I can't believe I'm building a chicken coop.

[jeria]

The west wall is finally framed. Thanks everyone for convincing me to invest in a different drill. The corded one worth every penny!! Using the little Ryobi to drill starter holes : a manual screwdriver to screw the deck screws in to anchor them and quick work to finish them.

 

[pennyJo1960]

The west wall is finally framed. Thanks everyone for convincing me to invest in a different drill. The corded one worth every penny!! Using the little Ryobi to drill starter holes : a manual screwdriver to screw the deck screws in to anchor them and quick work to finish them.

You have every right to be very proud of yourself there looks like a heck of start

 

[jeria]

2 walls framed, waiting for paint to dry to cut and paint a few more pieces for the longer 2 walls. Not perfect, I keep reminding myself it's a chicken coop not kitchen cabinets.

 

[pennyJo1960]

keep it up doing great can hardly wait to see wish I was close I would come out and help raised by a carpenter

 

[jeria]

keep it up doing great can hardly wait to see wish I was close I would come out and help raised by a carpenter

Thanks Penny-- LOL this is my first try a actually building a building. I am re-modeling my house mostly by myself but that is fixing what is already there, replacing woodwork, adding some, etc.etc. Most of the pieces for the last 2 walls are cut and will have a coat of paint on them by tonight. I will have a couple small support pieces to cut once I get the rest put together so I am sure of the length. Then to finish up leveling the site, the skirting and start putting it together. Trip for some plywood and a few more connectors in the morning.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Three of us bought the greatest house and property here we waited a very long time this is just 3/4 of an acre but lord enough to get us in trouble 3 chicken coops but gives me a reason to get up every morning and we love the eggs and it allows me to keep that many selling them

 

[JimNKC]

My thought by the looks of your coop would be a slant roof with either a corrugated plastic or steel roof. A quick Google search should give you lots of ideas.

And if you used one of those roofs, you could get an IBC to catch the rainwater... ;-)

 

[anatess]

I'M HERE! Sorry, I finished the coop then went straight to Disneyworld for 10 days! I thought it would be great reward... you know, "if you don't finish this coop, you can't go to Disney" but then I'm in Disney and thinking I'd rather be home with my coop.

I'm enjoying the tool shop talk. I have to say, I don't know anything much about tools (and I still don't) but I go into my husband's treasure trove in the garage and find all kinds of things. I can't tell you what they are called but I used them all. So, about power drills - my husband has this really cool yellow matching drills (Says Dewalt on the box) that use the same battery - and there are several batteries so I put one battery on the wall charger at all times so I never run out of juice. So, one drill goes rat-tat-tat so I thought I broke it and my husband says, you're fine, it is supposed to do that. The other drill doesn't make that sound. The drills come with these matching yellow boxes of bits - drill bits and screw drivers. And in that box is this thingee where you stick it into the drill machine (oh, they both have different heads - one has just a round hole, the other has this clamping thingee that you twist to hold the bit), anyway you put this thingee in there and it will then hold any bit you put in it - so you can swap bits by just pulling out one and then pushing in another. So you can put a drill bit, then a star screw driver then a deck screw driver (which is different from the star screw)... just pull one out and put another in. Then, what's more awesome is this thingee has a metal sleeve, so that when you put the screw driver bit on, then you put the deck screw on top of that (it's kinda magnetic so the screw sticks to it), then you pull the sleeve over the screw then you put the sleeve right on the wood you're screwing (hah hah... screwing!), so then you fire the engine and VOILA... one handed screwing! The screw doesn't go to the side or fall off the screw driver, etc... it just goes right in while the sleeve just sits there as a guide. Oh, and I didn't know you're supposed to put pilot holes so I didn't do that.

Anyway, the garage revealed a table circular saw which was awesome for shortening 2x4's and even making angles for the roof beams - you pull the saw down to the table. And there's also another table saw where the saw is sticking up from the table which I used to split plywood to size for the roof. Then there's this free-hand circular saw with swappable blades. My husband showed me how to cut off screws that are sticking out of the frame because I used screws that were too long or I stripped a screw half-way into drilling it in... this free-hand saw has a blade that cuts metal screws! Then there's another free-hand straight saw (jig saw I think is what it is called) that I used to cut the notches on the roof beams.

The garage also has this mega staple gun on steroids that I used to staple the 1/4-inch screen to the frame... it was so cool - just snap snap snap all the way around and done!

Yeah... there are more stuff in that garage it's like one of those acrobatic shows where the clowns just keep coming out of the car endlessly.

Oh yeah - on the roof beams - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for the advice! I googled lean-to roof and got tons of instructional videos!

And... my husband thought my coop was lonely on its own there so he built me a deck where I can sit and work (I work on my computer from home) and enjoy the chickens! By the way - my husband is no carpenter either. That's why we have all these tools - he decides he wants to do some "manly man" project and goes and buys a power tool... always ends up costing a lot more money than just hiring out the thing. LOL! But my coop and the deck was not one of those - no new power tool and I spent only around $350 or so on the coop. But we had a lot of the stuff on hand - like the screens and hinges and some of the lumber.

Okay, so this is becoming a very long post... but it won't be complete without pictures.

 

[aart]

Your descriptions of the tools was hilarious!!
But very detailed, I could tell what all of them were.

 

[anatess]

Whoops. Forgot the picture of the deck. It's too pretty to leave out.