OverEZ coop update

[llcardinale]

I've posted twice regarding the OverEZ coop. I purchased the Walk-In. I can hardly address how many things are wrong with this coop, but the worst is that they apparently built the coop against the manufacturer's (LP SmartSide) instructions: They apparently glued the panels to the joists instead of nailing them, as is the requirement for proper installation. There are no visible nails nailing the panels to the joists, and the panels are separating about 1/8 to 1/4 inch, which means that they are on there way to developing mold and to rotting out. The back panel has two pieces, the top one being what allows it to be a walk-in, adding an additional not quite two feet. The two pieces do not meet, except for about three inches in one corner. So 95% of this panel is warped as well. inside the coop the nesting box wall does not meet the end wall, and the nesting boxes are too small, unless you have Bantams. The chicken door is crooked, so much so the the OverEZ manager said it looks like it's from Alice and Wonderland. This company does not allow any critical reviews to be posted anywhere. Try to find a single critical review and you'll see that this is the case. (Seems these days that Amazon, though it has its faults, is the only place a critical review gets posted.) This blog is the only place that I've been able to inform folks. OverEZ coops are very expensive and are an extreme rip-off. Buyer be ware.

 

[thecatumbrella]

I'm glad you've been posting. Many people (including myself) will be tempted by them because they're not confident in their ability to build something from scratch.

I'm assuming you've tried to contact the company and got blown off?

 

[ChickyCh00k]

I've posted twice regarding the OverEZ coop. I purchased the Walk-In. I can hardly address how many things are wrong with this coop, but the worst is that they apparently built the coop against the manufacturer's (LP SmartSide) instructions: They apparently glued the panels to the joists instead of nailing them, as is the requirement for proper installation. There are no visible nails nailing the panels to the joists, and the panels are separating about 1/8 to 1/4 inch, which means that they are on there way to developing mold and to rotting out. The back panel has two pieces, the top one being what allows it to be a walk-in, adding an additional not quite two feet. The two pieces do not meet, except for about three inches in one corner. So 95% of this panel is warped as well. inside the coop the nesting box wall does not meet the end wall, and the nesting boxes are too small, unless you have Bantams. The chicken door is crooked, so much so the the OverEZ manager said it looks like it's from Alice and Wonderland. This company does not allow any critical reviews to be posted anywhere. Try to find a single critical review and you'll see that this is the case. (Seems these days that Amazon, though it has its faults, is the only place a critical review gets posted.) This blog is the only place that I've been able to inform folks. OverEZ coops are very expensive and are an extreme rip-off. Buyer be ware.

Sounds like you've had a really bad experience! My first coop was a large OverEZ. I had a fairly good experience with the coop and the company. However, this was several years ago, so their quality/customer service may have declined.

I bought the large, knowing it would only fit about half the chickens they claimed it would (claims 15, I had 8 large fowl fit comfortably). I did have an issue with the pop door not closing correctly. I called customer service and they replaced the entire panel that the pop door was on.

I also found out later (through BYC) that I would need to add more ventilation, and adjust roost spacing, which was simple enough (there were some examples here of people here who have done the same with their OverEZ coops, so I followed their example).

They used to be known as one of the "better quality prefabs" if you *had* to get a prefab (when I first started chicken keeping, I hadn't even thought about shed conversions, hoop coops, or any way that I could possibly build my own).

Anyway, I know that the company has come out with several new products since I received mine, so perhaps quality has declined, which is unfortunate. Sorry you've had so much trouble.

 

[llcardinale]

I'm glad you've been posting. Many people (including myself) will be tempted by them because they're not confident in their ability to build something from scratch.

I'm assuming you've tried to contact the company and got blown off?

They gave me a $1,200 refund. T

 

[llcardinale]

They gave me a $1,200 refund. T

They gave me a $1,200 refund. The coop was over $3,400

 

[CoordinatedChaos]

My husband was JUST showing me one of these coops today and was debating getting one. So glad I saw this! We'll keep looking, I think.

 

[llcardinale]

My husband was JUST showing me one of these coops today and was debating getting one. So glad I saw this! We'll keep looking, I think.

I've noticed that a lot of coop builders use siding of the OSB type, which the LP SmartSiding that OverEZ uses is, even though the LP company says otherwise. All you have to do is look at it and its composition. It is prone to rot, and, according to LP, all cuts made need to be primed and painted with latex acrylic primer and topcoat. OverEZ does not seal its panel cuts, and I'm guessing most coop makers using this kind of product don't, so you'd need to do this yourself. LP also says that all hardware like screws and nails should be caulked, which can be pretty impractical. We attached a predator barrier to the bottom of the coop (--the walk-in does not have a predator barrier for purchase) and the nesting boxes, which is a lot of screws. I may do this eventually. Also, panels seemed to be warped. We had the toughest time getting the panels to fit as directed. Seams meet at the corners and then buckled so that there is an overhang at the seams, which was the case for us--some I caulked and primed/painted, and some only the latter. I would recommend OverEZ if you are big on DIY, and can accept that there are many flaws, and if you cannot find another coop that meets your specification needs. I wanted a walk-in that would fit my space, which is 6x5, and came as a kit. It seems that almost no coop maker provides for reasonable ventilation, so OverEZ is not atypical in this. I added vents with covers all around just under the ceiling, and a 10x10 exhaust fan, which is really worth doing--makes such a difference. I removed the nesting box dividers because three of the boxes were way too small for my birds. The middle box isn't really usable because the nesting box internal handle intrudes into the space. So I used curtains to separate them, which allowed me to expand some of the spaces using part of the middle space as well as at the entrance to these spaces. As with most coop companies, the number of birds they claim will reasonably fit you can cut in half. The walk-in claims to accommodate 18 birds. I would say that 10 standard birds is pushing it. I wish you all the best in establishing your feather baby home.

 

[Appalachickens]

Good that you can post a negative review here - might save some new people some heartache. When I first started thinking about chickens, that was the coop I planned to get. Then I read on here all the recommended modifications and ultimately built my own. But I can sure understand that not everyone would want to do that.