For those who have used vinyl flooring in the coop...

[BirdBrain]

How does it hold up over time? Are you finding that as you shovel out the litter that you are gouging it and making it troublesome to really clean up? I was just wondering if it was really such a wonderful idea or not. What are your thoughts?

 

[patandchickens]

If poo/bedding gets 'glued on' to vinyl it may just mean you need deeper bedding overall, a droppings board under the roost, or to fix a leak. BTW, a small area of 'glued on' stuff comes off easily if you pour water on it, flop a rag on top to keep thw water from running off or evaporating, leave it a while, then scrape it off w/ a plastic dustpan. Any leftover water can either be dried off with rags, or absorbed with shavings which you then sweep up and discard outside.

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I cannot see that it is likely to matter too much, as long as it has a smooth shiny surface, is tightly installed, and sensibly treated.

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I am skeptical that the edges could be sealed well enough for waterproofing purposes. If you really wanted a drain I think the best approach would be to mimic the safe type of horse wash stall, with the floor sloped down to the midpoint of one exterior side and a flush-with-flooring hole cut thru exterior wall to let water drain away. But getting the floor graded properly would be a bugger.

Dunno how other people do it, but here is the deal on the vinyl in our chickens' winter quarters. their pen was originally several indoor dog pens in what used to be a dog boarding kennel building. The vinyl was already there when we bought the place. It is nailed along the edges onto plywood-on-a-stud-base floor. No trim of any kind along the edges where it meets the wall; metal angle trim covering edge of vinyl in doorways so you don't trip on the edge or pry it up when going in. The walls (up to 4') are covered in some weird heavy plastic panels, about 1/2" thick, to resist pawing by dogs.

The rest of the building's (concrete) floor does have a floor drain, but it is anyone's guess whether the actual pens were ever hosed. (I'd bet they were, but *I* sure wouldn't do it, at least not regularly!). The plywood under the vinyl is rather mungy looking (I've replaced some vinyl) but after all the kennel's been there for maybe 15+ years. The vinyl does not seem to have held up terrifically under dog use, as some has clearly been replaced/patchd/layered-over multiple times; the problems are peeling of edges when vinyl cracks at nail holes, and cracking where it was initially installed over a ridge in floor or with a 'hill' sticking up in the vinyl.

When I converted part for chickens, I had to re-vinyl because of age and because I removed the partitions between some pens leaving bare strips. I used a staple gun (liberally!), plus metal battens screwed across the vinyl every 4' to help keep it flatter. The vinyl is a tiny bit wavy and 'hilly' still, but I think it'll do for a good while. If the edges start breaking up, I will screw thru a batten or quarter-round to keep them in place.

The key, for me, is to keep LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of shavings on top of it. Not only is the vinyl really slippery for the chickens if hte bedding gets scratched away from it, *I* get to slipping on the vinyl when I walk in there if there is less than maybe 4-6" of packed shavings. And I have to be careful that if I swivel on the ball of my foot to turn around, I have to scuff the shavings back in place because it usually exposes the vinyl.

So on the whole I really like the vinyl but it does have its idiosyncrasies, mainly the thing about needing good bedding depth.


Pat

 

[blue fire]

We just put some of the fake glue on tile in our coop and it is working out great. It has lasted for more than 2 months but of course there is bedding over it.

 

[BJ]

We just installed it and I haven't cleaned it yet...but I was planning on using a broom rather than a shovel. It should just "slide" right out with a broom. But like I said, I haven't cleaned it yet, and time will tell...

 

[Redfeathers]

So far I'm really liking it. My chickens spilled water and the vinyl flooring saved the wood from soaking it up. It's easy to clean and is durable. I'm glad we put it down.

 

[Catalina]

I use it too and it's super easy to clean!

 

[kstaven]

Use a plastic blade grain shovel or shop broom and it will not rip the flooring.

 

[TxChiknRanchers]

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Nope...doesn't slide right out! We have cleaned ours once and it did anything but slide! DH has a very large 'squeegy' which he used to scrape the vinyl and that worked pretty well. We still had to soak some of the spots - they were like hardened glue!!

Luckily for us he designed a 'slide out' floor so we could pull it out to clean it fully. We loaded it on the tractor bucket and carried it over to the water well - used the hose to soften and the squeegy to loosen the poo - then scraped it right into the tractor bucket!

Brenda

 

[BlueMoon]

Trick is to have no seams, it works best to cover the floor. We have chips over the vinyl. Also, can be very slippery for the chickens when exposed.

 

[BirdBrain]

So does it really matter if it is the high grade vinyl remnants from the hardware or flooring store, or will the cheap stuff do...I guess I am saying, will it pay off in the long run to put out a few more shekels to get something a bit higher grade so it will hold up longer.

Brenda, Do you have pictures of this coop cleaning exercise? I would love to see how your removeable floor works.

Blue Moon, How long have you had your vinyl in your coop? Do you see needing to replace it any time soon. That just sounds like a job I would like to avoid.

I am assuming that a coop with vinyl flooring has it sealed at the edges so nothing can get under (including water) and possibly have the vinyl up the walls, say, a foot or so to protect the walls for use with the deep litter method. Do you provide for a drain somehow to get the water out after you have hosed it down? How does that work? Or am I trying to design a space shuttle with parts from the hardware store?