PLEASE talk me out of this???

[azelgin]

WildBurroShirts.com :

I'm just looking at what used to be my desk lamp that I put in next to the pet house chicken cage: it looks like it spent a year in the Sahara only...that ain't just 'dust' on it.

You should have seen my tack room after 8 weeks! It really wasn't as bad a clean up as I thought it was going to be. Dust mask and a leaf blower works pretty good, and a long shower afterwards.

 

[WildBurroShirts.com]

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Well...I wish you were closer too!!!

Thanks for the link! I have been looking at that...looks hard to move though where it is.

It's 10x14. I'm wanting it wired. I got all of this cheap (half price) 4 inch rigid foam for insulation. I scored two FREE double pane slider doors (no track) on craigslist that he's installed: one roost high (sideways) so they can see sunrise/warm up in the morning, one low so they can look out without jumping up on stuff. It's also got another window.

Thanks to patandchickens page on ventilation I've made him cut six eave vents. He does have the roof on finally and I could block the popdoor...but he doesn't have the wiring/insulation/interior done and said if I let them in there now he won't be able to get the vinyl to stick to the plywood floor?

I do have it stained outside.


Thanks to the other suggestion I'm seriously thinking of tossing them all in the basement. Half is my height (5'3") and half is crawlspace height and all dirt...do you think they'd be ok or they'd stuck behind stuff and need bailing out?

 

[WildBurroShirts.com]

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You should have seen my tack room after 8 weeks! It really wasn't as bad a clean up as I thought it was going to be. Dust mask and a leaf blower works pretty good, and a long shower afterwards.

Eww...all those little leather crevices on saddles...nope! My saddles are in the tack room on the trailer. It's also got a collapsible tackroom in the back which I wonder if they'd fly up and get themselves caught in that.

I'm thinking basement now, unless anyone thinks they'll get lost/stuck behind all those insulated furnace pipes?

 

[al6517]

I think I would approach this in a different manner, intead of making inconvient accomadations for the chickens, get onto the contractor!!!!. Explain to him that his time frame is putting you in a quandry, ask him how long it will take him to finish, and try to encourage a speedier finish. I am a contractor by trade with my own company and I always work/bid a job turnkey ( one price and a date to finish ) this way it is better for both parties as I want to finish faster and the client gets a finished product faster and for no increase in cost. This just good business, I think he seems to be trying to bilk you for some extra $$ as this is just a sideline for him and $ 30.00 an hr is a bit high for a part time handyman. please check the work often and try to protect yourself.

Good Luck
AL

 

[WildBurroShirts.com]

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I like him and his wife. But...I'm furious about the door being wrong. As that means he's got to change it out and probably the place he carved the hinges in.

And he did the same thing with the window: put it in backwards.

I am FOR SURE going to tell him he has to fix the door on his own time as I'm not paying $60 an hour to have a crummy plywood door installed!

(I'm not THAT blond!

)

 

[Guinea Goonie]

You may have been better off to pay for a portable shed (no credit checks, a decent monthly payment) for your chickies.

I converted the one I have into a nice storage, work and chicken coop and holds 40 chickens with ease. I have one pen that I use for storage, but it is set up for chickens if necessary so I can go to 60 chickens if i have to.

It is easy to heat and sturdy. Plus you can move the thing if you find yourself having to do so !!

 

[WildBurroShirts.com]

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OK...the pooping in the windows tracks did it: they're not going in the expensive trailer.

Thanks! It felt like a bad idea but when I went in this morning and they looked so crowded I felt so bad. I guess I could take a broken dog kennel I have and seperate them even further.

Gonna be on HECK of a pecking order mob scene when they all get back together, huh?

 

[WildBurroShirts.com]

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Great ideas, but I've been trying this since Nov. End of Nov I told him what I wanted and he said "it shouldn't take too long" and I explained I'd need it by Jan..."oh yep, ok".

He took two days off so that was two weeks he didn't come...and I've been on him a lot lately but he says to quit pressuring him. "I don't need the stress, I get that with my real job."

Given the economy I'm thinking of hiring somebody else to come finish it. Problem is I work with him (I've got a very part time job, 4 hours a week) and will need his help again with the messed up plumbing (which he jury-rigged for winter) and some other stuff the OTHER contractors messed up here.

He's trustworthy, has a key...could leave money on the counter (ya know...assuming I actually HAD money). Ha.

I need to get a real job.

 

[WildBurroShirts.com]

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I'd have been better off doing a lot of things.

But I really thought he'd be done by now. Heck, I thought he'd be done three weeks ago!

 

[azelgin]

WildBurroShirts.com :

Quote:
I like him and his wife. But...I'm furious about the door being wrong. As that means he's got to change it out and probably the place he carved the hinges in.

And he did the same thing with the window: put it in backwards.

I am FOR SURE going to tell him he has to fix the door on his own time as I'm not paying $60 an hour to have a crummy plywood door installed!

(I'm not THAT blond!

)

Did you say to this guy when he started "Hey, there's no big rush on this thing"? I have been a carpenter for over 30 years and I hate it when people tell me that. So, i don't believe them any more and treat every job the same. If you drag it out as a spare time project, nobody's happy and you don't make anything on it.
At $30 bucks an hour cash, he can afford to step up and treat it like a real job, friends, or not. I do work for many neighbors and friends: Keeping it professional keeps them neighbors and friends. If I screw something up, it gets fixed on my own time. That's what being paid for doing something right is all about!

JMHO​