 decking down then metal.

 

[Panhandler80]

Coop way easier than rebuilding a dock....


This wasn't a bad first attempt at a project either.....

 

[pintail_drake2004]

Have some leftover tin. As do most folks here thanks to Hurricane Michael (sustained 155 mph storm, btw. Most folks didn't hear much about it for some reason). Going to put 5/8 decking down then metal.

If can save some money on the 5/8" sheathing, and apply 1x3 or 1x4 furring strips to screw your metal too. In my area, 5/8" sheathing is ~$17/4x8 sheet, but furring strips are about $1/ea. Measure the metal and snap a chalk line where to put the screws (if you're not confident you'll hit the strip every time). I strongly suggest you put down a vapor barrier (I always used fan fold insulation R-1) then your metal.

 

[Panhandler80]

The least expensive option I found was to use 7/16 inch OSB and then paint it. My coop is only about 8 months old, but the painted OSB appears to be weathering just fine.

Not all that chea

If can save some money on the 5/8" sheathing, and apply 1x3 or 1x4 furring strips to screw your metal too. In my area, 5/8" sheathing is ~$17/4x8 sheet, but furring strips are about $1/ea. Measure the metal and snap a chalk line where to put the screws (if you're not confident you'll hit the strip every time). I strongly suggest you put down a vapor barrier (I always used fan fold insulation R-1) then your metal.
View attachment 2030229

Vapor barrier for roof? Yeah, I'd planned on that. Plywood already purchased and drop in bucket of overall cost. Will use it for extra stiffening and, well... Hell... Everything else is over built.

What's the pink stuff in your pic? Good looking coop btw? I had not planned on any thing for walls Other than my exterior other than shooting in my Lowe's Smartside 38 series 4x8 panels directly into studs... And calling walls done. Will trim them out and apply topcoat paint to all of exterior as well as some caulking and flashing.

Winters aren't bad here at all. Especially near the water

 

[pintail_drake2004]

Yes, most roofs with sheathing have felt (also called tar paper in some parts of the country) laid down before the roofing. I highly recommend 30# felt over the 15# felt, it says right on the roll.

The pink stuff is R-1 fan fold insulation, it is commonly used as the vapor barrier in my area on metal buildings. We are hot and humid (we typically see 3 straight months of 100* heat with 99% humidity). In the mornings, the walls and ceiling of metal building will be saturated with moisture. Though, the older metal buildings didn't have the vapor barrier, a lot of new construction in the area does. When I was working construction, I recommended all metal have vapor barrier, its cheap insurance.

 

[Panhandler80]

Yes, most roofs with sheathing have felt (also called tar paper in some parts of the country) laid down before the roofing. I highly recommend 30# felt over the 15# felt, it says right on the roll.

The pink stuff is R-1 fan fold insulation, it is commonly used as the vapor barrier in my area on metal buildings. We are hot and humid (we typically see 3 straight months of 100* heat with 99% humidity). In the mornings, the walls and ceiling of metal building will be saturated with moisture. Though, the older metal buildings didn't have the vapor barrier, a lot of new construction in the area does. When I was working construction, I recommended all metal have vapor barrier, its cheap insurance.

Yeah, for roof I'd considered either tar paper, or a polymer based synthetic underlayment.

I'm not sure about walls. I may just stick with my wood onto studs. Sounds like with that fan fold stuff, you might actually run the risk of trapping moisture inside. Very little R value to it for your cold weather. I'll keep researching later this week.

Thanks.

 

[ColoradoPip]

Very cool! You are building similar to me and I can only work on weekends as well. Not overbuilt, let's call it...well engineered!

pintail and others are correct, you definitely want some kind of moisture barrier between the metal and the wood to help with condensation.

I've been reading a ton on this roof style and it appears the consensus-ed "best" way to install is with plywood (as you already planned), which is lined with felt, insulation, or something, then the 1x4 purlins are on top of that, then the metal goes onto the purlins. Now, you can install the roof many, many ways that people post online are acceptable which works for them. Those include, but are not limited to...
- no plywood and only purlins
- no plywood and only purlins, felt stretched over the purlins
- plywood only
- plywood lined, no purlins
- no plywood or purlins, attach metal to rafters
- I'm sure there's more!

I'm sure there's others. The biggest difference between what you read on general building forums versus what are building is the use case. You will have living, breathing, pooping animals inside. Most people build sheds for storage. To me, this logically dictates well engineering the condensation handling capabilities

Walls..I personally don't insulate because I do not want the chicks/chickens to peck it.

 

[Panhandler80]

Very cool! You are building similar to me and I can only work on weekends as well. Not overbuilt, let's call it...well engineered!

pintail and others are correct, you definitely want some kind of moisture barrier between the metal and the wood to help with condensation.

I've been reading a ton on this roof style and it appears the consensus-ed "best" way to install is with plywood (as you already planned), which is lined with felt, insulation, or something, then the 1x4 purlins are on top of that, then the metal goes onto the purlins. Now, you can install the roof many, many ways that people post online are acceptable which works for them. Those include, but are not limited to...
- no plywood and only purlins
- no plywood and only purlins, felt stretched over the purlins
- plywood only
- plywood lined, no purlins
- no plywood or purlins, attach metal to rafters
- I'm sure there's more!

I'm sure there's others. The biggest difference between what you read on general building forums versus what are building is the use case. You will have living, breathing, pooping animals inside. Most people build sheds for storage. To me, this logically dictates well engineering the condensation handling capabilities

Walls..I personally don't insulate because I do not want the chicks/chickens to peck it.

In agreement on walls. I'm just going to slap up my sheathing, which is also my exterior, and be done with it.

On the roof, the 5/8 ply is already purchased, so I'll slap it down. Will likely go with a synthetic polymer underlayment, no purlins and then my metal. In my mind, the goal with a coop is:

1. Stop actual water from entering coop

2. Have enough ventilation to let chicken-generated moisture and atmospheric moister OUT of the coop.

I'm not sure how the fan fold in the wall serves either of those purposes. I plan to go without it. I will blackjack my floor and several feet up the interior of walls and studs. I have more than adequate ventilation space aloft. On the very bottom of the walls I also plan to drill quite a few holes (will be hardware clothed) so that when the coop finds itself suddenly cooler inside than out (regardless of where chickens are) the air can dump out the bottom.

 

[gtaus]

[OSB is] Not all that chea[p]….

I don't know what you are comparing OSB prices to, but here is what I have to pay locally for 4X8 siding boards:

7/16" OSB is $10.36
1/2" Plywood is $26.99
LP SmartSide is $35.99

So, where I live, OSB is by far the least expensive option if you have to buy siding boards. But, I am curious if you have found a less expensive option than OSB for siding because I plan on building another shed this summer and would like to know if I could get siding boards for less money. Thanks.