Helpful hints for building coops

[jvls1942]

Wait, what do you do for Heat ?
I kind of don't mind the window a/c's . I leave them in till mid to late Oct. Some times we get weird weather and it is nice to use them to get the humidity out.

our house is super insulated.
we keep the windows open well into fall
and just before it turns cold, we close all the windows and trap the heat inside.
then about New Years. it starts to cool off we put on long johns and lots of sweaters.
not believing that ?
OK .. we are a total electric house and have electric heaters in all the rooms..

Help arrived at about 3 PM. we set the wall up . I had to tweak a 1/2" variance in height between the newest wall and the short wall. a wrecking bar, a screw and a pole barn screw took care of that.
i still have to plumb the walls and make sure the corners are square.
A couple of 3/4/5 braces will take care of that.
the next few days are supposed to be cooler. I hope to get a lot done, then.

we always wait until a good snow cover to burn our brush piles.
then I like a good windy day to do it.

.........jiminwisc.......

 

[aart]

our house is super insulated.
we keep the windows open well into fall
and just before it turns cold, we close all the windows and trap the heat inside.
then about New Years. it starts to cool off we put on long johns and lots of sweaters.
not believing that ?

BRAHAHAhahahaha!!

a pole barn screw

WTH is a pole barn screw?

 

[CapricornFarm]

our house is super insulated.
we keep the windows open well into fall
and just before it turns cold, we close all the windows and trap the heat inside.
then about New Years. it starts to cool off we put on long johns and lots of sweaters.
not believing that ?
OK .. we are a total electric house and have electric heaters in all the rooms..

Help arrived at about 3 PM. we set the wall up . I had to tweak a 1/2" variance in height between the newest wall and the short wall. a wrecking bar, a screw and a pole barn screw took care of that.
i still have to plumb the walls and make sure the corners are square.
A couple of 3/4/5 braces will take care of that.
the next few days are supposed to be cooler. I hope to get a lot done, then.

we always wait until a good snow cover to burn our brush piles.
then I like a good windy day to do it.

.........jiminwisc.......

We need the junk gone so they can build the goat shed, and i am not going to throw stuff in the woods like some lazy parkers. Plus it helps decrease the fire hazard if the debris is gone.

 

[aart]

we always wait until a good snow cover to burn our brush piles.
then I like a good windy day to do it.

.....or at least a good soaking rain and bit of a breeze.
I have a huge staging area near the burn pit until conditions are right.
Not everyone has room to have a burn pile sit like that tho.

 

[jvls1942]

Annie got out some steak for supper.
then she got called in to work.
and Randy decided a bowl of soup would be enough for him.
So I ended up making just one steak.
I found out that there is waaaay more salt in steak seasoning than I care for.
going to have to change brands.

a pole barn screw is a hardened screw that you have to use a 5/16" socket driver. it is a straight 1/4" thread.
you can get them in various lengths.
I am using 6". each one cost just about $1.25
I just run two of them through a doubled
2x4 stud into triple stacked studs on the adjoining wall to join the corner together.. .
I am going to put one on each rafter down through the bird mouth into the top plate.
they really draw the boards tight together.

basically it is a lag screw.

they really make my 3/8" drill grunt..

I didn't get around to burning my pile last winter.
I always say I am not going to have another one, but it just seems to grow throughout the year.
trees are always dropping a surplus of branches ,
old couches have to be tossed out to make room for new ones.
lean to's have to be torn down. etc etc etc.
.....jiminwisc.

 

[aart]

basically it is a lag screw.

they really make my 3/8" drill grunt..

Ah, ok, Lag Screw...pilot hole and beeswax, even if you use a ratchet or open end.

 

[CapricornFarm]

.....or at least a good soaking rain and bit of a breeze.
I have a huge staging area near the burn pit until conditions are right.
Not everyone has room to have a burn pile sit like that tho.

We have two places where we burn stuff routinely. Most other places have too many trees to burn. We have a huge pile behind the new sheds of trees they knocked down to make room. I hate that pile. Husband will not cut it up because the trees have dirt on them and will wreck the chain.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Annie got out some steak for supper.
then she got called in to work.
and Randy decided a bowl of soup would be enough for him.
So I ended up making just one steak.
I found out that there is waaaay more salt in steak seasoning than I care for.
going to have to change brands.

a pole barn screw is a hardened screw that you have to use a 5/16" socket driver. it is a straight 1/4" thread.
you can get them in various lengths.
I am using 6". each one cost just about $1.25
I just run two of them through a doubled
2x4 stud into triple stacked studs on the adjoining wall to join the corner together.. .
I am going to put one on each rafter down through the bird mouth into the top plate.
they really draw the boards tight together.

basically it is a lag screw.

they really make my 3/8" drill grunt..

I didn't get around to burning my pile last winter.
I always say I am not going to have another one, but it just seems to grow throughout the year.
trees are always dropping a surplus of branches ,
old couches have to be tossed out to make room for new ones.
lean to's have to be torn down. etc etc etc.
.....jiminwisc.

I don't wait for winter because if i did they would see the fire from the moon! There is a ton of dead wood here, about 50% pine which we do not use in the wood stove.

 

[jvls1942]

Ah, ok, Lag Screw...pilot hole and beeswax, even if you use a ratchet or open end.

I am going to drill the pilot hole from the birdmouth . that way I will know exactly where the screw is going to come out.
a regular 5/16" metal roofing screw socket driver and a drill works just fine.
I can bury the head below the surface of the wood.

.......jiminwisc.....

 

[Crooked Chicken]

.....or at least a good soaking rain and bit of a breeze.
I have a huge staging area near the burn pit until conditions are right.
Not everyone has room to have a burn pile sit like that tho.

I didn't get around to burning my pile last winter.
I always say I am not going to have another one, but it just seems to grow throughout the year.
trees are always dropping a surplus of branches ,

I moved here 1-1/2 years ago and there was so much brush and branches everywhere, along with some junk thrown in between some trees and shrubs, that I hired some guys to haul it all off. They looked like Samson & sons piled precariously high driving off. The branches keep on falling here too. I have a lot of big old trees. I managed to pile branches into about 6 or so piles around the property. 3 of them quite tall. I finally managed to burn a few small piles and one very big one -- that one really terrified me.

I still have 2 big piles and think I'll break them into small piles before burning as the rabbits have been living under them. I hate burning. My new wood chipper was delivered the other day -- it needs some minor assembly before I can try it out. I hope this will help and give me some mulch in exchange.