New Octagon Coop Construction Underway - Progress

[Z80GameCoder]

We are already well underway with construction of our 'gazebo style' coop.
We have the ground base level with concrete blocks.
We have eight 2 ft legs for under-coop run space and shelter and almost completed the PT lumber sub-floor.
Then we need to tie together the eight legs at the ground so hardware cloth can be applied to secure the run area.
We are short a few boards of PT, so its back out to Lowes soon.
After that it's cut the plywood for the floor to size and bring back in for painting on Saturday (they're calling for rain).
I tidied up my rough plans and threw them up on our flickr account.

New Coop by totalpodcastrophe, on Flickr
Started taking photos, but I need to go through them and upload the decent ones to our New Coop collection.
Pleased with the progress so far.

 

[mcjessen]

Very nice!

 

[flowergirl60]

 

[Z80GameCoder]

We have four transom windows, 10" x 35", to provide natural light inside the coop. They are going on the NE, SE, SW, NW sides of the coop alternating with the vents. $153 for four of those. The vents are approximately 3 sq.ft. each on the N, E, S, W sides of the coop. So that's about 12 sq.ft. plus the undereave vents at the top section. That ought to be enough. Vents can be opened and closed as needed. The initial run for the materials was three 3/4" 4' x 8' plywood (plus some paint to seal it), four 4" x 4" x 8' PT, four 2" x 4" x 10' PT, fourteen 2" x 4" x 8' PT, and a bunch of PT capable screws to put it all together (I have more faith in screws).

 

[2DogsCoop]

very cool can't wait to see it finished with chickens in it!

 

[Z80GameCoder]

Same here!

We dug in some concrete block to provide support for the legs. The ground is not totally level here, but the block sure is! We'll sort out the ground for the run later. Let's get this thing built first, eh. I installed that big dish myself. It's still standing after all these years. I had to drill into a huge boulder as I could not dig down far enough to pour the concrete to anchor the pole. I cemented rebar into the boulder, then tied my concrete pour to that. It's not going anywhere. Rock solid (literally).

 

[Z80GameCoder]

Here are the components for the main part of the floor joists with legs. Everything else is built off this. We cut two 4" x 4" x 8' PT into 2' long pieces for the legs. We cut two 2" x 4" x 8' PT. We also cut four 2" x 4" x 10' down to 9' 7 7/8" minus the 3" width of two 2x4s which go at the ends. The legs came out well, straight up and down and even length.

 

[Fay at Frizzled Feathers]

Very good idea ,Can't wait to see finished coop pics !

 

[Z80GameCoder]

Here we have the largest component of the base constructed. Yay! We put four screws through a 4' PT into each leg, then screwed that to the frame with plenty of screws. It's pretty solid.

Wow. We managed to turn this thing over too. Great. Now to haul it all the way down to where the coop site is. Phew!

 

[Z80GameCoder]

Here we have our main base component in place and everything is level (enough). We set the blocks in the right place, which was a relief. Math in action right there.