Newbie Construction Question - Inner Walls and Outer Walls

[kellyjeanne]

Hey all, so I'm both new at chickens and new at carpentry (I once built a beehive, but that was my only previous foray into carpentry, and bees are pretty darn forgiving).

Anyway, I am building from The Garden Coop plans which say to hang your henhouse siding BEFORE putting your "inner" plywood walls up so that you can caulk the siding and the chooks can't peck the caulk.

My question is - is there any reason I'm not thinking of (total newbie, so probably) not to hang the plywood first (then I can screw roosts and feed/water mounts directly in from the outside) - caulk the seams on the outside - and THEN hang the siding? Any advice super helpful. Thanks in advance!

As with prior post: coop update pic. DW was painting it a bit while I was out today getting darker roof panels.

 

[FridayYet]

This is how mine turned out. Well, it was almost done at the time, still needed the inner wall and nest boxes. Since I lived in a mild climate, I just used cedar fence pickets as siding and didn't caulk anything.

I don't see why you can't do it as you are suggesting, just make sure the chooks can't get to any caulk or sealant you might use.

 

[kellyjeanne]

I'm in Atlanta - so I'm not sure if caulking is the right call for me either - it does get cold in the Winter, but not crazy and not for long (although maybe that's the New Englander in me speaking and the gals would disagree?) I haven't actually decided on that point yet. Did you lengthen yours too? I can't quite tell from that angle, but it looks longer? Mine is 16 feet - so double the called-for length, but I really wanted them to have space so that if I'm having a busy week and they can't range much, I won't feel quite so badly about it.

 

[FridayYet]

We did lengthen it a bit. It has one extra section to make it a bit longer, but the 5 hens were let out almost every evening for a few hours. The far side had the siding all the way down since chickens were illegal where I lived. So from the street it just looked like a shed.

This was in Southern California, and we moved from there 2 years ago.

As long as they are protected from drafts they'll be fine. My flock is in 1/2 of a converted shed now, with a single panel wall and no insulation. (And none of the gaps are caulked) They do fine in the winter here in the high desert climate of New Mexico at 5000' elevation.

 

[tmarsh83]

Exposed caulk won't last forever. It will weather and break down and need to be redone.

But I don't see why you would caulk it anyway. You aren't caulking anything big enough to cause a draft, it's a chicken coop, let it breathe, IMO.

 

[Dmontgomery]

I agree with the above. I'm not familiar with the garden coop plan but I don't know why you would want to caulk at all.

 

[kellyjeanne]

The caulk isn't exposed - it's sandwiched between the siding and the plywood walls - so in the original plan, you caulk the siding on the inside before adding walls. My question was about caulking the plywood walls on the "outside" before putting the siding on over them. It's apparently about keeping out drafts? Like I said, I'm super new at all this and just trying to figure out the best way to make this work. I'm in Atlanta, so I'm definitely more worried about heat, but it can be cold and damp for a month or so in the winter and I don't want them to be unhappy (or worse).

Speaking of drafts and/or ventilation - I've added the two salvaged windows (you can see one in the pic) but they're parallel - so another is in the same spot on the back for a cross-breeze. There will be HW cloth between the glass and the coop so that if open or opened, there is a barrier. There's about a 2 inch space between the window framing and the roofline, and I'm trying to decide if I should put siding there or leave it open (with HW cloth) so that there is always a little extra venting. If the roof also is ventilated, is this important?

 

[kellyjeanne]

Also, thanks for your patient replies - I'm learning so much!

 

[FridayYet]

One thing I liked about the Garden Coop was the hardware cloth ceiling under the floating roof. It allowed for a ton of ventilation which really helped in our super hot summers. (And kept out rats and mice!). I would side around your windows, so you can shut them during storms.

You can also plan it so you can keep the inner clean-out door open on the hottest nights. I had a clip where I could secure it open. Since the run is so secure, they don't need to be shut tight into the coop.

 

[Dmontgomery]

Caulking the exterior wall before installing it would be for looks only. It wouldn't matter which side the caulking if on oder to keep out drafts or moisture.
If your roof overhang is sufficient to keep the rain out, and it looks like it should be, just put HC over the 2" gap. That will give room for the heat at the roofline to vent out all the time. Heat rises and vents out. I wouldn't use siding.
I think it looks great. Not like this is your first coop. You've got skills!