bcorps
Songster
I should have started this thread a while back, but I honestly didn’t think it would take as long as it have. Between my physical decrepitude and the worst weather ever this year (I swear it has rained cats and dogs 90% of the weekends since August), it has dragged on for months. Soooo….I am going to try to document it to share.
I based my design largely on a YouTuber named “Pask Makes”. The guy is flat out incredible in his know how and willingness to take on just about any task. He inspired me for sure. Being an Engineer, and having access to the software, I took was I saw in his videos, and drafted up a custom version for myself. I would up with a combination coop/run 16 feet long by 6 feet wide, and tall enough for me (I’m 6’5”) to walk around in. Getting older (and back surgeries) have made bending over less and less appealing.
At the very least, this effort allowed me to put together a good materials list. Home Depot was kind enough to drop everything in my driveway. Ironically, the nice Hispanic gentleman who dropped the load curiously ask4ed me what it was for. When I told him, he said “I knew it!” and proceeded to get out his phone and show me a bunch of pictures of his coop and chickens at his home. This hobby is a great way to make friends. I probably made him late for his next delivery, but hey...isn’t that worth making a new buddy?
I also (rightly so! WHEW) decided to paint everything before building it. I made the cost decision against pressure treated lumber for everything except the bottom rails and the roof, so I wanted it to be as protected from the elements as possible. This would prove fortuitous, considering how much rain the next couple months would bring. Much of this lumber ended up sitting outside in the very rain that kept me from building it.
I finally got the walls assembled, lying flat in the driveway. I can’t believe I forgot to get pictures of this stage, but given that I was usually dodging rain, and worn out from swearing
, it’s not truly a shock. I have to admit, I underestimated how frustrating this step would be to get everything square. Especially when the side walls aren’t “square” to begin with. That’s where the CAD drawings came in handy. Rather than trying to match the distance diagonally from corner to corner, I had the actual distances available to go from.
Let me tell you, raising the 20-foot long x 8 foot tall front wall up off the driveway and carrying/sliding it back to the back yard by myself was a real adventure. It was very wobbly, and once it got past a 10 degree lean from vertical, there was no stopping it falling over. I dropped it 3 times and had to pick it back up again. Thankfully, I didn’t break anything. I set it up on pallets to keep it from rotting.
The next couple months were the wettest Summer on record for Evansville, IN. I literally got next to nothing done. While my chickens got bigger and bigger (they were living in my living room). While this was great for pet-like bonding, it did nothing for the dust levels in my house.
(To be continued)
I based my design largely on a YouTuber named “Pask Makes”. The guy is flat out incredible in his know how and willingness to take on just about any task. He inspired me for sure. Being an Engineer, and having access to the software, I took was I saw in his videos, and drafted up a custom version for myself. I would up with a combination coop/run 16 feet long by 6 feet wide, and tall enough for me (I’m 6’5”) to walk around in. Getting older (and back surgeries) have made bending over less and less appealing.
At the very least, this effort allowed me to put together a good materials list. Home Depot was kind enough to drop everything in my driveway. Ironically, the nice Hispanic gentleman who dropped the load curiously ask4ed me what it was for. When I told him, he said “I knew it!” and proceeded to get out his phone and show me a bunch of pictures of his coop and chickens at his home. This hobby is a great way to make friends. I probably made him late for his next delivery, but hey...isn’t that worth making a new buddy?
I also (rightly so! WHEW) decided to paint everything before building it. I made the cost decision against pressure treated lumber for everything except the bottom rails and the roof, so I wanted it to be as protected from the elements as possible. This would prove fortuitous, considering how much rain the next couple months would bring. Much of this lumber ended up sitting outside in the very rain that kept me from building it.
I finally got the walls assembled, lying flat in the driveway. I can’t believe I forgot to get pictures of this stage, but given that I was usually dodging rain, and worn out from swearing
, it’s not truly a shock. I have to admit, I underestimated how frustrating this step would be to get everything square. Especially when the side walls aren’t “square” to begin with. That’s where the CAD drawings came in handy. Rather than trying to match the distance diagonally from corner to corner, I had the actual distances available to go from.Let me tell you, raising the 20-foot long x 8 foot tall front wall up off the driveway and carrying/sliding it back to the back yard by myself was a real adventure. It was very wobbly, and once it got past a 10 degree lean from vertical, there was no stopping it falling over. I dropped it 3 times and had to pick it back up again. Thankfully, I didn’t break anything. I set it up on pallets to keep it from rotting.
The next couple months were the wettest Summer on record for Evansville, IN. I literally got next to nothing done. While my chickens got bigger and bigger (they were living in my living room). While this was great for pet-like bonding, it did nothing for the dust levels in my house.
(To be continued)
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I thought DH was designated hitter too! I think it's "dear husband."
