Anyone have the "Garden Coop"?

[gumbita]

I bought the plans years ago to build The Garden Coop and after buying a prefab coop that is frustrating to clean, I'm going to bite the bullet and build it! So I had a few questions for anyone who has built it or uses it:

1. How much about did it cost you? I'm going to be modifying the plans a bit and making it a little bigger and my guess it will be $1000...

2. Anything you like or dislike about it, or things you would change if you built it again?

3. I'm in Houston so I love the fact the top of the coop is open for ventilation. But I also question that with rain or when it gets cold. Mostly rain. Do you find the coop gets wet? I don't want my girls sitting in there soaking when the rain is blowing sideways!

Thank you!

 

[gumbita]

 

[Nekopan]

Interested in reading replies. I am tempted to buy the plans as well. I was considering the Garden Loft as I don’t think I could ever design an effective coop myself.

 

[yickenscarf23]

A grand seems kinda steep. How big are you going? I'm $150 in on an 8 by 10 walk in and I don't see us hitting $400 by the end of it.

 

[khorvath]

A grand seems kinda steep. How big are you going? I'm $150 in on an 8 by 10 walk in and I don't see us hitting $400 by the end of it.

Woah... How have you managed that? I'd love to see your coop and how it turned out. Lumber is expensive so you must have some good tips to save.

 

[perkolator]

Wow seems like a lot of money for materials to build a coop using pallet wood siding -- but then again materials in general can be expensive depending on how/where you purchase them. The roof panels and roll of hardware cloth is the most expensive part on the coop pictured - likely around $30/panel and $150/roll. My coop ran me under $1500 but I also splurged on pressure treated lumber because I got free used roof panels