HOW TO~ screen door??

[nelgkel]

Quote:
done!! also have more pics on my page...

THanks!!

 

[Dogfish]

Tilt out windows.

 

[Prospector]

Quote:
thanks Dogfish, we thought of cutting out the top of the door...that is why we did not do the x on the top....but after being in the coop with the door open we noticed how good the breeze was and thought we would like to make a framed screen door.

the windows on the front are wire mesh and then metal screening to prevent predators and bugs... it had a hinged cover before...we want to do a cover, but not sure if it will be wood or something more lightweight...

This has turned out to be a MUCH larger job than we originally anticipated!!!! LOL

This may sound strange...

You already have lots of ventilation up high. I bet the air at floor level can't move though. Can you flip the door upside down and still do what you are proposing? Cut a opening in the bottom of the door, cover it with Hardware cloth, and make a door that you can you hinge to attach to the main door. The air lower down may be cooler, and by getting it to move through the coop to the higher up windows, you may find that it cools the whole coop.

Another suggestion is to take a handful of stakes and put them in the ground around the coop, then take an old VHS tape (Excersize videos are best since no one really watches them) and attach a piece of the black tape as a streamer to the top of each stake. Keep an eye on the stakes for a week or so and get a feel for what the predominant wind direction is around your coop. Now you know (for sure) which side to put a window into so the wind blows straight into your coop.

 

[nelgkel]

Quote:
thanks Dogfish, we thought of cutting out the top of the door...that is why we did not do the x on the top....but after being in the coop with the door open we noticed how good the breeze was and thought we would like to make a framed screen door.

the windows on the front are wire mesh and then metal screening to prevent predators and bugs... it had a hinged cover before...we want to do a cover, but not sure if it will be wood or something more lightweight...

This has turned out to be a MUCH larger job than we originally anticipated!!!! LOL

This may sound strange...

You already have lots of ventilation up high. I bet the air at floor level can't move though. Can you flip the door upside down and still do what you are proposing? Cut a opening in the bottom of the door, cover it with Hardware cloth, and make a door that you can you hinge to attach to the main door. The air lower down may be cooler, and by getting it to move through the coop to the higher up windows, you may find that it cools the whole coop.

Another suggestion is to take a handful of stakes and put them in the ground around the coop, then take an old VHS tape (Excersize videos are best since no one really watches them) and attach a piece of the black tape as a streamer to the top of each stake. Keep an eye on the stakes for a week or so and get a feel for what the predominant wind direction is around your coop. Now you know (for sure) which side to put a window into so the wind blows straight into your coop.

AWESOME ideas!!!Gotta show my hubby. thanks Prospector

Dogfish, thanks for the pics! will show to my hubby!! Might work to cover the front windows...

 

[Twelve Palms]

Hello neighbor
from Cocoa, Florida
IF your wood door is a standard size exterior door you can buy an inexpensive wood screen door from Lowes. That's what we did to make more ventilation in our coop. Lowes has two wood screen doors that are lower priced: $18.00 for one very basic and $36 for a bit more wood in the frame--either one would work with some "beefing up". We added hardware cloth other the screen to make sure no predators could get in. We installed the door with regular door hinges we already had, then added a slide bolt lock and also our favorite "extra" protection lock--a 10" nail/spike through eye bolts. Anyway the door works great and the coop is staying at a nice temp. One thing we have been doing is running a box fan mounted near the ceiling. We will be adding a window on the wall perpendicular to the door, because we think when it get really hot the door and box fan won't be enough. I like the hinged window idea. Might have to copy that one for our coop. I'll try to download photos of our door. Judith

 

[Rocky Top Chick]

We also added a screen door last summer for better air flow and it worked great. As a matter of fact, we even leave the solid door open during the winter on nice days to get the temperature UP in the coop.

 

[kateseidel]

We had planned on using a standard screen door, and reinforcing, but our opening is NOT a standard size, so we had to build our own. Our coop door opens to the outside, so we attached a hook on the outside so it can be hooked open. We mounted the screen door on the inside, so that the screen door opens to the inside. The door itself was made of leftover 1x4's, mitered at the corners and using two L brackets at each corner (I was not going to trust to screws alone). There is one horiztonal board halfway up the door. The door is then covered with 2x4 woven wire, and then with hardware cloth (the 2x4 led to an interesting episode with the cat and the hens).

We open the wood door in the morning and latch the screen door shut, and then close the wood door again at night. I expect we are almost to the point with our NC summer weather where we will leave the door open all night too. We have one small window, and a 6 x 18 screened window in addition, and the pop door, but I think we are going to cut 2 or 3 more 6 x 18 windows this weekend.

 

[nelgkel]

twelve palms~thanks for the pictures! It is nice to hear from someone nearby who has experience with our weather firsthand...I love your door! WE def. need a screen door and then a window on the wall opposite the door!

I just put up an eye hook on the outside wall so that I can hook the wood door open when I am outside with them...

thanks everyone for the suggestions! I am showing them all to my hubby...can't wait to see what he comes up with!