Coop floor- pressure treated? Thompsons water seal or paint?

[TcherDawn]

My husband is graciously using his time to build me a coop inside the back corner of our barn. He already bought pressure treated plywood for the floor. He wants to know if we should paint it or put on Thompson's water seal (or something similar) or buy/get some linoleum? I told him I would ask my friends on BYC for advice. Thanks. Dawn

 

[EricT]

Linoleum worked great for ours. Found a nice size remnant roll at lowes really cheap.

 

[TcherDawn]

I will be using pine shavings on it. It will be 8x10, and I have 5 chickens(but would like 5 more next year)

 

[TcherDawn]

Anyone else????

 

[labhaven]

I'm planning on using pine shavings over my cement floor.

 

[elmo]

I primed the plywood inside my coop with Kilz, then I used some left over green semi-gloss paint for looks (the white looked so bright, and I knew it would show dirt).

 

[lleighmay]

My floor is plywood to which I stapled a large vinyl remnant. Over top of that I have been using pine shavings with good results but, with the upcoming fall cleaning, I'm going to try the wood pellets you use in horse stalls to see if it cuts down on the dust. I do like being able to shop vac the floor and mop it before putting fresh bedding down. If you don't want to use linoleum I don't see why you couldn't just paint the plywood with some porch/floor paint which seems to hold up really well.

 

[CityChook]

I have pressure treated plywood as the flooring in my coop as well. I chose to prime (with oil-based kilz) and paint with exterior semi-gloss. It has worked out great and cleans up wonderfully. Any color works fine since it will be covered in shavings anyways - you won't ever see it until you clean....

If you had the Thompson's already, it would probably be fine. But if you have to go out and buy it, I'd choose something else. I used a Behr brand waterproofing/stain/sealant on the exterior of my coop last fall and it peeled up this spring. Maybe it couldn't cope with the bitter cold? Dunno, but very disappointing. That said, I'd definitely cover the wood with SOMETHING and make your life easier when it's time to clean.

 

[NancyDz]

The problem with Thompsons is it wears off fairly quickly . And you'll have to do it at least once a year.

Linoleum is what i use and it is a breeze to clean. I've been using it for over a year and it still looks new. All I did was use a staple gun and staple it down. I just sweep the shavings out , sometimes have to scrape off some but not usually and then put new shavings in. I even put linoleum along the wall where the roost is as they sometimes poop on the wall there. I just wipe that off when necessary.

I got my piece from freecycle but you can get precut pieces at lowe/s or home depot for @ $20-25, fairly decent size. It's easy to cut and place too.


Good luck

 

[TcherDawn]

Thanks to all the answers and advice. We bought a pre fab 8x12 piece of linoleum for $48 at Home Depot. I am sure I will love it when I have to clean it vs wood, and no seams for water to get under.