Shed kits

[clfehler]

You now the saying, "The best laid plans..."

My husband is a firefighter/paramedic and works 72 hour shifts - in a good week. He usually ends up with about 96 hours. All this to say that waiting for the hubby to build my hen house and run.......is gonna take forever and I have chicks that are getting BIG! ;-)

So I had Mr. Stubborn ("Don't worry about thing....I'll get it built!") figure the cost of lumber to build the hen house alone.....and it's actually cheaper to go buy a 8x8 wooden shed kit! Hallelujah! I am saved! We're going to pick it up this morning. Naturally we will be cutting a few extra windows, covering them with wire, building a run to go with it (for when they aren't free range), etc.

Has anyone else used a kit? Any problems? Suggestions? Success?? I'd love to hear!

Cyndi

 

[Ridgerunner]

Years (maybe decades) ago I noticed that my 11 and 13 year old boys did not know how to swing an hammer and hit a nail. I know, a total failure as a parent. But I needed a new shed to replace one that had rusted away so I got one of those wooden kits, probably a 6' x 8', and let the boys put it together. I laid out some railroad ties for a foundation but they read the plans and put it together, including the shingle roof. They even painted it. All I provided besides motivation was a little muscle. After that, they were able to impress their buddies in the Boy Scouts when they helped on Eagle projects because thay could swing a hammer with one hand and hit the nail instead of their fingers. That was pretty unique.

My only suggestion is to figure out a foundation. If it is wood, you need to raise it out of the dirt. If it is metal, you need to tie it down so it won't blow away. Out of the dirt helps too. I could get used railroad ties for free by finding out where the railroad dumped theirs. Those worked well. 4" x 4" or 4" x 6" treated beams would work too. You could pour a footing and set it up so you can tie it to the footing, probably by concreting some bolts in the footing and leaving them sticking up.

 

[clfehler]

Good to hear it went so well for you! I like to tease Boy Scouts a lot, though, since I'm a Lifetime Girl Scout! hehe

We laid (layed??) a cinderblock foundation yesterday. (Oh my aching back!) I wish I had thought about railroad ties, but my husband seems to want this thing to withstand a few major earthquakes! (I'm in Southern California).

And incidentally, my almost 13 year old son has been helping too! I never thought of kids these days not knowing how to hammer a nail. Boy how times have changed!

Cyndi

 

[JackE]

I built one of those barn kits years ago. I found THE most important thing is, when you set those concrete blocks in the ground. Make sure you take the time to properly level them. If one corner is higher than the others, it can make for an adventure when installing the wall sheathing. Other than that, those kits go together pretty easy. Good luck with your coop.
Jack