Pressure treated wood for floor

[turkeyguy]

Hi Everyone,
I am planning on rebuilding our chicken coop (which is inside our barn) and was wondering if anyone has used pressure treated wood for flooring before. I want to use pressure treated so we can spray it off when cleaning it. I was going to set the boards right next to each other(not like on a deck) to keep rodents out. This floor will also be used for turkeys which will be in a separate coop. Has anyone done this before?
Thanks!

 

[Prospector]

I think the new ACQ is not as harmful as the old ACC pressure treated lumber, but I still wouldn't want my birds in regular contact with it. You will find varying opinions on this.

There is other material that stands up well to wet conditions, but its name escapes me right now. It looks like particle board or chipboard but is sealed with a waxy glue that prevents water from getting into it. I tested a smaple of it by leaving it ou tin th eweather for 2 years before using the stuff and it showed no weathering at all.

I wish I could remember the name of it.

 

[churchx3]

I used pressure treated word for my entire coop as the "new" pressure treated wood is supposed to be ok ...also the floor of the coop has 4-5 inches of pine shavings so they are not in constant contact anyway...

 

[hueghy]

cedar would make a great floor for that purpose.

 

[turkeyguy]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I looked into cedar and although it would be great, it is too expensive for our budget. I have also thought of using concrete, but can't find a straight answer on how to figure out how much I need to use. If I did do concrete, it would be 10' x 16' x 4"(well almost 4). I know that quickcrete would be too expensive.

 

[Splash Giants]

Pressure Treated wood for your floor will be fine. I have used it for 25 years and have never had one problem.

 

[swift4me]

You would be shocked at how much concrete you would need for thast space. There would be a cement truck at your house.

That is almost 6 yards of concrete.

Cedar would be cheaper, and I'm guessing because of the pine shavings, the pressure treated stuff would be great. Truck flor decking, (hardwood from South America, is quite often available fairly cheaply too.

 

[patandchickens]

Pressure treated plywood won't keep rodents from chewing through, even if you butt the boards tightly together; and if it is within a few inches of whatever the barn's "real" flooring is, it will soften and rot in time despite the pressure-treating.

Pressure treated *lumber* won't rot in those conditions, however you will have one awful heckuva time getting the packed-in poo and bedding out of the crevices where the boards meet (even if they are butted closely), and again, rodents can chew through if they wish.

One thing you might consider is to price out the cost of using large (like 2x2) concrete pavers. They are pretty rodentproof, there are *fewer* crevices than there would be with lumber, and you get the same hoseability (although honestly I know of no good reason for hosing out a chicken coop).

Another option is rubber stall mats like they use for horse stalls -- not entirely rodentproof, but not *too* bad, and very hoseable if laid right, but something on the order of $40 for a 4x6.

Alternatively raise the floor up high enough to prevent damp and let your barn cats or whatever under there to hunt rodents, and make a raised floor 18" or so above the barn's real floor, using non-p/t lumber and non-p/t plywood for it. And just restrain your hosing impulses

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[turkeyguy'swife]

Quote:
I like this idea and wonder if osb would be ok in place of plywood for cost purposes.

 

[patandchickens]

I dunno, I really dislike OSB as a coop floor, personally... it is fine in a *house* where you know it will stay pretty near 100% dry all the time, but in an outdoor environment and not *too* far from the barn floor, I would seriously not trust it not to soften over time. YOu could try it I suppose if you really want, I'd for sure prime and paint both sides and preferably install it so that if you end up ripping it up and replacing with plywood in a few years you will not find that you've built walls atop the edges of the OSB or anything like that

Good luck, have fun,

Pat