Metal Roof

[HeathenHavenHomestead]

I’ve been reading A LOT of threads on here about metal roofs and if plywood is needed or insulation, etc.

I live in Central Arkansas and it gets pretty dang hot and humid here. We have scrap corrugated metal that is about 6’ long and plan to use that as the roof of our coop.

A majority of our coop is being made out of free scrap wood and free 2x4 from construction sites. We plan to have a lot of ventilation around all 4 sides of the coop at the top and most likely some towards the bottom by using hardware mesh.

Our plan is to just put the metal roofing on top of 2x4 but after so much reading it’s hard to determine what is and isn’t necessary when it comes down to the roofing.

From what I gathered as long as we have plenty ventilation we shouldn’t have condensation issues.

 

[Reggan]

HI... I have a "half & half" 15x8 coop/shed. Half is a plywood addition to a full steel corrugated shed (see pics). The plywood addition also has metal roof.

I am WI so the cold weather is a continuous issue for us. Not as much for you. Though it gets hot and humid around here too.

We did not do anything to the steel portion-no insulation, no plywood... nothing. You will notice in one of the pics it has a set of wood doors, but the rest is 50% corrugated steel paneling and ceiling. Which you can also see in the pic of the inside of the coop.

I did insulate the new plywood half of the building's ceiling with pink board so we could retain some heat for the 2 months of bitter cold.

We have one slider window and full roof line ventilation on the steel half. I have no roof line insulation on the plywood half, but do have a slider. I also run a window fan in the that slider during the hot humid months (JUL-SEPT).

It all has worked out great. I was so worried about the steel half of the building "raining", but with so much ventilation I've had zero issues.

Regarding the plywood addition where I did insulate the ceiling- I couldn't tell you, but there isn't any evidence of moisture at all. Again I think it's all about air flow.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

I live in central Texas and built a metal coop because I got all the metal and most of the materials for free. I have no plywood or insulation under my roof. I have 1 window, an exhaust fan, and the front of my coop is half hardware cloth. We've already had a couple of 90 degree days and everything seems good(this will be our first summer with this coop) my husband did say he was going to put in a hardware cloth screen door for some extra air flow when it's crazy hot

 

[Ridgerunner]

When I was in Northwest Arkansas I built my 8' x 12' coop into the end of this 60' x 12' shed. As you can see the top is totally open up front. The back is the same. You can see where I have hardware cloth covered ventilation on the side. The inside wall that opens into the shed has the same ventilation plus a vent low to the ground.

The roof is bare metal. No insulation or covering. There were days, especially in the spring, where it felt like it was raining inside from the condensation on the underside of the roof. The condensation would run along the bottom of the metal roof until it hit some discontinuity, then it would drop down. The drops were all in the same place.

I never considered it a problem worth fixing. I put the feed in the coop where it didn't get wet from a drip. The nests stayed dry. It would happen on a foggy morning but when the fog burned off it stopped. I used a lot of wood shavings as bedding. It always dried out before the moisture created a problem.

Will you get condensation on yours, even with all that ventilation? Probably some days. Will it be a problem for you? I don't know. It might, it might not. It's easier to fix it now as you build instead of waiting until later. But I elected to wait to see if it was a problem. I don't think there is a real easy answer to this. Good luck.

 

[rosemarythyme]

We've had condensation issues in the past with the first (small) coop, so definitely wanted to make sure there was plywood under the metal roof of the newer, larger converted shed-coop. It came standard with the build but if it hadn't I would've opted to put it in, just to avoid the problem entirely instead of trying to fix it later on if it became an issue.

 

[3KillerBs]

This is going to be highly dependent on climate and on your design. Here in central NC metal roofing and all-metal is by far the most common construction for utility buildings of every type and they are very rarely insulated in any fashion.

Condensation problems are uncommon, in part because most animal housing here is 3-sided or otherwise highly-ventilated just to keep the place from becoming an absolute oven in our summer sun.

In other climates and conditions condensation is a major problem. What's the usual practice for farmers in your area?

 

[HeathenHavenHomestead]

This is going to be highly dependent on climate and on your design. Here in central NC metal roofing and all-metal is by far the most common construction for utility buildings of every type and they are very rarely insulated in any fashion.

Condensation problems are uncommon, in part because most animal housing here is 3-sided or otherwise highly-ventilated just to keep the place from becoming an absolute oven in our summer sun.

In other climates and conditions condensation is a major problem. What's the usual practice for farmers in your area?

That I’m unsure of since I know no one in this town or anyone around it. Most people who have chickens in this area either have a barn or a really bad run down looking coop. It’s real deep COUNTRY out here it would be hard to verify with the southern folk around here. I love and cherish my animals where most people see them as expendable.
Ill try hitting up the market and asking how people have their coops.

 

[neo71665]

I'm south of crime bluff, so I guess south central AR. My coop is all metal and I've never had any issues.

 

[speedy2020]

Just plan few fruit trees around the coop and you are good. You also make sure they are vent hole at the end of coop so the coop.

 

[HeathenHavenHomestead]

Just plan few fruit trees around the coop and you are good. You also make sure they are vent hole at the end of coop so the coop.

Really wanting fruit trees but we have tons of woods already we’re trying to clear.