Hi all!
I'm hoping that someone out there with more building experience (I have none) can help me with a couple of design issues on my coop. I need to get it built in the next week or so and I have a few dilemmas.
I'm converting an old shed into a coop with two runs outside of it. I will alternate the flock between runs every two to three weeks and try to grow some greens in the one they're not it.
I'm insulating the shed (got a ton of free batting that was a cast off of a church building project). It will be hot here in the summer and I want to insulate mostly from the heat, not the cold. Here are my two design dilemmas:
1) posts for runs. I have thought about a lot of ideas for making posts, but they are all really expensive (at least for me). Ideas have included 4X4 posts atop those green decking spikes (easy and movable), 4" PVC pipes cemented in place, and actual "fence posts" at TSC cemented in place. Each of these options looks like it will be a minimum of $10 per post and I probably need 20. That is too expensive for me. I also worry about treated wood and PVC leaching into the soil. Does anyone know of a more economical idea for run posts? We have raccoons so it will have to be solid.
2) interior wall covering (ie what to put over the batting and vapor barrier. I would love to have something that I can hose down when I'm mucking out the coop. Again, every covering I've looked at is so expensive. I think drywall is out because I don't think it would last in that environment. But even plywood or plastics seem to be so expensive. Any good ideas?
Thanks so much for your help! I'm just at a standstill with this design because I can't make it affordable.
Kez...
I'm hoping that someone out there with more building experience (I have none) can help me with a couple of design issues on my coop. I need to get it built in the next week or so and I have a few dilemmas.
I'm converting an old shed into a coop with two runs outside of it. I will alternate the flock between runs every two to three weeks and try to grow some greens in the one they're not it.
I'm insulating the shed (got a ton of free batting that was a cast off of a church building project). It will be hot here in the summer and I want to insulate mostly from the heat, not the cold. Here are my two design dilemmas:
1) posts for runs. I have thought about a lot of ideas for making posts, but they are all really expensive (at least for me). Ideas have included 4X4 posts atop those green decking spikes (easy and movable), 4" PVC pipes cemented in place, and actual "fence posts" at TSC cemented in place. Each of these options looks like it will be a minimum of $10 per post and I probably need 20. That is too expensive for me. I also worry about treated wood and PVC leaching into the soil. Does anyone know of a more economical idea for run posts? We have raccoons so it will have to be solid.
2) interior wall covering (ie what to put over the batting and vapor barrier. I would love to have something that I can hose down when I'm mucking out the coop. Again, every covering I've looked at is so expensive. I think drywall is out because I don't think it would last in that environment. But even plywood or plastics seem to be so expensive. Any good ideas?
Thanks so much for your help! I'm just at a standstill with this design because I can't make it affordable.
Kez...
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