Converting an Old Shed

[DonyaQuick]

I'd be first concerned about the foundation framing under the floor.
If that's shot might as well not bother bolstering up the rest of it.

Those pieces look ok from what I can tell. The weird space underneath is always dry too. But I guess I'll know for sure when I pull up the boards that are rotted at the edge by the door.

 

[aart]

The weird space underneath is always dry too.

So you can see underneath?

 

[mowin]

Those pieces look ok from what I can tell. The weird space underneath is always dry too. But I guess I'll know for sure when I pull up the boards that are rotted at the edge by the door.

It's possible your sill boards are rotted. But those are the easiest to replace. Hopefully this shed is on PT skids, and the joists are all good.

 

[3KillerBs]

I was wondering about metal roofing but was warned away from it for causing condensation underneath and either dripping into the coop or creating another mold/moisture issue if it drips onto something else. Is that not actually an issue?

Excellent ventilation under a bare metal roof *usually* prevents condensation.

This kind of ventilation:

BUT some climates are more prone to condensation than others and these need some kind of thermal break between the warm, moist air that rises off the chickens and the metal. Installing the metal over wooden roof sheathing is one way of doing this.

Note: This kind of ventilation can still be a good idea under the thermal break because some climates that have a lot of water in the air and temperature swings can even get condensation on the wood.

This is when local knowledge from neighbors is invaluable. If local chicken experience is limited, see what horse owners are doing with stables and loafing sheds.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Note: This kind of ventilation can still be a good idea under the thermal break because some climates that have a lot of water in the air and temperature swings can even get condensation on the wood.

I've not seen it on wood here, but I've seen in metal a lot. Even had it happen inside my PC's case one night since I had to keep windows open in the house to keep it cool. This region can snap from 80F to 50F and 30% humidity to 95% as storms move around. My worry is that any metal will potentially drip onto the thing under it, and any in-between space will also be hard to keep clean.

This is when local knowledge from neighbors is invaluable. If local chicken experience is limited, see what horse owners are doing with stables and loafing sheds.

Uh...well....for the most part there's a lot of unpainted plywood and collapsed sheds and barns lol. There is one big sturdy barn with a metal roof but I can't really do the same thing on the shed as that barn. There's also another big barn that looks old but in good shape that is shingles. I don't know the people who have that one unfortunately; they're a ways out. Most of the houses are shingles so I assume those hold up well enough. I think my shed's shingles are just extremely old.

The shed's current shingles have to go anyway, so I don't need a quick fix of just putting something on top. One of the big flat boards underneath (I don't know the right term for those) needs to be replaced, or at least a portion of it, so my husband wants to just scrape it all off and start from a cleaner slate.

I would do the white PVC(?) corrugated roofing if I could find it thick enough. That material has worked really well on my prefab. I was not expecting my prefab to have much thicker material there than what's available at local stores.

So you can see underneath?

To some extent. There are some places where it's visible from the side with the ladder - the sun in the picture just made that area gray unfortunately.

 

[3KillerBs]

I've not seen it on wood here, but I've seen in metal a lot. Even had it happen inside my PC's case one night since I had to keep windows open in the house to keep it cool. This region can snap from 80F to 50F and 30% humidity to 95% as storms move around. My worry is that any metal will potentially drip onto the thing under it, and any in-between space will also be hard to keep clean.

Then you will certainly need a thermal break and the best ventilation you can manage.

But metal over the roof sheathing instead of shingles will be less work to install.

Normally people say that insulation in a chicken coop is worthless because adequate ventilation means that insulation won't hold heat in. But the thermal break in the roof for a coop in this specific situation and climate is a time when the normal "rule" of not insulating a chicken coop doesn't apply. But only the roof.

 

[DotToDot]

It looks like a great structure! I’m sure it’ll be lots of work, but very satisfyin.

 

[avjudge]

. . . roof is weirdly truncated on one side which lets snow in. I want to keep the ventilation both sides so I guess I need to add some vent covers; I don't think extending the rafters to make more roof will help significantly with stopping snow coming in. On the other side I can stop snow going in by adding something

. . . I don't know what to do about that weird high shelf on the left. I could tear it out, but that's the side with the oddly truncated roof where it's going to be more of a challenge stopping snow getting in. So if I kept that shelf then I could have roosts under there that would have zero risk of any snow getting on chickens.

I don’t understand why sistering the rafters to support a good overhang on that roof would not block snow coming in. And the way it’s built seems to make that very easy, especially since you have to reroof anyway.

But the high shelf — I think it would be referred to as a storage loft — would provide backup protection and could be used for long-term (albeit dusty) storage.

if those cabinets are plywood (as opposed to particleboard or MDF) I would definitely save them to remount elsewhere. You’ve got a lot of space in that shed for storage of chicken needs as well as housing the chickens, and closed storage that protects from the dust is likely to be welcome. But then, I’m speaking as someone who hauled 15” tall wall cabinet from two houses ago that finally found a use as a double nest box in my pigeon aviary!

 

[aart]

I don’t understand why sistering the rafters to support a good overhang on that roof would not block snow coming in.

Snow could still blow in.
Adding a fascia would help but even then....I have to use furnace filter material to keep snow from blowing off the lower roof in thru the upper soffits.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/ventilation-baffling.75434/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-coop-page.65912/

 

[DonyaQuick]

Thought one of those two mucky logs in front was ok even though I knew the other was mush. Heard a crunch on the "ok" one while carrying out something heavy. Apparently should have moved those sooner - it was just a hollow shell. The board immediately behind them was ok.

Cleaned and cleaned the floor today. Soooo much bad stuff in there...tons of nasty broken glass, piles of rusty spilled nails hidden in corners, etc. Going to be pulling out bad floor boards soon. Will be replacing parts of the chipboard along the walls. I don't think it's water damaged from the side; it looked like it was from some mixture of sawdust and spilled grass seed that had been drawing water over there from the roof leak (where the bucket is). It has rained pretty good but now it stays dry.

Also looks like I do NOT get to keep the high shelf on the left up by the ventilation tat's visible in the initial pics I took. The top boards are not in good shape and the whole structure isn't being held in place properly. 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.

Pulled a nice tall wood cabinet out from the right! Will be keeping it for sure, although not inside the shed. The wood on the back is cheap and needs replacing, but the rest is is nice and the hardware is good. The white one mounted on the wall on that side is apparently metal, very heavy, and the entire weight of it held up by....2 really tiny screws. Awful. That's going to be a fun time to take down since I'll have to wedge it up somehow to stop it coming crashing down when I tweak those screws.

Looks like the roof will end up being shingles. My husband will most likely be the one doing that and he's comfortable doing shingles so....that kind of makes the choice there.