Building New Coop/Barn...Phase 5 Great Barn Build, OCCUPIED! 3/6/16

[speckledhen]

Think we got the one we can live with, got the estimate and hopefully, the guy in charge will be back from his honeymoon (older widower getting married again, back Oct 19) and we'll have the foundation done. Posted asking for estimates for that.

This one, with storage area in back is what we're getting, but the roll up door that would normally be put in that opening shown will be on the back, outer wall, will leave that inner one framed so we can do double doors later, which they don't offer. A wheelbarrow can go through the back roll up door, through the double doors and into the center aisle for coop cleaning. Entire building will be enclosed, regular entry door on front end, added an extra foot over the standard 6' leg height, two windows on each side. Will need all the floors, interior work, insulation, extra ventilation, barn fan, pens, etc, etc. But the entire building will be 24' wide and 26' long. Light roof color, either white or light gray for reflective qualities, probably a darker gray siding color.
The storage area is 5' deep and the width of the building, good for all feed/shavings storage. Should be able to put up a loft in the center aisle for overhead storage of hay, etc. The roof panels will be vertical, though, not horizontal as shown in the photo, a more expensive alternative but stronger.

 

[aart]

Someone can assemble it onsite?

 

[speckledhen]

Someone can assemble it onsite?

Yes, the price includes delivery and set up. It's not a bad deal, shopped around and this company gives a bit more for the $$ than others do from what I've seen. I priced out a barn building that was a few feet wider than this one, same length and it was going to be almost 10K without the extra wall to make a storage area. This one will be right at 6K, about the same as a much smaller wood building. The main difference is that because of the depth of this one, the site slopes a bit too much and we'll have to have it graded and gravel put down, at least around the perimeter. In the end, we'll have a much larger and more versatile building.

 

[aart]

Great!!

Glad you found something that fits all, or most, your requirements/needs/desires.

Of course you'll post progress pics here, right?

 

[speckledhen]

Great!!

Glad you found something that fits all, or most, your requirements/needs/desires.

Of course you'll post progress pics here, right?

Of course I will as long as folks are interested.

 

[CLSranch]

Keep going. It's giving me ideas.

 

[speckledhen]

Keep going. It's giving me ideas.

Just had a guy come out. Jason will do the grading and if we get a load of road base/rock dust delivered, he'll spread it out and level it, pack it down, and it will be a good base for he entire coop, says once wet down, it basically hardens up and it's cheap to get. His price for all of that? $600. He also raises chickens so he does that in all his pens/coops and it was his suggestion, never would have thought of it.

We apparently need a permit from the county for this building since it's over $1000. So that will cost $100.


ETA: Granite sand (not road base, but paver base) being delivered tomorrow sometime. We will tarp it for the weekend. Jason will be here Monday if not before to get started on the work. The granite sand was a little more expensive than Jason thought, about $275 for the truckload 1)cheaper than the driveway crush 'n run gravel and WAY cheaper than a concrete slab 2)makes a nice firm floor inside 3) no lumber to buy to build floors 4) no labor to do to build floors 5)cheaper than buying the treated lumber and nails for the gun to build the floors 6) no ouchie for DH's back to build the floors, etc. Thanks to Jason for suggesting it! He says he uses it for all his building floors/bases and he also was saying he thought this big steel building would be much better overall than any wood building we could get for the same price, so much more space, that this is how he houses his own birds. Good to have someone who knows about maintaining chickens. He doesn't think with proper ventilation/air flow and the shady location that it will be any worse in summer than our other coops.

 

[speckledhen]

Oh, I forgot to post the tentative pen plans for inside.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That's been my dream as well, nice set up and I'm very jealous, should be really nice. Keep posting updates please so I can live vicariously through you.

 

[speckledhen]

That's been my dream as well, nice set up and I'm very jealous, should be really nice. Keep posting updates please so I can live vicariously through you.

Sure will do that. So Jason can work better, I spent a couple of hours disentangling the grape vines from the back fence of the original garden, removed 2x4 welded wire fencing and some rebar supports from the ground, dug up a steel post which we embedded in concrete (oh, my aching back!), removed cables strung through them, etc. They will be transplanted on the back perimeter fence in the full sun, not much caring about deer since we don't really use those grapes for eating and I don't care for grape juice much. I just don't want them to die since they have been here for 13 years and just now really starting to produce.

We also transplanted the cherry sapling that is in the future coop area. Have to cut the plum down tomorrow. Going to eat my supper and soak in a warm tub. I'm betting I'll be sore tomorrow after working like the farmer I am, LOL. I keep hearing the Farmer's Insurance commercial jingle, "We are farmers, dun-duh-dun-duh-dun-dun-DUN!".