Large elevated pole coop build

[ewerbos]

And now a few rafters are up. It hasn't been raining, but the miserable heat and humidity makes it difficult to work for more than an hour or two at a time.

 

[ewerbos]

FINALLY finished the rafters... The past few weekends have been dangerously hot/rainy, but today was gorgeous.

 

[ewerbos]

We are probably the slowest coop builders in the world. This is taking a very, very long time. Luckily the temporary box is ok, and the chickens are happily producing eggs.

You'll notice here that the finish my husband did to try to protect the plywood during our LONG construction process flaked (moisture came from the inside without a roof, oops). Research indicates we should hopefully be able to fix it. It's for chickens... Anyway, we finally got some of the roofing done:

Current freak-out is about roof safety. We tried to purchase a roofing safety kit from Home Depot to protect us while on the roof (in addition to using roof jacks), but after reading the directions, we found out that it doesn't work for less than 18' (so we returned it). The shingles you see here were done from our A-frame ladder off the ground; there should be enough that we can attach roof jacks/scaffolding for doing the rest of the shingles. The only other question is how crazy it is to do all that without ropes & harness... so close, so close.

 

[aart]

Unless you're really clumsy.....
....not crazy at all and too small to mess with jacks and scaffolding IMO.

Not too steep of a pitch and not too far to fall,
as long as someone is around to call 911 in case the worst happens(joke).

Getting off and on the ladder from the roof is the scariest part for me.
I made a stand off block(goes against facia) that hung from extension ladder rung to keep from crushing the edge of shingles.

 

[ewerbos]

Unless you're really clumsy.....
....not crazy at all and too small to mess with jacks and scaffolding IMO.

Not too steep of a pitch and not too far to fall,
as long as someone is around to call 911 in case the worst happens(joke).

Getting off and on the ladder from the roof is the scariest part for me.
I made a stand off block(goes against facia) that hung from extension ladder rung to keep from crushing the edge of shingles.

Scaffolding isn't a whole lot of work--We have the jacks and extra 2x6s already. We have an extension ladder, also--a little on the long side, but ok. I saw the block to fascia method, which will also help with not crushing the drip edge. Biggest issue is with the unevenness of the ground--We can usually find a way to adjust the A-frame (with its 4 legs) to sit sturdily, but we need one of those ladder leveler feet things for the extension ladder. I got it, but haven't yet installed it (you have to drill the thing and whatnot). On this side, I am pretty sure I can get on the roof with just the A-frame (the top of the A-frame clears the edge of the roof).

 

[aart]

but we need one of those ladder leveler feet things for the extension ladder.

They are the bomb.....bought some years ago, they work great on my 16 footer.

 

[ewerbos]

Did some more shingling--Installed roof jacks anyway--I might be able to manage otherwise, but they also make it easier to get on and off the roof. The 8' A-frame actually works fine for getting on the roof; I guess we'll have to save the extension ladder for cleaning the gutters on our house. We are going to install a ridge vent once we are ready (other side has jacks but no more shingles than in prior photo). I kind of want to cut windows under the gables but my husband doesn't think that will look good.

 

[aart]

Are your eaves open for ventilation?
A small triangular louvered gable vent would look good and be good winter ventilation along with eave and ridge vents.

 

[centrarchid]

Early in thread a picture was shown of chicken house from what appeared to be back of your house. Distance looks like about 100 yards. If correct, then that is similar to arrangement with my barn. You will need to be considering logistical and observational challenges, even if chickens are not allowed to come out and free-range. That said, the distance is still good for your cardiovascular system.

 

[ewerbos]

Are your eaves open for ventilation?
A small triangular louvered gable vent would look good and be good winter ventilation along with eave and ridge vents.

The eaves are open, and we plan to put hardware cloth over the soffits. I looked around for vents to buy, but they were pretty pricey for their size, so I think we'd probably make one if we were going to have one. The overhang is enough that I'd not be worried about rain getting in even with a window (but a hole covered in hardware cloth definitely isn't pretty--If we don't have time for a vent, though, we'll perhaps settle for practicality this first winter). I'm worried we won't have enough once we cover the side windows for the cold.

Early in thread a picture was shown of chicken house from what appeared to be back of your house. Distance looks like about 100 yards. If correct, then that is similar to arrangement with my barn. You will need to be considering logistical and observational challenges, even if chickens are not allowed to come out and free-range. That said, the distance is still good for your cardiovascular system.

We thought of that! I does look really pretty from the house though (but yeah, far). We don't usually get bad snow in winter; maybe one or two bad snowstorms every couple of years. We will probably let our chickens free range almost 100% of the time, unless we are on vacation or start observing predator issues; that's what they do now and they really love it. Half the time we don't know where they are during the day... But they come running if they hear us.