Large, Open-Air Coop in Central NC

[3KillerBs]

And you got some very helpful information! Now get a hot cuppa and relax.

Alas, it was more "Change shoes and run back out the door to get to work." But it was the information I needed to know.

Glad you are addressing the upstream water now - I looked at the elevation change on one side and immediately thought "uh oh", that's going to be a bear to address.

This is old agricultural terracing and, despite being rather precipitous, it's remarkably stable.

We had to have some bad trees taken down^ and the stumps ground, but are planting more trees to ensure stability and add shade. This summer at least, I'm going to plant my winter squash and pumpkins at the top and just let them run on the hill and root where they will to protect the ground.

^One of my pet peeves is the way people plant trees with no regard to their eventual mature size so that you end up with crowded, ill-formed trees.

 

[Sally PB]

One of my pet peeves is the way people plant trees with no regard to their eventual mature size so that you end up with crowded, ill-formed trees.

Or then end up in a bad spot. Under a power line. Shading a garden. Grr. Think before you plant something that can live 50-100 years and get 30-50 feet tall.

 

[3KillerBs]

Think before you plant something that can live 50-100 years and get 30-50 feet tall.

Go for 60-80 feet tall.

Loblolly and longleaf pines can be huge.

 

[3KillerBs]

Rain and more rain, especially on DH's day off, has slowed the project.

This morning while driving me to work DH went over the plans with me. He's decided on 12'x16' with a 4-foot lean-to bump-out at the upper end on the side nearest the house to provide a place for storage and a way for me to be out of the weather when gathering eggs and doing daily chores.

He's planning to put the corner posts and the center posts of the long side directly in the ground and then use deck blocks in between because he's concerned about the possible need to replace posts in the future (my fellow southerners know how our climate -- and our termites/carpenter ants -- eats even treated wood (especially when chicken manure is involved)).

I'll try to draw up some sketch plans for how to use the space on Wednesday since I will be off and it will be raining so I won't be able to work outside.

 

[aart]

He's decided on 12'x16' with a 4-foot lean-to bump-out at the upper end on the side nearest the house to provide a place for storage and a way for me to be out of the weather when gathering eggs and doing daily chores.

That sounds fantastic!

I'll try to draw up some sketch plans for how to use the space on Wednesday since I will be off and it will be raining so I won't be able to work outside

 

[Sally PB]

 

[U_Stormcrow]

You are going to love that bump out, good plan!!! That's also a great size overall, very flexible.

Depending on framing, you may not need to do intermediate deck blocks. My new goat pen/hen house is an experiment with pole barn-style building, hanging the walls not quite in contact with the ground. In a few years (I didn't even use pressure treated on a couple of the near-ground boards) I'll have some data to help us with our next builds!!!!

Good luck with it

 

[3KillerBs]

Depending on framing, you may not need to do intermediate deck blocks.

It's a family trait to over-engineer everything.

His brother was the lead engineer for the Atlanta airport rebuild ahead of the Olympics and my Dad believed that anything that wasn't built to last 100 years was a temporary make-do.

We were lamenting the fact that our respective fathers both had access to locust posts when building 100-year carports at our childhood homes. Last time I looked at Google Earth my dad's was still there.

 

[3KillerBs]

DH and I went to Lowes today.

9 treated, 10-foot 4x4's to go with the ones we already had and 20 of the dog-eared fence boards that @David61 has often recommended for various purposes, including covering the edged of the hardware cloth. Such a savings vs the same amount of linear feet in regular, treated 1x6.

We're actually thinking of using them as the siding for the end that will have 3 sides -- installed vertically above a protective skirting^ with a nice ventilation gap below the roof.

Comparing prices of metal roof and the heavier plastic roof. We're not impressed with Ondura or the lighter gauge plastic.

^Because our climate eats wood no matter what and because a composting, Deep Litter chicken run eats even pressure-treated wood in less than 10 years we're going to line the bottom 18" or so of the coop with something rot-proof. Maybe metal, maybe Hardiplanks.

We're undecided.

 

[3KillerBs]

And we may have to buy a couple more posts.

DH just started laying out postholes. He promptly came in and said, "What about 16x16?" Because putting the center post of the formerly 12-foot side in the middle makes for 6-foot sections and messes up both the wire and his neat, 4-foot modules.

(If I'm understanding his intentions correctly, he's digging in posts at the corners and the 8-foot areas then setting posts on deck blocks for 4-foot modules).