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

[speckledhen]

Wow that is shaping up to be a great coop.

Thanks! Where there is a gap at the front of the pens, we'll trim that out, but we want to do the aisle first and see how that works with the pens on either side. Even making the pens all level and going off the bottom steel framing member (which is level, I checked), the pens on this back side are about a board's width lower than the ones on the front side. I guess that's attributable to building on the ground as it is. At least, with that plywood over the bantam pen, Aimee and her sisters and daughters cannot fly out at will. Now, if they're wandering the aisles, they can fly into someone else's pen until we get something over those, but that will just have to wait.

 

[1muttsfan]

Wow, that just looks GREAT!

 

[speckledhen]

Wow, that just looks GREAT!

Thank you!
Well, it's been raining for 3 days on and off. Not one drip in the barn. My husband thinks maybe a blowing rain pushed underneath the ridge vent, forcing water where normally it wouldn't have. That eastern side doesn't get the brunt of the weather, only when it is one of those "reverse" storms and that last seam faces the east, the side where we got those few drips. Still should not have leaked, but if that's what it is, I'm not sure what they could do to fix that. We will definitely use the spray rubberized clear sealant up there on that last seam and the screws but other than that, I don't guess there's much else to be done.

Peanutsmomma (Angela) was here today and saw the new place in person. I'm sure she'll tell you what she thinks when she gets back home to Alabama.



ETA, the next day: The rain came down in sheets, the wind howled, all night long. This morning, there is not one sign of a drip in the barn. Makes me wonder if a sideways rain did push something under a seam or a ridge vent a couple of times. I just don't know.


ETA, AGAIN! After waking to blue skies and massive puddles, DH let out the birds, though we expected temps to fall and snow/sleet tonight. As soon as he finished coop chores, I was looking out the window, saw a massive black cloud over Watson and Piney Mountains, heard him rushing the girls back inside and went out to help. As soon as we got them inside, the rain started lashing us sideways and as soon as we were inside, this hit us, pea size hail! Ack! What a crazy day! Started out almost 60*, going to mid-30's by late afternoon and snow.

 

[speckledhen]

Going into the 60's this weekend and dry. Saturday, we plan to go to Home Depot and, if they have it (says they do on the web), rent their truck for an hour or so and get all the rest of the lumber we need to finish out the job, including hardware cloth window screens on the inside. And, I hope that by Monday, we'll have most of the painting done as well, at least the parts we need to use the sprayer for.

The truck rental is $19 for the first 75 minutes then $5 per 15 minutes after that. HD is about 13 miles from us and we can just get the stuff, dump it off at home and rush the truck back. I hope they'll honor the military discount. If they balk, will speak to the manager and guilt them that LOWE'S does every time, even on lumber.

 

[aart]

Going into the 60's this weekend and dry. Saturday, we plan to go to Home Depot and, if they have it (says they do on the web), rent their truck for an hour or so and get all the rest of the lumber we need to finish out the job, including hardware cloth window screens on the inside. And, I hope that by Monday, we'll have most of the painting done as well, at least the parts we need to use the sprayer for.

The truck rental is $19 for the first 75 minutes then $5 per 15 minutes after that. HD is about 13 miles from us and we can just get the stuff, dump it off at home and rush the truck back. I hope they'll honor the military discount. If they balk, will speak to the manager and guilt them that LOWE'S does every time, even on lumber.

Sweet!
Might want to call and reserve truck?...cause Saturday and all... and never trust web inventories.
.....and ask about discount too?

 

[speckledhen]

Sweet!
Might want to call and reserve truck?...cause Saturday and all... and never trust web inventories.
.....and ask about discount too?

Will call to see about reserving the truck but the discount, well, from experience, you really have to be there and talk to someone face to face, not over the phone. Some will let you have it regardless of the rules, depending on how you approach them. Have to play it just right with HD.


ETA: HD said they just got the truck, didn't think many people even knew about it yet, didn't think it had to be reserved, to just come get it Saturday. And the barn again had no wet inside though we had 40 mph winds and rain/sleet. So, after days of rain, some torrential, no leaks. Puzzling, isn't it?


ETA, again. Apparently, the associate had no idea what she was talking about-someone else told DH that was the store use truck, only. Neither local HD offers the truck rental. The closest that has it is an hour away, hardly worth the trouble.

BUT, problem solved! A young lady in Murphy is going to help us pick up our lumber and get it home. We put an ad on the FB online yard sale in Murphy, NC, the closest town to us (we are RIGHT on the NC border) for someone to do the job for $50. That will save us about $40 over the Lowe's delivery price and someone else can make a few bucks. She is picking up her dad from his work about 5 min from the Lowe's at 3 p.m. and will meet us there in her F150 truck to load up and take it to our house. We've had pretty good luck finding people to do stuff on the FB yard sale sites.

Here is a funny for you, though. Tired of alarm companies calling us in spite of an unpublished number, you know, the ones who say they'll install for free if you put a sign in your yard, DH had a rare moment of mischievousness.

Caller: Do you have an alarm system?
DH: If you count the dogs who will eat you alive if you come on the property, yes.
Caller: But, what would happen if you wanted to go away for the weekend?
DH: Well, then, I'd come back to body parts.
Caller: Let me get you a supervisor.
DH: Ma'am, we live on top of a mountain and I'm not interested.

 

[speckledhen]

We have the rest of the studs and even the 2x2s to make hardware cloth window screens for the inside. And I got some oops paint at Lowe's but never had this before. Each little jar holds 8 ounces and was marked down from $3.48 to just 50 cents. Two are Lunar Tide and one is Belle Grove Buff, very close in tone but the lunar has a hint of green in it. Since my flash washed out the color, I'm attaching a swatch from the Valspar site.




In the jars, they don't look that much different like they do in the online swatches, but who cares? They'll probably be painting nest boxes. They're satin finish.

Lunar Tide

Belle Grove Buff

 

[speckledhen]

Progress report with pics: Xander's pen is finished other than the roost. Atlas's roost is partly done. The bantam pen has a roost installed. Still must do the #6 pen, the extra one where Wynette will probably end up raising her chicks and the storage area floor, as well as roosts for two hen groups. The bantams and the retired hens as well as Xander's hens have nests that just need to be moved into their new spaces. I'll have to build a nest area for Deacon's girls and that is in progress. I think I may be able to go with just the paints I have other than the 5 gallon buckets of that flat paint that is 3 years old already. I only need walls, floors, nests and roosts and I think with all the partial gallons we have here from the house plus the ones I bought, we're good.

 

[aart]

Nice!

 

[Mini Meat]

Wow the amount and quality of work you and hubby have achieved is to be applauded. I am truly impressed.

Question are the steps, steps or roosts?