My coop building journey

[mallory2013]

Hello fellow chicken lovers! I wanted to document my coop building journey and share with other people who would understand my egg-citement!
I am using 10x10 shed plans that I purchased off of Etsy. I have to preface that I have limited prior building experience, (despite the fact that my father was a master carpenter... lol) and I am doing 90% of this by myself.

Here is a photo of my pre-assembled coop!! Lumber is so expensive

Foundation build: aka my "Wow this is so Easy What Was I Nervous about?" Era

Moving on to the wall framing:

Next... THE RAFTERS!! This was the hardest part for me! I had a really hard time figuring out the bird's mouth cuts

Starting to Look like a shed! Next was the siding:

The plans said to extend the siding up and cut out where the rafters are. I decided to not do that since a few of the boards were slightly warped and it would have been really difficult to cut them correctly.

That's where I have it built up to as of today, I've been delayed by (much needed) rain. The next step is the roof!

 

[AngelAnela]

Awesome and expensive. As I live in the rainforest, I have the roof up as soon as it can be held. Even though I build under a canopy. Good luck..
If you get stumped, ( looks like you got it) I was a general contractor. Now I build boats. Aloha

 

[wrathsfarm]

Nice looking build so far.
You haven't mentioned ventilation but might I suggest removing the blocking in between the rafters and covering with 1/2" hardware cloth on the front and rear? This allows air to draw in on the low eave and exit on the high eave well above bird roost height.

One other suggestion is your over hangs. You not gonna like them small short over hangs with wind driven rain. At least 2' all the way around would be much nicer and this would be much easier to do now than regret later.
Not bashing your build at all, it is a great looking coop so far, just a couple things to think about depending on your weather and which direction the coop is facing...

 

[aart]

You haven't mentioned ventilation but might I suggest removing the blocking in between the rafters and covering with 1/2" hardware cloth on the front and rear?

My thoughts exactly.

 

[mallory2013]

Awesome and expensive. As I live in the rainforest, I have the roof up as soon as it can be held. Even though I build under a canopy. Good luck..
If you get stumped, ( looks like you got it) I was a general contractor. Now I build boats. Aloha

Thank you! Yes it is expensive! But when I priced out coops that were already made, it would have been 3-4x the price to buy instead of build one...crazy!
If you are in Hawaii I bet the roof is the number one priority!! Haha thank you for your comment!

 

[mallory2013]

Nice looking build so far.
You haven't mentioned ventilation but might I suggest removing the blocking in between the rafters and covering with 1/2" hardware cloth on the front and rear? This allows air to draw in on the low eave and exit on the high eave well above bird roost height.

One other suggestion is your over hangs. You not gonna like them small short over hangs with wind driven rain. At least 2' all the way around would be much nicer and this would be much easier to do now than regret later.
Not bashing your build at all, it is a great looking coop so far, just a couple things to think about depending on your weather and which direction the coop is facing...

Ahhh thank you so much for the suggestion of ventilation! I was planning on putting in a gable vent, but that is a fantastic suggestion to take out the blocks and put hardware cloth there. The front is facing east and the back is facing west so it should be ok I think for weather? My other option is not to put the blockers in when I install the purlins, however then I would be concerned about the northern wind. We live in Wisconsin so it can get very cold. I forgot to add that i insulated the floor and I am planning on putting reflective insulation in the ceiling.
I did consider that for the overhang , however my major hang up there is that i would need 14' 2x4s since the building is 10x10. I was unable to find any close by to me that weren't cost prohibitive!
Thank you so much for you helpful suggestions! This is why I love this site!

 

[wrathsfarm]

Ahhh thank you so much for the suggestion of ventilation! I was planning on putting in a gable vent, but that is a fantastic suggestion to take out the blocks and put hardware cloth there. The front is facing east and the back is facing west so it should be ok I think for weather? My other option is not to put the blockers in when I install the purlins, however then I would be concerned about the northern wind. We live in Wisconsin so it can get very cold. I forgot to add that i insulated the floor and I am planning on putting reflective insulation in the ceiling.
I did consider that for the overhang , however my major hang up there is that i would need 14' 2x4s since the building is 10x10. I was unable to find any close by to me that weren't cost prohibitive!
Thank you so much for you helpful suggestions! This is why I love this site!

You are most welcome. Being your neighbor in Michigan I feel your pain with winter.
Best of luck with the rest of your build and it's a perfect example of price comparison to building your own compared to buying a prefab that is too much for not enough.

 

[AngelAnela]

Nice looking build so far.
You haven't mentioned ventilation but might I suggest removing the blocking in between the rafters and covering with 1/2" hardware cloth on the front and rear? This allows air to draw in on the low eave and exit on the high eave well above bird roost height.

One other suggestion is your over hangs. You not gonna like them small short over hangs with wind driven rain. At least 2' all the way around would be much nicer and this would be much easier to do now than regret later.
Not bashing your build at all, it is a great looking coop so far, just a couple things to think about depending on your weather and which direction the coop is facing...

There's no blocking at the rafters. You just cannot see under the top front. It's open all the way around the roof about 3-4"" .the front overhangs 1' and I have shutters I put over the windows.
I'm also eventually going to canopy over these hen houses to preserve the wood since it's built with expensive hardwood.
I thank you for your input though. You are right, I didn't say anything about venting.
Here's some.pictures of the hidden parts .

 

[AngelAnela]

Thank you! Yes it is expensive! But when I priced out coops that were already made, it would have been 3-4x the price to buy instead of build one...crazy!
If you are in Hawaii I bet the roof is the number one priority!! Haha thank you for your comment!

You're doing great at it. Yes, when I'm done doing mine in going to advertise what I'm building. Western town henhouses made with hardwood. About 8,000 and they are small.

 

[wrathsfarm]

There's no blocking at the rafters. You just cannot see under the top front. It's open all the way around the roof about 3-4"" .the front overhangs 1' and I have shutters I put over the windows.
I'm also eventually going to canopy over these hen houses to preserve the wood since it's built with expensive hardwood.
I thank you for your input though. You are right, I didn't say anything about venting.
Here's some.pictures of the hidden parts .

I was responding to the OP's @mallory2013 build. I see blocking front and rear between the rafters sitting on the top plate.