Building a Woods Coop for DLM in the Shenandoah Valley

[DoozyWombat]

The entire floor does not need to be kept damp, you could simply dump their water out each day into a different place, then there will be a "wet" area and the rest will be mostly dry, then next day you dump it somewhere else and the previous place will be mostly dry again or just damp. You never want the wet to last more than a day or 2 anyway, that's when the anaerobic bacteria start up and you don't want those at all.

More good feedback. Thanks!

 

[Ted Brown]

@MiaS Your coop and garden are beautiful!

 

[MiaS]

I am also concerned about this. I'm 6'1", and have a tendency to not watch where I'm going.

Yes, my DH is 6'3". We/I affectionately call the coop 'the duck house' as he cannot go near it without hitting his head on something it seems. I too, used the metal drip edge on the sides and though my coop is new we've been tested by a pretty wet summer and two major snowfalls (already) and I'm thinking it is going to hold up and do it's job very well.

 

[MiaS]

@MiaS Your coop and garden are beautiful!

Well thanks! All of our rain seems to have agreed with the flowers in particular.

 

[DoozyWombat]

I guess I should post an update. Here is the coop bottom structure. It's just 4x6x12' skids, with 4x4 cross pieces. I put it together with the 4x4s on the bottom, then flipped it, but it probably does not matter, as the 4x4s will not be structurally supporting anything. As long as I squared them off, I could have used two 4x4s instead of four.

Notice that I used 12" decorative blocks for the leveling. They were just laying around after being retired from 20 years as bookshelf supports. As you'll see, I later changed that to bricks, as I didn't think the blocks would have the compression strength.

I had a hard time getting it leveled, as the wood pieces, as straight as they look, are not quite straight. I ended up with one corner (the back right in the picture) about 1/2" higher than the rest. It's all ground contact (GC) pressure treated (PT) wood.

 

[DoozyWombat]

I attached the 4x4s with lag bolts--just one per 4x4. Again, since the only purpose of the 4x4s was to keep the skids from getting out of line, this was all that was needed.

 

[DoozyWombat]

Looks like I skipped a couple of pictures. On top of the framework of skids, which are set 6' apart, are the 2x6 floor joists, which are set 16" on center (so the plywood sheets will split right on a joist.) The outside framing 2x6s are 11' 9". The outside joists are 8', and all the inner ones are 7' 9". That lets them overlap in different directions. On top of the flooring structure are the 3/4" plywood sheets. I put the middle one down first, to make sure I had everything split on top of the joists, but it came out okay.

All wood to this point is GC PT.

Everything is nailed with galvanized 3 1/4" nails, using an air nailer. I would love to use screws, but the time and sweat savings with a nailer are unbelievable, and I used a lot of nails. The joists are all toe nailed into the skids and 4x4s. If the building starts showing some separation, I'll go back and put some long screws in.

Here is the floor, covered with Black Jack 57. The can says a gallon covers 50 square feet. This floor is 96 square feet (8x12), and I barely made it stretch. It took a lot of work, but I think it was enough, even though it was pretty thin in some places.

I have to say the BJ 57 is as tough as they say it is. Really good stuff, like a painted on rubber sheet, but a word of warning: You'd better have a drill-based paint stirrer, because it is a little like stirring cement. It's that thick, and it separates and dries very fast. Get a cheap, wide brush and throw it out after. By the time you finish painting a gallon of this stuff on, you won't be able to get the brush clean.

You can also see that I've replaced the decorative blocks with bricks. I'm still going to have to stabilize them from horizontal movement.

 

[Ted Brown]

@DoozyWombat A word of caution.

The copper used in pressure treated wood will cause normal fasteners & hangers (screws, bolts, including standard galvanized, etc) to deteriorate and break down in a relatively short time (3 years or less). All fasteners including must be ACQ (or equivalent) certified; galvanized must be "hot dipped", of heavier thickness than normal and certified to be used with PT.

 

[DoozyWombat]

@DoozyWombat A word of caution.

The copper used in pressure treated wood will cause normal fasteners & hangers (screws, bolts, including standard galvanized, etc) to deteriorate and break down in a relatively short time (3 years or less). All fasteners including must be ACQ (or equivalent) certified; galvanized must be "hot dipped", of heavier thickness than normal and certified to be used with PT.

Thanks! The lag bolts on the skids are stainless, and the nails used on all the PT wood are hot dipped galvanized ring shanks (from Harbor Freight.) I don't see any certifications, so I hope that's good enough. I'm shooting bright smooth finish nails for the standard lumber.

I guess I'll have to inspect a couple of times per year, and make sure things aren't working loose. If they are, I might have to put in a few certified extra fasteners.

Thanks again for the caution.

 

[DoozyWombat]

It's very slowly getting there. Still have to put the upper roof joists on. I also discovered I will need to put blocking in to support the polycarbonate roofing panels. They are too flimsy to support a snow load without it.