door warping

[kdcrws]

We live in N. FL and have horrible weather (thanks to Fay)! My husband and I spent the better part of a three day weekend building our chicken tractor, now after all this rain the egg door on the side has totally warped and has a gap big enough for my two chicks to get out...Do u all think that putting an extra latch on it will do the trick or should we replace the door all together?

this was before the rain. The door fit tight now there is a gap as wide as my hand!

 

[silkiechicken]

What type of wood did you use? It might need a frame and cross bars to keep it flat.

 

[patandchickens]

Well, for certain you need a second latch - I strongly suspect that a predator could pry the corner open (at least enough to get a better grip and rip the whole thing apart) the way it is, with only the 1 latch in the extreme lower R.

As to whether that is 'enough' I would be concerned that the wood is not done warping. Is it primed/painted on all sides or just the outside? (do it all over). And as silkiechicken says, you may need to stabilize it with a frame of 1x3 or something like that.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[kdcrws]

Quote:
I only painted the outside..

oops! Chicks are in Dog kennel on the screened in porch for now until we can do repairs this Sun. so they r ok.

Do you think it would help to shingle it too? & thanks for the advice!!!