Painting when the temps are freezing?

[Moogie]

We're having pretty cold weather now -- for central Texas. Temps for the next 4 nights will be below freezing, but will be in the 40's to low 50's during the day.

And yes, of course, I am building a chicken coop in the winter.

I'm using white barn paint inside the coop because it's self-priming and saves me a step - but the directions say to paint when the temps are above 50 degrees. Is it safe to use a small bathroom-size space heater, set on low, inside the coop during the night? We use a similar heater inside our well house that cuts on when the temps drop below freezing - but I'd need it warmer for the paint inside the coop.

If I don't use the heater, what would happen to the paint tonight when it freezes? Dry time is 8 hours (should only take a couple of hours to paint) and it shouldn't hit freezing until 1am.

Also, how long do I need to air out the coop before letting the hens stay inside the coop overnight? I have plenty of ventilation in the ceiling and the end caps of the roof, but I'm sure it will still have paint fumes for a while.

The chickens are in a tarp-covered hoop coop for now - but I'd like to get them inside (they would probably appreciate it too!) Thanks for any help with this!

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

My boyfriend is a contractor and I know he doesn't paint if it gets too cold as it takes the paint like 4 times longer to dry... something that should have been dry in a few hours will take like two days, even at above freezing, yet cold, temps.

I also found this online:

Most painting companies don't do work in the winter has the paint has no cure time and will flake off.

For regular paint the answer is no. However if you check with a paint pro there may be a special paint you can use or an additive to mix in with your current paint.

No. Your paint will not only freeze,a brush stroke will not go more than a few inches,making you use more paint. Also you will have high and low ridges making the paint job look awful.

No...especially if its a water based paint...it will just freeze and not dry.

Hope this helps!!!

 

[LakeMurrySC]

We are still in the process of finishing up our coop also. We painted the inside a few days ago when the highs were in the mid to low 60's and lows around mid to high 30's. We used a propane cyclinder along with the heater that sits on top of it and lit it and kept it set on the lowest setting. Now our coop is big, 12x16, so it did not get to warm in there. We were also using latex paint. We turned it on while we were building the run during the day. After making sure that it being on all day would not hurt we left it running at night. We only felt comfortable doing this because it had been running for over 10 hours during the day and we have such a large area to dry. Depending on the size of your coop this could be ill advised (too much heat for too little of an area.)

So after doing this and thinking all was good, we decided to do it when we used an oil base paint (different application same building). I would highly suggest NOT doing this. When I opened up the barn doors the fumes that came out were overwhelming! I had only left the heater in there for about a couple of hours. After I opened all the windows and left everything alone for about 30 minutes, I went in and turned the propane off.

My chickens are not close to the coop we are building now. I would say let the fumes air out for a couple of days a minimum, but I'm not a painter. Hopefully someone will jump in on that portion

This might help, but best of luck to you!

 

[Moogie]

WhiteMountainsRanch - thank you! oh yeah - I forgot to mention that the paint is oil-based.

I painted the roof supports and end caps yesterday, but kept them in our garage overnight, where it's warmer. They were still tacky in places this morning so I'll have to wait a couple more days to put the roof on. The entire crate-coop-in-progress is sitting under a covered 20x20 open-air pavilion. With the high temps of Texas summers, I wanted to have it in total shade - especially since I'm putting a clear corrugated barrel roof on. Here's a pic:

ok. So maybe I'll wait until the temps go above freezing at night (later this week). I was trying to get this finished before Christmas because it's just going to get progressively colder after that.

Crate Coop - no roof yet:

Under the pavilion:

Inside:

Chunnel (Chicken Tunnel) will be completely enclosed in hardware cloth and connects pop door to hoop coop:

Does anyone know how long it will need to air out before putting my chickens inside?

 

[Moogie]

Quote:
LakeMurry - thank you for posting this. As you can see, my coop is very small - 5x8x7. Guess I'll wait until later to paint - when it gets above freezing at night (next Tues thru Thurs).

Does anyone know if it would affect the painted interior if the temps drop below 50, but above freezing at night?

 

[Yay Chicks!]

If it were me, I would wait until you could get consistent temps above 50 (like the spring). You don't have to paint the inside of your coop. I didn't paint mine and there never has been poop on the walls. I keep a good layer of shavings on the floor and a poop board under the roost. The roost is the only messy thing in there.

 

[Moogie]

Yaychicks, thank you! That's the only reason I was so determined to paint - I was afraid all the poop would be a huge problem.

I'll have a poop board under the roost and had planned on using shavings on the floor. So, I think I'm going to wait for spring - and just paint the outside next week when it warms up a bit. We're putting the roof on tomorrow and then it will be weather tight (the pavilion roof leaks so I've got to get the barrel roof on ASAP).

 

[new chick 203]

If you paint when temps are low you risk getting a cloudy finish, a wrinkled finish or one that seems fine, but doesn't bond properly and ends up flaking off and having to be re-done. Oil paint is even more temperamental. I'd wait, or you might have to re-do it any way.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

Quote:
Make sure when you are weatherizing that you have plenty of ventilation at the top for humidity to escape. Good luck

It's a nice looking coop.

 

[Moogie]

Here's a pic of the end caps for the roof (still have to add the screening) - the clear corrugated roofing curves over and there's the large screened opening in the ceiling of the coop.

Do you think this type of venting will work well enough?