Sand best option for damp concrete run?

[HCBeck]

Is it seeping in around all sides? Sandbags maybe? Till it dries and you can caulk it up and add some hardwood mulch to the bottom. What about a drainage ditch filled with gravel in the asphalt all the way around the edge of the run. I see now it isn't asphalt, but concrete. Maybe some drains in key areas around the run.

No, not all sides, just the two front corners. Yes, I am thinking of adding a drain pipe to the side by the coop as it has more water coming in than the side with the rain barrel. It will be fairly easy to dig a trench and put in a drainage pipe as that side is an old flower garden. If that doesn't solve the drainage issue on that side I will cut a trench in the asphalt and do the same thing with a drain pipe there. The run is on concrete but then they added an apron of asphalt around that. Not sure what the previous owner's thought on that was but it seems to be the asphalt that is not graded correctly and not the concrete. We're having rain most of this week but next week everything should dry up and I hope to be able to make some drainage changes. Thank you for all the suggestions!

 

[aart]

Not sure what the previous owner's thought on that was but it seems to be the asphalt that is not graded correctly

Heck then, just remove the asphalt.

 

[chickens really]

I just moved my 5 week old hens into their coop and run over the weekend. The coop is raised with a wood floor so I use pine shavings and its nice and dry and fine. The covered run has a concrete floor and the first night and day it rained and I did not have gutters so the rain dripped down the hardware cloth and the pine shavings got wet. I cleaned it all out because no matter how much I sifted and mixed it throughout the following days, it would not dry out. I had gutters installed today. I hesitate to add pine shavings back in and have been thinking about adding a layer of pebbles and then construction sand over top. I'm in Maryland and we've had an unusual amount of rain over the past year so I'm anticipating the concrete retaining some dampness. Even though the gutters will solve the "flooding" I had, I know I will always have some moisture on the floor after rain so my hope is with sand it will offer the fastest drying time out of all the bedding options. Does anyone have any experience with using sand or other bedding on a concrete run? Thanks!

Sorry I'm quickly replying so haven't read everyone else's posts. I definitely would use sand because it dries quickly. Don't use shavings or other stuff that rots in the Run part.

 

[aart]

haven't read everyone else's posts.

Try it, you'll like it!

 

[chickens really]

Try it, you'll like it!

...Possibly...

 

[HCBeck]

Heck then, just remove the asphalt.

You know, I thought about that but I wondered why they added it- is it somehow helping the concrete or is there something going on there that I would uncover if I removed it? I am friendly with the lady who grew up in the house so I may ask her if she knows why the asphalt was laid around the concrete. Because if I removed the asphalt, I could install a French drain along that area. It looks like they had the concrete pad there first and then added the driveway and because of the length that they made the driveway, they felt like they needed to add the bit of asphalt apron around the concrete pad. Who knows! First things first is a drain pipe in the flower garden.

 

[aart]

You know, I thought about that but I wondered why they added it-

Maybe to protect the ground/splashing from the drip line of the roof?
Or did you add the roof?

 

[HCBeck]

Maybe to protect the ground/splashing from the drip line of the roof?
Or did you add the roof?

We built the coop and run and added a roof. It sits up next to the garage. This picture might help to see the structure better.

 

[aart]

Seeing the concrete and asphalt more clearly might help.

 

[HCBeck]

Seeing the concrete and asphalt more clearly might help.

Here is the space before we built the coop and run. You can see where the concrete and asphalt meet if you look closely. And that is the old azalea bush I took out in the garden by the coop where most of the water is getting in.