Is Zinc-Plated "good enough" for outdoor chicken coop use?

[Urbanchicster]

Good Afternoon All,

I'm using fender washers to screw down the hardware cloth. The hardware store sells zinc-plated and stainless steel fender washers, with the cost difference being extreme (and thats an understatement).

My question to you all is, in your experience, does the zinc-plated fender washers hold up good enough in the outdoor weather conditions of a chicken coop with the predicted lifespan of at least 5 years, but it doesn't have to be 10 years. I just don't want to go above and beyond on a project that I end up selling for pennies on CL a few years down the road when I move... but I sure as hell don't want to see rust after a couple years.

What are your experiences?

Thank you for your time and energy,

Kelly

 

[dheltzel]

Zinc plating is good enough. They will only rust if they get a deep scratch that removes the plating.

A little rust adds "Character" (that's what I always tell myself anyway).

 

[JackE]

I used poultry staples, and went over that with nailed on 1X4" pine trim. Looks a lot better than a bunch of washers, and works.