Converting an Old Shed

[DonyaQuick]

Bottom boards on. Will need to landscape staple the HWC down in places or just load it up with rocks but a lot of the spare rocks got used in the drainage ditch around the shed, so bizarrely I'm a bit short on rocks at the moment.

Will be adding more screws and washers to secure the HWC over time. For now have just done under the highest-traffic door since I slipped in the rain and almost ripped the skirt off there.

This is the current solution for keeping the door shut after I go in. I've used the same thing on my smaller prefab coop and it was sufficient so don't imagine I'll need to change this but it is a bit fiddly.

 

[DLA]

Bottom boards on. Will need to landscape staple the HWC down in places or just load it up with rocks but a lot of the spare rocks got used in the drainage ditch around the shed, so bizarrely I'm a bit short on rocks at the moment.

View attachment 3631926

Will be adding more screws and washers to secure the HWC over time. For now have just done under the highest-traffic door since I slipped in the rain and almost ripped the skirt off there.

This is the current solution for keeping the door shut after I go in. I've used the same thing on my smaller prefab coop and it was sufficient so don't imagine I'll need to change this but it is a bit fiddly.
View attachment 3631927

Better than my solution to keep the door shut and stop a chicken break out when I go in - I have a little bungie cord that I hook to the hardware cloth on the door and the run, just never got around to putting in a latch. That's funny about being short of rocks. It's very rocky in parts of my yard too and I used many of mine in a drainage ditch also and had to go around scrounging thru the landscaping and looking for old cement block pieces and paving stones and such to cover my hardware cloth.
Your project is really looking great, I've very impressed. Fantastic job!

 

[DonyaQuick]

That's funny about being short of rocks. It's very rocky in parts of my yard too and I used many of mine in a drainage ditch also and had to go around scrounging thru the landscaping and looking for old cement block pieces and paving stones and such to cover my hardware cloth.

Too many of the things when you jut need to dig and not enough around when you actually need some!

Better than my solution to keep the door shut and stop a chicken break out when I go in - I have a little bungie cord that I hook to the hardware cloth on the door and the run, just never got around to putting in a latch.

I think I'm going to have to reverse which piece is screwed in where with that. Right now the swing arm bit is on the frame becuase those things are a pain to install since you just have to twist it in by hand. But now to close it I have bring the door shut then grab the latch on the frame vs. just close-and-latch in one motion with one hand. So if I'm going in one handed like with a wiggly chicken in the other, it could be a bit challenging until I swap those around. Also realizing there is no good place to put a regular handle on the inside as I did it so I have to pull it by friction on the wood or that little loop...oops.

I like the bungie idea too - I might steal that actually, although for a different part of the door. The way I put the hinges on, it's proof against getting ice or compacted snow in the hinge during winter because it doesn't close flush (something I have trouble with on my prefab where the hing sits fully inside the wood bits) but if a good gust catches it and the door slips out of my hand, it could put a lot of strain on the hinges whacking the door out all the way since there's nothing to catch it. My husband and I were trying to figure out how to do a door stop for it that wouldn't become a pain under snow so the door can hit something else before reaching the extent of the hinge. A kind of loose bungie on the HWC that only goes taught when it's nearing fully open would also work to keep the hinges safe in winds.

 

[DLA]

Too many of the things when you jut need to dig and not enough around when you actually need some!


I think I'm going to have to reverse which piece is screwed in where with that. Right now the swing arm bit is on the frame becuase those things are a pain to install since you just have to twist it in by hand. But now to close it I have bring the door shut then grab the latch on the frame vs. just close-and-latch in one motion with one hand. So if I'm going in one handed like with a wiggly chicken in the other, it could be a bit challenging until I swap those around. Also realizing there is no good place to put a regular handle on the inside as I did it so I have to pull it by friction on the wood or that little loop...oops.

I like the bungie idea too - I might steal that actually, although for a different part of the door. The way I put the hinges on, it's proof against getting ice or compacted snow in the hinge during winter because it doesn't close flush (something I have trouble with on my prefab where the hing sits fully inside the wood bits) but if a good gust catches it and the door slips out of my hand, it could put a lot of strain on the hinges whacking the door out all the way since there's nothing to catch it. My husband and I were trying to figure out how to do a door stop for it that wouldn't become a pain under snow so the door can hit something else before reaching the extent of the hinge. A kind of loose bungie on the HWC that only goes taught when it's nearing fully open would also work to keep the hinges safe in winds.

So true about the rocks. That was a really good idea to put the hinges in that way so ice doesn't get built up.

 

[DonyaQuick]

This morning I let the main flock out of the old setup, left the new run door open, and they all just marched up there straight away and put themselves inside; I just closed the door afterwards. There were no snacks in there for them or anything. I can't think they will continue to be this well behaved...surely once the novelty has worn off it will be back to giving me the run around while they frantically try to eat a few more dandelions.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Most important upgrade so far: chairs to sit and relax with chickens. Or...I guess one chair for people and one chair for Fuzzy the olive egger pullet.

This is the current plan for the "chunnel" to connect the shed coop to the run. Scale isn't exact; it will have to be built in place since the measurements are going to be all weird. The solid square on the side is where a side access door is intended to go in case I need to service the auto door it connects to...or more likely to move chicken butts off of the auto doof frame at night so the sensor will let it close.

On the shed side, the big door header got replaced and some new siding added. Don't have pics of that yet.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Wasn't able to get clear pics of the damage and repair in progress, but this is the final result for that rotten header that showed up as a lovely curve ball near the end of the shed rennovation. Had to be braced with an extra piece of wood, bad header and some other wood removed and replaced, and a strip of new siding added. The whole reason that section had to be replaced is that whoever had done a repair there in the past couldn't be bothered to either overlap the siding or use any kind of sealant/flashing/etc, so water had been draining straight inside through a few small gaps that were hard to see. Should be well-protected now.

The light areas are wood putty to repair some crumbly bits but where it wasn't worth full siding replacement.

My husband is currently building new doors for this area. These aren't going to be main access doors for daily routine stuff; that'll be the white doors I showed before. These big doors will be more of an occasional access point for the tractor's loader so I can either bring in a bunch of stuff or shovel bedding out in large quantities.

Meanwhile, I didn't get a pic of the antics unfortunately, but when it was time for the main flock to go back in their current enclosure after some forage time today, Mr. Monster made a big disgruntled groan and stomped off to try to put himself away in the shed instead. I think he's getting sick of waiting for the upgrade lol.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Applying screws and washers every so often to the HWC in the run to have more strength than staples. Got plenty of "help" installing these along the bottom.

Still need to do another row further up. Should've started on this particular item a bit sooner because I had to blow out all the leaves first and then more managed to get in while I was working on it. Stuff for the chickens to pick at I guess.

 

[DonyaQuick]

New big doors...

They still need a bit of tweaking because the opening is not perfectly rectangular, so the fit is difficult. Will be adding some HWC or something on the inside of the windows to permit light while adding some protection so that (A) Mr. Monster can't catapault himself into the window itself and break out and (B) a racoon/possum/etc. can't somehow do similarly to break in. There is basically no direct sun from this side when the trees have leaves so the windows should not be a heat-up risk in summer (and if they do get just a smidgeon of sun in winter, no bad thing really with the winter temps here)

 

[DonyaQuick]

Predator proofing of ventillation in progress.