Serious mold problem with Playhouse coop and sand

[ranchhand]

Whatever else you do, do NOT let your birds in there until it is thoroughly cleaned and scrubbed!

Even the tiniest bit of moldy food can wipe out an entire flock!

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

It appears to be sitting flat on the ground, so moisture could be soaking in underneath.

Having the floor extend past the walls will make rain go underneath also.

Add in the lack of ventilation, and I think those are the problems

 

[rebel-rousing-at-night]

I think it may be condensation problems too. I would tape paper towels or pieces of cloth out of chicken reach to the inside walls. Check the next day to see if they are wet. If wet the next day you will know why.

BTW that was a lot of moisture. Your coop is very cute but you are going to need much more ventilation than the part at the roof. In this heat mold forms fast.

Hope you find a solution.

 

[ECBW]

It sounds like a leak rather than condensation. The fact the floor extends beyond the walls when it should be the other way, is a recipe to trap rain and cause leaks. All it needs is a small gap in your seal and it will flood the interior as you described. How about under the door? Appears to be open. The roof has no overhang to keep the rain away.

A fan or more vents are not going to solve the problem. The source of the leak must be found and stopped.

 

[ll]

Nope, fan won't help that - you need to fix the source of the leakage.
After you find out how it's leaking I would recommend revamping your feeder a bit too, they are pecking out too much food.
Good luck!

 

[quintinp]

That's the best play house coop I have yet to see on BYC, most others are super tacky.

 

[gale65]

Quote:
Yikes. Sorry but I think that's not a very nice thing to say.

 

[Underwhere]

So I removed all of the sand and cleaned out the floor of the coop.

When I built it, I put a thick layer of silicone between the playhouse and the floor.
It looks like it has failed. If I run a hose along the side of the playhouse it leaks inside pretty bad.

I've created a skirt with garage door rubber sealant and then siliconed on top of it.
Water still gets in but very little.

I am considering putting small rocks on the bottom, a gardening type of mesh above them, and then the sand back on top.
Hopefully this would allow the water room to move around underneath if there should be any...and the sand hopefully won't soak it up?
I think this is similar to the concept of a french drain.

Opinions?

And yes my feeder needs a bit of revamping. They are throwing food everywhere.

 

[Luke13:34]

You do have a very cute playhouse. I have one of the super tacky ones

I had a brief problem with muddy floors when I first started out because I thought I would do the deep litter method direct on the dirt

After one small rain, I realized that was not going to work and installed bricks for my floor. Now, I do not have all my windows sealed up. My house sits inside a very secure run, so the shutters are left open in the summer heat. I did silicone across the roof seam and the side seams, but left the eaves open for ventilation. In the winter I screwed plexi over the windows and duct taped around the edges, to add to the superior tackiness of my coop.

 

[Underwhere]

The coop floor has been bare for a few days now so i can monitor water coming in and out. For the most part the work I've done has prevented most of the water from entering. During hard storming that I've been having the past few days only a tiny bit of water has made it in.

Unfortunately some of the wood looks like it is growing some mold on it now. Have to figure out what to do about it. Maybe I need to remove it but that would be a huge pain in the butt.