NEED ADVICE! OSB coop just got soaked

[newbie32]

Luckily my girls are in the garage growing still because when it decides to rain in the desert it pours! I was waiting for the 110 degree weather to ease up before I applied oil/latex redwood stain on my OSB made coop. So today it was cooler and while I was outside it started pouring. I didn't even have half of it done. So I ran and grabbed a tarp-which did nothing because my coop is 8ft by 4ft. Within 2 minutes I was completely soaked and unfortunately so was my coop. The heavy rains lasted for 2 hours before it left. I can not afford to redo my coop. My chicks are almost grown, I spent $120 on the materials for this. What do I do?

 

[foreverlearning]

Let it sit in the sun and dry out completely before painting. I live in Louisiana and it seems that when you want to build something it just has to rain. This happened to my coop during build as well. I have had the random scrap of osb sitting in the yard for long times and is holds together much better than you expect for it being untreated/unsealed.

 

[newbie32]

Okay well that makes me feel better. I was worried about rot.

 

[chfite]

OSB is not inherently durable, but is not ruined by some rain. Let it dry, and finish painting.

Chris

 

[vickichicki]

I suggest covering it until you can get it painted. Do not seal it tight, you will need air flow to dry it out. The OSB should be good, it will only rot with continual wet exposure, a one off soaking will be fine. Make sure it is thoroughly dry before you do paint it, you do not want to trap any excess moisture in the OSB strands.

 

[Hokum Coco]

Allowing OSB to get wet is not a wonderful idea but its done all the time. Most of the time there is very little harm and the material doesn't loose strength or any of its integrity. Under the best circumstances, the OSB sheathing is delivered to the site, installed and covered within a few days. Under such a scenario, moisture from rain etc. does not have the time to penetrate into the layers of wood strands or weaken the glue.

OSB that does get wet will tend to swell and delaminate first at the edges of the boards. This can be a real headache when one intends to install windows or doors with pre-manufactured liners. In such cases, the exact thickness of the walls can complicate final finishing work.

If you squeege it off and maybe shop vac it and dry it off best you can I think you will be fine. It usually takes days for the board to loose integrity.

 

[newbie32]

Okay so I will wait for it to completely dry and then put stain on it. Someone told me if I covered the outside-3walls-with plastic that it would get too hot for my chickens since we live in desert. I have an entire wall open, this is only a 3 sided coop. Can I cover it with heavy duty plastic material if I have the entire front open or no?

I would put tarp over the run wire to block the front from the rain when it happens once or twice a year

 

[foreverlearning]

Why would you want plastic to cover the walls? You should seal the wood to help prevent mites hiding in it, so I don't understand the need for plastic. The tarp over part of the run is a good idea, not only does it protect them from the rain, but it also provides shade. Most of us put windows and high vents in our coops for ventilation. When you build a three sided coop you need to make sure that your run is very secure (including from under ground). Do you ever get cold spells?

 

[newbie32]

Sometimes it gets cold at night but usually not too cold-around40degrees is COLD here. The plastic I was thinking of as a protective measure against rain. I have NO idea what to use to protect against mites. I've read on here many times that sand baths for the chickens are ideal for mite repelling, they will have plenty of sand to bath with. What can I use as a mite protectant that wont cost me an arm and leg at Home Depot?

 

[KYTinpusher]

Sometimes it gets cold at night but usually not too cold-around40degrees is COLD here. The plastic I was thinking of as a protective measure against rain. I have NO idea what to use to protect against mites. I've read on here many times that sand baths for the chickens are ideal for mite repelling, they will have plenty of sand to bath with. What can I use as a mite protectant that wont cost me an arm and leg at Home Depot?

Just painting the coop thoroughly will help to prevent the mites as they will have no place to hide in the wood. A dust bath is a good idea, too. I make mine with 1 part sand, 1 part peat moss, 1 part wood ash, and 1 part diatomaceous earth (food grade, NOT swimming pool).