Converting an Old Shed

[3KillerBs]

Some of the vertical supports for that thing are just staying where they are because of pressure from above and like...one measily nail. It's really bad. So that whole thing will have to go...just not sure yet how to do the disassembly without a big crash of stuff coming down.

Yikes!

Be safe with this!

 

[DonyaQuick]

Yikes!

Be safe with this!

I will admit I did ask my husband if he would be ok with me whacking it with his digging spike and then running the other way real fast lol.

Ended up doing a very slow, 2-person deconstruction of the danger part of the tower of wobbly wood shelf stuff on the left from the original photos. Definitely was a job for 4 arms. It's all out now though. Just have to move some stuff back over and work on the right side now to get that white metal cabinet down safely.

Oh, and I found this during the deconstruction of the wobbly wood tower. This was a weight-bearing cross-beam. And yes that is 1 screw in at an angle. Nothing else. I don't think any of the structural parts of the shed itself have shenanigans like this tucked away, but I will have to keep an eye out.

Meanwhile...

 

[3KillerBs]

I don't think any of the structural parts of the shed itself have shenanigans like this tucked away, but I will have to keep an eye out.

On this property we found the weirdest mix of way over-built to the point of absurdity (as in putting in so many screws that the integrity of the wood was compromised), and ridiculously careless.

Craziest thing, the previous owner had supposedly made a lot of money as a building contractor.

 

[DonyaQuick]

On this property we found the weirdest mix of way over-built to the point of absurdity (as in putting in so many screws that the integrity of the wood was compromised), and ridiculously careless.

Craziest thing, the previous owner had supposedly made a lot of money as a building contractor.

Oh no...when cleaning it out I found some old building site plans and notes for other properties the previous owner must've been working on. Well, I guess I will keep an extra careful eye out for surprises then lol.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Oh.....my....god.

I am so upset right now. I am going to have to take all of the OSB and insulation out to be safe. That is not water damage, it's rodent mess. And there was basically a solid wall of it across the gap before the insulation collapsed. Tons, and tons of rodent mess. OSB is cheap so it's not so much the expense as the time, effort, and biohazard setback that gets me with this. The smell that wafted out of some of those areas was hideous once the panels were off. I don't know why neither my husband nor I could smell it until the panels were off.

The singular good thing I have learned in this is that there are very likely no living rodents left. How do I know that? Snakes. Snakes all mixed into one area of the rodent mess. Lots of snakes. Non-venomous fortunately.

 

[aart]

OSB is cheap so it's not so much the expense

You won't want to replace it....they'll just move back in.

 

[3KillerBs]

Oh.....my....god.
View attachment 3487137
I am so upset right now. I am going to have to take all of the OSB and insulation out to be safe. That is not water damage, it's rodent mess. And there was basically a solid wall of it across the gap before the insulation collapsed. Tons, and tons of rodent mess. OSB is cheap so it's not so much the expense as the time, effort, and biohazard setback that gets me with this. The smell that wafted out of some of those areas was hideous once the panels were off. I don't know why neither my husband nor I could smell it until the panels were off.

The singular good thing I have learned in this is that there are very likely no living rodents left. How do I know that? Snakes. Snakes all mixed into one area of the rodent mess. Lots of snakes. Non-venomous fortunately.

Oh my!

I'm afraid this is why we so often recommend against any kind of insulation or closed void spaces in a chicken coop.

 

[DonyaQuick]

You won't want to replace it....they'll just move back in.

Oh my!

I'm afraid this is why we so often recommend against any kind of insulation or closed void spaces in a chicken coop.

The double wall has a significant impact on temperature that I wanted to keep. Even with direct sun hitting the side, it stays notably cooler than the ambient hot temperatures in summer, which is not something I can say for other non-insulated structures I've been in around here.

I guess I'll wait until it's all out and then see how much of a mess it makes the plans I had for the floor. I wanted a linoleum layer with a significant lip up the side to accommodate up to 6" of bedding in the winter without it being in contact with beams. That's easy over the OSB since it's flat and creates a rectangular interior, not so easy if I have more janky shapes instead.

 

[DizzyDelights]

We’ve just done the same thing! Ours is nowhere near the size of yours, but bigger than it was. It was originally a child’s Wendy house but had been used for chickens for over 20 years, it was around 40 years old as it had been used for several children for a little over 20 years, so was completely rotten in some places. The floor was particularly bad as it had been wet from chicken poop and had been chewed by rats who chewed under and over the sheet metal strip fixed around the bottom. Busy with emerging ducklings at the moment but will post photos over the next few days.
Good luck with yours.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Don't have everything removed but definitely looking like I need the OSB to do the linoleum floor as intended without having to run it around a bunch of weird shapes and having to find some other way to protect the beams themselves. Doesn't look like insulation foam of the sort I pulled out is even possible to get anymore; that stuff was really thick and multiple layers of the 1-2" stuff would get expensive fast. Probably isn't needed anyway; I doubt the foam was doing much in its decrepit state so much as the air gap.

New plan is still to rip the old OSB off, but then small spray foam or caulk seal all gaps between beams and siding (after some siding replacement) and do the OSB again. This will leave a space but it won't be a mouse-width space between foam and wood like seemed to facilitate the old infestation. Most of the trails they were following were utilizing that small gap rather than burrowing straight through the foam. The damage is also all old; none of this stuff is fresh. So far I know what they were feeding off of (found the bags during cleanup) and I found the main entry point they were using. It may not be ideal but there are a lot of things I would change if I was doing this structure from scratch - which would be a lot more expensive than some OSB replacement.

The floor was particularly bad as it had been wet from chicken poop and had been chewed by rats

That's what I'm hoping to avoid by eventually putting a layer of linoleum in; hopefully easy to clean while keeping moisture away from the floor boards and vertical beams. In the event someone breaks an egg by rolling it out of the nest box I also worry about egg goop potentially soaking into the wood and attracting things.