Semi-Permanent Coop Foundation Troubleshooting

[azellmer]

I've been reading a lot on BYC to help me with the design of my coop and have created what I hope will be perfect and wonderful and make my chicks-to-be very cozy, but my original design plans for my foundation are not exactly working as planned and I would love some advice.

To give some background, I live in Northern CA and am currently renting a house where the city and my landlord will allow me to have chickens. However, because of the uniqueness of having a home where I don't plan to live forever, I have taken entirely too much time and effort to design a temporary-permanent coop structure that will meet my needs as a chicken owner, but also as a renter and as an eventual mover. So long story short, the coop will be about 4x5 and around 6 feet tall, raised off of the ground with a modular run that will all be sturdy enough for the hens but also easy to disassemble when it comes to moving at some point.

The space in which I am putting the coop is in the back portion of our yard on very uneven hard earth. There is not a big slope but the ground is very uneven and and hard enough that I don't want to take the time to try and level it and because of the renting issue, we cannot pour concrete for the foundation. So my original plan for the foundation was to use paving stones, and I proceeded to dig out a big hole, fill with gravel for drainage, cover in landscape cloth and sand and attempted to level the paving stones... which did not work.

Next, I removed the sand and landscape cloth and built a trench around the perimeter and attempted to use a 2x4 frame around the outside to support the paving stones. The first attempt involved a frame with stakes driven into the ground which quickly turned into the second attempt of a stake-less frame leveled on a layer of sand...

Needless to say, if I had succeeded in my efforts I would not be on here posting this, but I became so frustrated with the project that I covered it with a tarp to protect it from the late rains, but also to keep it out of view because after these attempts I was extremely frustrated with the whole thing...

My original idea had stemmed from a similar sort of set up that was done on the Wichita Cabin Coop but with no real luck...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/wichita-cabin-coop

I really don't want to become discouraged because of this hang-up but I'm sort of already there and I would really appreciate some helpful ideas or hints to help with this project, because I don't want to give up!

Thank you in advance for your time and input!

 

[Mrwinchester]

azellmer don't get discouraged. just keep at it. Hers a picture on how i did mine I know its different set up than yours but this worked for me. I raised and leveled my coop using concrete blocks then i skirted it with old roofing tin to bury for predator protection then i filled it with sand which will fill the voids under my 2x6 which every thing sits on. My description is veg but hope this picture will help. I'm not sure why you need a foundation unless it is for critter proofing. hope this is some what helpful. Keep your chin up.

 

[4 the Birds]

+1
Not sure what the issue is with just adding paver stones for the corners of the coop and shoring up the low areas. You could probably just "eyeball" it and not even use a level. The coop does not need to have any type of precision leveling and the ground often settles with time anyway.

 

[Mrwinchester]

+1
Not sure what the issue is with just adding paver stones for the corners of the coop and shoring up the low areas. You could probably just "eyeball" it and not even use a level. The coop does not need to have any type of precision leveling and the ground often settles with time anyway.

yes I agree, I leveled my coop as far as the run goes i just ran a string line down and shimmed it to make sure it was flat and strait. the grade from back to front of my run drops about 10 inches but you wouldn't know it, unless you are as picky as me lol. good luck

 

[azellmer]

Thank you both for your responses. I want to have the foundation to ensure that it is critter proof, we have a lot of cats in our neighborhood and I don't want any way for them to get in, and I also just want a very flat surface to help make the construction a bit easier. The plans that I have for the run will work great if I have a flat level(ish) surface, if there is much variation I'm afraid it will fail miserably, and I'm just trying to avoid that...

Mrwinchester, I like the idea of using concrete block and 2x6s, that might work out. Did you use PT wood? I tried running a string line to help me with my failed efforts and I had a lot of trouble getting it to stay level, and just like the boards and paving stones, it felt like every time I turned around things were off-level again, hence the tremendous amount of frustration.

And 4 the Birds, I definitely want a level(ish) surface all the way around, again because of the design that I have in mind, and I understand that there will be some settling, but I have to admit that I am an engineer, so I sort of want it to be perfect and amazing, hence these perfect and amazing ideas I thought I had that don't seem to be working out in practice as much as in theory!

I just hope that the actual construction of the coop doesn't give me as much trouble as this... I better knock on wood!

Thank you both for your input, I really appreciate it. I think I will either retry something similar to what I was attempting but be a little more lax about the absolute accuracy of things, or I might try something similar to Mrwinchester's set up...

Thanks again, and any more suggestions would be great!

 

[Mrwinchester]

Once my coop was built I then leveled it the extra weight helped it stays in place just use a leaver to lift up to add your blocks. As far as cats go i don't think they will dig other than in your gardens. i burred steel bent on a 90 degree . you could just skirt the perimeter with chicken wire and let the grass grow up through it.I can relate to you wanting it to look perfect, I think i might have a case of O.C.D i cant have things that are out of sorts, bugs the heck out of me lol Good luck

p.s. yes i used pressure treated lumber

 

[aart]

A picture of the site would help us make suggestions.

 

[4 the Birds]

And 4 the Birds, I definitely want a level(ish) surface all the way around, again because of the design that I have in mind, and I understand that there will be some settling, but I have to admit that I am an engineer, so I sort of want it to be perfect and amazing, hence these perfect and amazing ideas I thought I had that don't seem to be working out in practice as much as in theory!

Ah... OK. I am also an Engineer but I retired early a few years ago.

To tell you the truth.... I don't use a level and rarely even pull out the measuring tape. The outbuildings that I build are pretty much just PT wood on grade. Sitting on a gravel base is obviously be better but the best chance to stay really level would be to set your coop on conc piers down below the frost line.

 

[azellmer]

I'll see what I can do to get a picture of the site, I know that will be very helpful, but I think I mentioned I just covered it with a big tarp because I was so upset about it, hah!

I'll upload some photos of the site, the plans, etc.

Thank you again for everyone's input, much appreciated!

 

[azellmer]

Oh dear, I never followed up on this!

We ended up putting down the paving stones, then built a 2x8 frame of sorts to serve as the foundation that we put the coop and run on. Not sure if that makes sense, but it's worked well (enough)! We've had some settling and some un-leveling of sorts but found work arounds. I think it had to do a bit with young naivete. Turns out I just needed to trust that good enough was better than perfect!

Thanks to everyone for the feedback!