My "Pinterest" Project Shed Build

[Finnie]

I know! My first thought was to count them all, because they had been walking all over it during the day. And I came up one short, but then as I was re-counting, I saw the last one inside a nest box in the coop. So thankful!

 

[Finnie]

We are back in business now!

He had a second guy helping him on Monday, so they got it back to the point it was before, and beyond. Now the end walls are on, and the whole thing should be more stable.








I think I'll be more comfortable when he gets those gables filled in.

One nice thing, is that he said I can keep any of the broken lumber that I want, and then he'll haul away the rest. There will be a lot of wood I can use for my nest boxes and poop boards, roosts, etc. Because the ends are broken on most of them, but for the things that I need short pieces for, they are fine.

 

[Finnie]

Backing up just a bit, here is what my husband, son and I accomplished on Sunday, when the builder wasn't here:

I am huge, huge, HUGELY grateful that they cleaned up that terrible pile of cedar siding that the house contractor left behind! And they were able to salvage me quite a lot of good pieces.



Meanwhile I worked on re-treating my steel roof panels. When I first did it, I diluted the vinegar half and half with water. And leaned them up against the fence so the solution could run down the grooves. My idea was to start some rust stripes. But I realized that the vinegar just beaded right off the metal. It had no effect. When I looked up how to do a better job of it, I learned that even straight vinegar is pretty weak, so diluting it was just a big waste of time and vinegar. I guess people put salt in the vinegar to make it work better. And someone suggested making a salt and vinegar paste and scrubbing it in, to rough up the coating on the metal.

So for my second treatment I laid the boards down flat, sprinkled vinegar and then salt all over them (1 at a time), and brushed the resulting sludge lengthwise with a push broom. Then I left them laying flat to maximize how long the vinegar and salt could be in contact with the metal.


I let that sit overnight, and then I poured small amounts of straight vinegar in each channel, and tilted each piece until the vinegar reached the other end. Then left them laying flat over night again.

After two days of the revised treatment, this is how the metal looks now.







It's beginning to have the striped effect I wanted. And hopefully that will reduce the glare, once they are installed on the shed.

I'll have to ask the man if he cares whether I rinse the salt off or not. I'd like to let it stay on as long as possible, until the rain washes it off.

 

[romien]

I just can't wait to see the finished coop. Your thread has inspired me so much that I am going to build one myself. Probably not as big, but a mini version of it. Just enought to house 20 chickens or so... Thanks for that!!!

 

[Finnie]

You're welcome! And thank you!

Ha Ha, this one is designed to hold 20 chickens.

In the back half. It will have a front room for storage, and so that I can still truthfully call it my "garden shed".

 

[koopmaster]

Very nice coop idea and design! Sorry to hear about it getting taken down by that wind storm tho
Can't wait to see the finished coop!!

 

[Gridguru]

It looks from the pictures that they might have used more studs than the first time around. That should help with the stability tremendously. I would have worried if they still had them spaced 4ft or so apart with that big of a roof. I think you are lucky the wind got it when it did, rather than when you or the chickens were in there.

Looking good now.

 

[koopmaster]

It looks from the pictures that they might have used more studs than the first time around. That should help with the stability tremendously. I would have worried if they still had them spaced 4ft or so apart with that big of a roof. I think you are lucky the wind got it when it did, rather than when you or the chickens were in there.

Looking good now.

 

[koopmaster]

Good point Gridguru!

 

[Finnie]

I wondered about the spacing of the studs too, and when I asked him, he said when he's raising walls by himself, he just puts a few studs in on the ground, and after he has it upright and braced, then he puts in all the rest of the studs so that they are spaced 16" on center. That way the wall is not so heavy while he's lifting it.

Today's progress:
Gable ends filled in.

And he did a lot of interior work too. The partition wall between the two rooms, framing around some of the windows, and more of the studs in place.

The hole where the nest boxes are going to go: