If you have a pop door that slides up and down, what is it made of?

[gale65]

I mentioned changing to a sliding up door so we can rig it to open from outside the run. DH says that if it's wood, it would warp and swell in damp or humid weather and not slide right. I tend to believe him because our coop walk-door will not shut very easily when it's been raining or super humid because it swells. I thought maybe metal would work but where would we buy metal that thick that we could cut to the right size?

 

[mississippifarmboy]

All of ours are made of wood, never had any problems with swelling or warping.

You can see pictures of some of them on our "my page" and "barn/coop" pages.

 

[Hawkeye95]

I am going to either use plexiglass or try to find a clear plastic cutting board for my slide up pop door! I saw someone on here recycled a clear cutting board they had and it worked great! It lets in more light (extra window?!) and it won't rot out! Plus, it won't stick or swell up in the tracks. So if I can't find a cutting board to fit my opening, I'm going to bring my dimensions to Lowes and have them cut me a piece of Plexiglass to fit my space.

 

[top of the hill]

Great idea!

we have a trap door outside the run as well. My husband made it out of plywood and we havn't had any issues with warping thus far.

 

[stubbornhill]

Our is wood. My husband shaved the two sides down a bit so that it is not such a tight fit. It is also recessed into the coop. This is a picture of the unfinished, but gives you an idea. Hopefully being recessed, it will keep the weather off it a bit.

 

[gale65]

I thought about plexiglass too. The way our coop is now there is a window directly above the door, so I'd have to extend the doorway out a bit (picture a teeny tiny hallway, maybe 4" long) in order to do the sliding door. I'm determined though. I'm tired of putting on my boots every time to go out and lock them up each night.

 

[rungirl]

I use plexiglass. Works great. Stiff, doesn't warp and not too heavy.

Lisa

 

[Schroeder]

I use a white polyethelyne(?) cutting board about 1/4 in thick. It is opaque, strong, waterproof and slides very nicely. I think any of the big box hardware stores have them.

 

[PHILMAN]

I have wood and it hasnt warped yet but its only been 5 months .

 

[WelshSpringChicken]

While I've been researching and planning coop designs, I have come across people on youtube using the solid plastic chopping boards. They seem to work nice and smoothly, and require no alterations, as the majority already come with a handle-hole cut in. Also available in a multitude of colours, and are generally a good weight. I couldn't see something like this warping in varying weather conditions. Easy to clean too.