Coop on unlevel ground?

[tanyizzle]

I'm considering building a coop on a slight grade. When putting in the base posts, do they need to be set in concrete or can they just be dug in a bit? I know with a deck or what not that a person would actually be on they would need to be properly setup, but im curious if anyone has experience with doing this for a chicken coop? This is the grade they'll be on, along the side of the garage with the coop going the long ways.

 

[patandchickens]

You have a couple choices.

If you live somewhere with virtually no freezing temperatures in wintertime, you only need the coop to be stable; you could potentially just do uneven-height blocks, or at most dig posts in very shallowly. Though if the coop will be tallish/narrowish you might want to add earth anchors to keep it there in storm winds, and there is always the hazard of the ground shifting unevenly underneath a coop that is merely perched atop the ground (to some extent you can shim to fix, tho)

If you live somewhere that the ground freezes in wintertime, though, you really wanna either make the thing ENTIRELY floating atop the surface, which is likely to result in uneven settling over time if you're on a slope; or sink posts WELL BELOW your local frostline. By frostline I don't mean "how deep your ground usually freezes in most places", I mean look up what your local building code demands and maybe go a bit deeper yet -- that will reflect how deep it can freeze when the ground is bare of snow or the snow has been compacted into ice, which frequently happen around coops.

Burying posts not-deeper-than-frostline will just net you huge frustration in the long run.

You generally need not set posts in concrete, however, that is a waste of time unless you are trying to add weight (anchoring vs winds) or are sinking fenceposts that will experience substantial sideways pressure in soft soils (not an issue in your situation at all). Actually concreted-in posts tend to rot off a bit faster than ones just buried normally. Make sure to tamp the soil HARD around the post every 4-6" of refill depth as you go.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[YYZ]

Sometimes the least expensive and complicated coops make the best ones. great advice above!

 

[superchemicalgirl]

i just leveled mine off with different sized blocks. The slope really helps to avoid mud in the coop area during spring thaw (although there's ALWAYS mud)

 

[jamband]

blocks would probably be fine. If you are going to do posts I would concrete them for the extra strengthyou have the hole already. A post in just dirt no matter how packed will move if pressed enough. Same priciple behind corner and direction change fence posts. All the weight from the coop transfer down on the posts and also out at 45 degrees. The cement gives it extra support. Alternatively use crushed bluestone and get the same effect.

The main reason posts rot is due to low soil levels around the post causing sitting water. Fill the concrete to an inch above grade and slope it away from the post to avoid that. Also remember to make the bottom of the hole wider than the top to counteract frost heave if its an issue and like pat said make sure you go deep enough

 

[Kaitie09]

This is our goat/chicken shed. It is on about a 30-40 degree slope and we used blocks. We buried one in the ground, and then stacked the others. Once they were stacked, we poured cement into them to create one large concrete post. This picture was from when it was almost finished.

Here is the front when everything was almost done

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
This is not relevant for a typical backyard coop. There is very little lateral force exerted on a typical coop (as opposed to, say, a corner post in a high-tensile fence, or the middle of a long line of solid 6'-high privacy fence) and the vertical force is trivial in any but the VERY muckiest soil that no sensible person would build a coop on anyhow.

Concrete footings sometimes do matter. Not, however, for the extreme majority of coops.

Alternatively use crushed bluestone and get the same effect.

Don't do this if you get significant frost in the ground (up north here).... it causes TERRIBLE frostheave, it is probably the frostheave-iest scenario there is. The crushed stone grabs into the post real bad and lifts it every millimeter that the ground does; and then of course leaves it up there come thaw.

JME,

Pat​

 

[cooper38]

I would recomend using posts buried deep enough to be below the frost line and concrete them in as opposed to setting them on blocks . Then anchor them to the floor system. Be shure to use treated posts or even locust posts would work. One thing this helps with is wind. Wind can get under a building and cause uplift and move the building off the blocks or any unsecured foundation.

 

[jamband]

Quote:
I agree in most cases it wont matter however you have the holes and for 10 dollars you can fill them with bell bottom concrete and have less worries about shifting and leaning.




Quote:
if you used the small crused bluestone it will basically turn into concrete The stone is so small and the dust settles in. If you bell bottom the hole and pack the stone it works like concrete. I put 400 ft of fence in using that on all the posts in a cold winter climate and its still there 10 years later with no issues. Using crushed stone in that manner is an age old technique used by many.

 

[jamband]

Hey Katie, nice coop. Have you all had any settling issues or lift issues with only one block buried? Just curious how the home made piers worked for you.