- Jan 18, 2010
- 250
- 3
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Wow . . . can I ask a very personal question of you folks?
How much did your coops cost? Because here's the thing . . . I eventually decided on getting the Garden Coop's design for a coop because it's just what we need and it's fairly customizable. The whole thing is about 10x7 and 8' high, and we decided (like we've seen others do on the Garden Coop's website) to lop off 1/3rd of it which would make it 6 and a half square (and still 8' high).
I have gone to various lumber yards and so on around the city to find the materials that we need (based on the materials list the plan gave us) and my estimate of somewhere around $350 (maybe closer to $400) seems fairly accurate, even if we have to buy everything new (which we aren't going to have to do because I've been finding some lovely brand-new scrap lumber via Craigslist here and there, got all the cinder blocks for free, and I'm sure we will continue to find recycled stuff!).
Problem is, my brother, who is a professional carpenter and refinisher and who is a nationally recognized shipwright, took one look at the plans we bought from The Garden Coop and asked us what our budget was.
When I said '$350' he said 'Three hundred?' and I said 'Yeah, why?' and he told me that in his expert opinion, the coop plans for the Garden Coup would cost . . . wait for it . . .
FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS.
Um, yeah. And he wasn't kidding. Now, I know there's a lot of lumber involved and hardware and so on, but surely, $5000 seems a bit excessive for a 6x6x8 chicken coop!
He also said that we didn't need plans at all and that we were basically building a box within a box . . . yeah . . . but *I* have never built anything in 3 dimensions (in theatre, we only build one side of a wall as a set piece . . . ) and I *like* plans. So sue me.
Is my estimate really that off? It's not really going to cost $5k for this coop, will it?
Whitewater
How much did your coops cost? Because here's the thing . . . I eventually decided on getting the Garden Coop's design for a coop because it's just what we need and it's fairly customizable. The whole thing is about 10x7 and 8' high, and we decided (like we've seen others do on the Garden Coop's website) to lop off 1/3rd of it which would make it 6 and a half square (and still 8' high).
I have gone to various lumber yards and so on around the city to find the materials that we need (based on the materials list the plan gave us) and my estimate of somewhere around $350 (maybe closer to $400) seems fairly accurate, even if we have to buy everything new (which we aren't going to have to do because I've been finding some lovely brand-new scrap lumber via Craigslist here and there, got all the cinder blocks for free, and I'm sure we will continue to find recycled stuff!).
Problem is, my brother, who is a professional carpenter and refinisher and who is a nationally recognized shipwright, took one look at the plans we bought from The Garden Coop and asked us what our budget was.
When I said '$350' he said 'Three hundred?' and I said 'Yeah, why?' and he told me that in his expert opinion, the coop plans for the Garden Coup would cost . . . wait for it . . .
FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS.
Um, yeah. And he wasn't kidding. Now, I know there's a lot of lumber involved and hardware and so on, but surely, $5000 seems a bit excessive for a 6x6x8 chicken coop!
He also said that we didn't need plans at all and that we were basically building a box within a box . . . yeah . . . but *I* have never built anything in 3 dimensions (in theatre, we only build one side of a wall as a set piece . . . ) and I *like* plans. So sue me.
Is my estimate really that off? It's not really going to cost $5k for this coop, will it?
Whitewater
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