Plywood floor, small gaps and imperfections

[Fubs]

Converted our gazebo into a fortress for the chicks. I’ve got a sheet of vinyl flooring under the roost, but around the edges I added underlayment plywood to cover the staples and help hold things in place. My cuts / angles weren’t as precise as I’d like, so there’s a couple small gaps and some imperfections in the wood surface. I plan on rounding all sharp edges off with a belt sander, but wanted to fill the gaps and imperfections prior to painting everything with interior latex.

what can I use that will be safe for the birds to fill the cracks?

we read a lot about bumblefoot and wanted their interior as smooth as possible to prevent any cuts or injuries.


Thanks in advance!

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Oh I hope you post a picture, that sounds awesome!! I would put wood trim around edges and fill in other gaps with grout. with grout you can get it perfectly level before painting. I've done this before and it worked out great. Can't wait to hopefully see it!

 

[3KillerBs]

It may not be necessary to do anything at all.

Photos?

I'd worry more about chickens pecking up and eating any form of filler material than about tiny gaps.

 

[Folara]

Will you be using bedding inside this coop? My coop floor is made of a few sheets of plywood pieced together and there are some gaps between the plywood and the siding. I painted the floor with lots of paint which helped fill minor cracks and imperfections, but once I added pine shavings you'd never know the floor isn't perfect!

Besides sharp edges, bumblefoot can also be caused by high roosts or sparse bedding where the impact from the landing creates the foot injury. Making the roosts lower or adding lots of cushiony bedding would help in this case, so if you aren't considering bedding I highly recommend it - not only will it cover the floor so you and the chickens won't be bothered by imperfections, but it will make for easier cleaning too!

 

[Shezadandy]

We use horse stall mats as our floors. They hold up to ANYTHING as they're meant to have a 1200lb animal stepping on them, flooding the floor with urine and of course poop. Stall mats have GREAT traction, and also some cushion. At 3/4" thick, they may even help with your gaps.

Here's what I would do -- I would cover the gaps in your floor with strips of hardware cloth- nail them down. Then if you're intent on using the vinyl as their surface, put the vinyl over that. Otherwise- horse stall mats. Then tack down the edges with 2x2s or 2x4s drilled into the floor at the wall edge to hold everything flat.

 

[mowin]

You could always use calking. Simple and inexpensive.

 

[Fubs]

 

[Fubs]

I’ll get some new pictures up this weekend, we painted the inside with free paint, interior latex mostly low voc stuff. We mixed like colors into a 5 gallon pail and came up with a nice light green color. Raining now so we can’t do the outside or finish the inside.

 

[3KillerBs]

Those cracks are nothing. The chickens will be fine.

 

[Folara]

Definitely nothing to worry about! A good coat of paint will help soften up any pokey areas as well. I love the gazebo house!