Sealing existing coop floor

[Stephanie8806]

SO.....

We built our coop this year. Elevated, well built, and super duper sturdy. My dad is an engineer and helped us with the technical construction... this thing could withstand a hurricane.

The one thing I’m concerned about is the floor. Everything is fine right now, it’s all new, so of course it’s fine. We live in a very dry climate, and although we get snow, I’m not worried about environmental moisture at all. What concerns me is moisture from the birds themselves.

We opted for 3/4 inch OSB flooring, which we sealed with polycryllic, and then with flex seal after the walls went up. Everything seemed fine, the polycrylic was perfect. I don’t know what happened with the flex seal, I gave it over a week to fully dry/cure, but not long after getting the birds in, it started to peel/flake up under the pine bedding over about 75% of the floor

I’ve decided that I will need to reseal the floor with rubber roof sealant, it seems to be the toughest stuff for the job. My question is about logistics...
1- How well do the floors need to be cleaned to apply the sealant? Will scooping and sweeping be enough, or do I need to also bring in a shop vac?
2- fumes??? If I use a water based product, what are the fumes like? How long does the coop need to air out?
3- Drying/curing... how long will it take until bedding can be put back in and the chickens can use it again? We only have 1 coop for our 12 girls at the moment, and they need to roost at night. We have plans to build a smaller separate brooding/injured/overflow coop down the road but it’s not financially possible right now.

I think the floor will be fine for a while, as long as we stay on top of cleaning it... but I want to have a plan in place so that we ensure it’s completely protected before damage happens.

Sorry this was long winded, just trying to paint a clear picture for you all. Thank you in advance for your help and expertise

 

[Aunt Angus]

I have OSB as a floor, too. I just put sheet linoleum I picked up from a kitchen demolition (free!). It's FANTASTIC. If you need something quick, this is what I suggest. Any other products will need to dry/cure and the coop will have to be aired out. Fumes = bad juju for chickens' respiratory systems.

 

[drinkoj]

1. I would shop vac just like painting you don't want any debris. Other might have a better idea as I've only started raising chickens.

2. I used Porch and Deck paint with a VERY thick first coat and the fumes and drying took about 36 hours.

3. Blackjack 57 is the roofing stuff folks on this forum use. If you read the product instructions it takes up to 10-14 days to fully cure. On here most say it takes a day or two. I bought a 5 gal bucket when I was designing/preparing to build my coop, but didn't use it because of curing time.

Vinyl flooring actually seems the best idea overall to be used in hindsight, but I am happy with what I did. Hope that helps.

 

[Rldad1]

I would clean it up and put in cheap vinyl flooring. You can buy this stuff cheap, I got mine at Lowes for 69 cents foot, 12 feet wide. Install it with mastic or staples.

 

[aart]

I'd go for vinyl.
Flex seal probably didn't stick to the stuff under it, you'll have the same problem trying to coat it with yet another coating.

 

[Big Doggie]

SO.....

We built our coop this year. Elevated, well built, and super duper sturdy. My dad is an engineer and helped us with the technical construction... this thing could withstand a hurricane.

The one thing I’m concerned about is the floor. Everything is fine right now, it’s all new, so of course it’s fine. We live in a very dry climate, and although we get snow, I’m not worried about environmental moisture at all. What concerns me is moisture from the birds themselves.

We opted for 3/4 inch OSB flooring, which we sealed with polycryllic, and then with flex seal after the walls went up. Everything seemed fine, the polycrylic was perfect. I don’t know what happened with the flex seal, I gave it over a week to fully dry/cure, but not long after getting the birds in, it started to peel/flake up under the pine bedding over about 75% of the floor

I’ve decided that I will need to reseal the floor with rubber roof sealant, it seems to be the toughest stuff for the job. My question is about logistics...
1- How well do the floors need to be cleaned to apply the sealant? Will scooping and sweeping be enough, or do I need to also bring in a shop vac?
2- fumes??? If I use a water based product, what are the fumes like? How long does the coop need to air out?
3- Drying/curing... how long will it take until bedding can be put back in and the chickens can use it again? We only have 1 coop for our 12 girls at the moment, and they need to roost at night. We have plans to build a smaller separate brooding/injured/overflow coop down the road but it’s not financially possible right now.

I think the floor will be fine for a while, as long as we stay on top of cleaning it... but I want to have a plan in place so that we ensure it’s completely protected before damage happens.

Sorry this was long winded, just trying to paint a clear picture for you all. Thank you in advance for your help and expertise ❤

I used a couple sections of vinyl mostly used as a runner on a carpet that has heavy traffic. Home Depot has the stuff on a large spool and it’s 3’ wide. I used roofing nails to secure it to the floor. I poured PDZ over it and after 2 months there isn’t anything stuck to the floor.

 

[blackdog043]

I'd go for vinyl.
Flex seal probably didn't stick to the stuff under it, you'll have the same problem trying to coat it with yet another coating.

Totally agree with this!

I used BlackJack 57 on my floor, but it was on clean plywood.

 

[21hens-incharge]

A suggestion with the linoleum......

Don't try and glue it down. That would be a nightmare when you need to replace it. Just secure the edges by screwing a 1x3 on top the whole way around. Then when you need to replace it it is simply removing the 1x3's and taking the old out.