Need advice on pylons for 4x4's

[S0rcy]

Hello there, tomorrow I absolutely have to get his coop done. The poor chicks are getting cramped and I'm getting concerned they'll start pecking at each other.

Because of the slickensides clay we have in the spot I'm building on I have decided to use pylons (piers) to attach the 4x4's to for the corners of the coop. Should I bury them or keep them on top of the soil? If I keep them on top I may have to worry about making steps UP into the coop. If I put them in the ground I will need to worry about the wood of the bottom of the coop touching the wet ground for most of the year and possibly rotting. The piers are thick and flat bottomed enough so that they won't move in the slickensides clay so I'm not worried about that if they should go in the ground.

Any advice?

 

[Cetawin]

You could seal the bottom of the 2x4's with a tar and then burying them a bit into the ground. They have that tar or rubber stuff in a small bucket and you can literally dip the 2x4 end into it.

 

[LynneP]

Another way to do this is to buy a few concrete blocks at the hardware store which have a depression in the top specifically designed to hold a 4 x 4. They'll separate the wood from the clay soil and never have to be replaced. And if your 4 x 4 is wolmanized or it you brush the end with a bit of wood preservative, you'll probably never have to replace it. Those concrete blocks also have a little channel directed out to the edge to keep water from sitting at the base of your wood. Hope this helps!

 

[patandchickens]

Unless you will be using ground-contact-grade pressure-treated wood for the parts of the coop that would touch or be near the ground, I'd make it raised up above the ground about 10+". Making a step (or I'd recommend a ramp, for easier wheelbarrow access) is not hard. You don't want the coop hovering *just* above the ground, as being likely to turn into a vermin farm; and you don't want untreated wood touching the ground.

Does that help?

Pat

 

[CUDA]

I would use pressure treated corner posts and raise your coop a foot or so off the ground. Make sure you get the posts about 4 foot in the ground. By doing this, you will save yourself rat problems in the future, trust me, just like patandchickens said.