Hurricane Harvey coop rebuild (Picture heavy)

[Tesumph]

Thanks for the moral support all! And thank for you letting me bounce this off you aart. I’ve never taken on a challenge like this by myself, I’m usually the go-pher.

I diagrammed it out to the best of my ability. If anyone is actually interested and can read my chicken scratch, here you go. Blue is rafters, green is stapled down roof wire. Dark inside line is the wire wall that I will be cutting out. Tape measure was only 12ft and I had a hard time measuring by myself in the rain so everything is within a 2inch margin.

As you can see, whoever built this was not a fan of consistency.

I can definitely add more rafters. We have plenty of scrap lumber that won’t be used for anything else. I just don’t really know where to add them or how to with the stapled down wire in the way. This might sound stupid, but what if I put rafters on top of the wire that’s already stapled on? And then screwed the wire into the added rafters upside down?

The area space of run not including the tin roof space is 680 sq ft. I had another look at the lattice I was thinking of.

I think it’s 4 full 6x4 pieces (forgot to write down measurement) with some shorter pieces on either side that go up a hill. So not enough. I guess it wouldn’t have worked anyway. Back to the drawing board.

Swept down the wood deck under the tin roof area. I will not be cutting this out, even though I know that would be ideal. If it is a huge problem in the future, I don’t see why I can’t cut it out later.

 

[aart]

Great diagram....am rushed right now so won't attempt to reply, but have ideas and instruction.

 

[Tesumph]

Great diagram....am rushed right now so won't attempt to reply, but have ideas and instruction.

Thank you for your time! I love instructions lol! I can’t do anything else today in the rain anyway. Might look for material ideas in the shed.

 

[Tesumph]

Went out between showers and pulled down a lot of pine needles and branches from the wire. Really annoying job. But after seeing it clearly, I’m wondering if rafters above the wire that the wire can be screwed into isn’t the stupidest idea I’ve ever had..
photos don’t show the sagging very accurately. It’s not HORRIBLE, but the middle point is a good 6-8 inches lower than stapled point in some areas. It will be much more annoying when the run level is raised using deep litter method.

Didn’t find any new supplies except a neat gate latch. We have a TON of lumber of all sizes, and a lot of brand new hardware cloth. Good for me.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Use the lattice on the area that the arrow is pointing to and put plywood on the wire underneath it, that way this area could be the henhouse for you chickens and still provide lots of ventilation and protection from the elements.

 

[Tesumph]

Use the lattice on the area that the arrow is pointing to and put plywood on the wire underneath it, that way this area could be the henhouse for you chickens and still provide lots of ventilation and protection from the elements. View attachment 1436422

Good idea. I have an actual coop that isn’t in my possession yet but might add lattice to at least two sides of the wooden deck area. I am waiting for the demolition of the crushed old coop before I decide on that area.

 

[aart]

I’m wondering if rafters above the wire that the wire can be screwed into isn’t the stupidest idea I’ve ever had..

It could work, I actually did it on my small run to hold up against snow load, but I didn't have wooden framework to screw a rafter into.
It would be 'easier' and more effective to put the rafters under the wire....and it would 'look' better.

 

[Tesumph]

It could work, I actually did it on my small run to hold up against snow load, but I didn't have wooden framework to screw a rafter into.
It would be 'easier' and more effective to put the rafters under the wire....and it would 'look' better.

How do I know where to put them though? Just halfway between all existing beams?

I feel like if I put them on top, it’ll be one less thing to hit my head on, and I won’t have to trim them to the size of the existing support beams. I would have to climb up somehow to screw the initial board pieces in, but the wire stapling could be done from underneath...

 

[aart]

How do I know where to put them though? Just halfway between all existing beams?

I feel like if I put them on top, it’ll be one less thing to hit my head on, and I won’t have to trim them to the size of the existing support beams. I would have to climb up somehow to screw the initial board pieces in, but the wire stapling could be done from underneath...

Yep, one or two spaced evenly between existing rafters.

Putting them on top would be easier to do by yourself for sure. You'd need pieces longer than the 8' spans, unless you used several shorter pieces put across corners.
Just toss them up there and use screws and washers to attach mesh to them.


Or wrap wire around the mesh and 'tossed up' rafter-that's what I did here, you'll have to zoom in to see the 4 pieces of wire. 1x3 clearly warped after a couple years, but it held the snow load from tearing down the mesh, I should probably replace those with 2x4's before this winter...fugly but functional:

 

[Tesumph]

Yep, one or two spaced evenly between existing rafters.

Putting them on top would be easier to do by yourself for sure. You'd need pieces longer than the 8' spans, unless you used several shorter pieces put across corners.
Just toss them up there and use screws and washers to attach mesh to them.


Or wrap wire around the mesh and 'tossed up' rafter-that's what I did here, you'll have to zoom in to see the 4 pieces of wire. 1x3 clearly warped after a couple years, but it held the snow load from tearing down the mesh, I should probably replace those with 2x4's before this winter...fugly but functional:
View attachment 1436698

Thank you very much. I believe we have leftover 12’ boards but will have to double check. End result won’t be pretty but fugly never hurt anyone.
Nothing more to do today.