Cleanout door design/pics

[Laurahowemt]

Hi All-

I am about to "finish" my coop this weekend, with one last wall to build. By finish, I mean get the ladies into this thing for the winter, I will keep doing finish work for a while weather dependent. This wall will have two cleanout doors and the pop door. I am NOT a carpenter, and have been scanning photos of how to build a cleanout door, but I can't find photos of the construction details. I only seem to be able to find photos of the door openings framing, and then the finished door. This is an insulated coop, FWIW. Photos of the coop in progress, a couple weeks ago, now I am on the 4th wall, basically the one wall that doesn't yet exist!

 

[21hens-incharge]

Is this last wall the one that will have the cleanout door AND pop door?

How big is the opening?
Are you needing help with the door construction itself?

 

[Laurahowemt]

Yes, sort of. This wall will have two cleanout doors and a pop door between them. Left cleanout door is so that I can get in to open/close windows easier (there will be poop trays there) and the right cleanout door will be for cleanout and accessing water/power.

Total wall opening is just under 8' (nothing is square here, I built it to fit the existing shed/ adjacent garden) Opening about 24" wide, maybe 36" tall. I just need pictures to visualize something to build. Once I finally got a good picture of a liftable nest box door (from outside, photo attached) I had no problem building it. I just need to see different details so I can decide how to build it.

 

[aart]

(there will be poop trays there)

If using a poop boards, no need for a clean out door IMO.
You'll only be cleaning out floor shavings once or twice a year.

 

[Laurahowemt]

If using a poop boards, no need for a clean out door IMO.
You'll only be cleaning out floor shavings once or twice a year.

I know, I said that door will be to access the windows, to open and close them (in storms).

 

[21hens-incharge]

A neat self locking pop door.....

Ok this video is annoyingly long and lacks true details....but the clean out door is a sturdy design. I would definitely be downsizing it especially since you want 2 doors. When you build the frame leave a small gap so when being opened it will clear the door frame.

This is how I constructed one recently.....


Note that the 1x3 trim on the outside top and bottom run the full width while the inside framing top and bottom stop at the uprights. My theory....it helps prevent warping.

Nope I am not a carpenter, engineer or professional wood worker in any fashion. I do think my little door is pretty solid though.

 

[jreardon1918]

I did a quick article on coop clean out. Here is a link to the article. Note that I rarely do a cleanout. This article shows pictures of he coop doors.

Lazy man's coop & run maintenance and composting

Note, I can open close the windows from the front of the coop.