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- #21
Quote:
If it is standing and you have it in place, and things are going fine, I would just leave it. The minute it starts showing sagging or gaps in the framing, or things start moving, I would get out there with some beefier connectors. Bear in mind that this is coming from a guy whose coop just rolled down the driveway and not even a shingle broke. I may be overbuilding and you may be just right. Neither of us will know until one of our coops breaks apart.
I think that as long as you are happy with it and aren't subjecting it to any undue stresses, you have nothing to worry about. If you are planning on moving it though, and it might take a hit or have a tree fall on it or have people moving around on top of it, or whatever, I would find ways to strengthen it before any of that happened. We are talking baout structures designed to handle a live load of 6 ten pound birds here. Its easy to go overboard.
What I am saying is that Drywall Screws are likely OK if they are kept dry and the coop is built in place, and you have no other alternatives, but it isn't what they are made for. They are prone to breaking if over-torqued, can't handle twisting/pulling forces, and will rust in a heartbeat if they get wet. Just for fun, put a 1" drywall screw and a 1" deck screw into a 2X4 leaving the heads sticking out and try to pull each of them out with a hammer. A quick yank and the drywall screw will either break or come out. The deck screw ain't going anyplace.
On th eother hand, drywall screws sure are easy to work with, and they are cheap. This brings us to the triple constraints of project management...
Economical and Speedy - Sacrifice Quality.
High Quality and Economical - Sacrifice Speed.
Speedy and HighQuality - Sacrifice Economy.
Your call on what you want to get and give up.
If it is standing and you have it in place, and things are going fine, I would just leave it. The minute it starts showing sagging or gaps in the framing, or things start moving, I would get out there with some beefier connectors. Bear in mind that this is coming from a guy whose coop just rolled down the driveway and not even a shingle broke. I may be overbuilding and you may be just right. Neither of us will know until one of our coops breaks apart.
I think that as long as you are happy with it and aren't subjecting it to any undue stresses, you have nothing to worry about. If you are planning on moving it though, and it might take a hit or have a tree fall on it or have people moving around on top of it, or whatever, I would find ways to strengthen it before any of that happened. We are talking baout structures designed to handle a live load of 6 ten pound birds here. Its easy to go overboard.
What I am saying is that Drywall Screws are likely OK if they are kept dry and the coop is built in place, and you have no other alternatives, but it isn't what they are made for. They are prone to breaking if over-torqued, can't handle twisting/pulling forces, and will rust in a heartbeat if they get wet. Just for fun, put a 1" drywall screw and a 1" deck screw into a 2X4 leaving the heads sticking out and try to pull each of them out with a hammer. A quick yank and the drywall screw will either break or come out. The deck screw ain't going anyplace.
On th eother hand, drywall screws sure are easy to work with, and they are cheap. This brings us to the triple constraints of project management...
Economical and Speedy - Sacrifice Quality.
High Quality and Economical - Sacrifice Speed.
Speedy and HighQuality - Sacrifice Economy.
Your call on what you want to get and give up.
