Siding material, ventilation, and other coop questions.

[U_Stormcrow]

I have what I hope are some structurally sound plans for framing the walls with 2x4s (is framing the right term?) the four corners are 4x4s. I could take pics of my plans if you want. Local library is closed for covid but I will see about ebooks.

4x4s are NEVER straight. They are also never 8' or 10' in length. You will have to trim them to size, which means two cuts from your typical 7 1/4" circular saw. That's a pain. Also, you probably don't need PT wood (as most 4x4s are) in your corners, unless you plan to use them as supports to hold your coop of the ground. (I did this, its not a bad plan, but you will need to go thru all the lumber in the yard looking for the straightest 4x4s you can find, in both planes).

If you aren't using your 4x4s as legs, I'd recommend 2x4s and a "california corner" instead - much easier to get the wood to square up nicely, and ultimately a stronger construction. (Picture stolen from internet, better than my crude sketches)

 

[black_cat]

After reading @aart 's article on the heights of different things, I have this plan:
-floor level nesting box. These are external nesting boxes, so they start at floor level. Nesting boxes are 18'' high at entrance, and slope back away from the coop so that they are 12'' high at the back. There will be a 4'' lip on them, mostly because a 2x4 is 4''.
- Poop boards 6'' above the top of the nesting boxes, so 2' off the ground. I'll have a ramp up to them. I'll also have a lip on them, to keep either sand or sweet PZD in. How high should the lip be?
-Roosts 6'' above the poop boards. Roosts are at a total height of 2.5' off the ground. Should roosts be closer to the poop boards? Should poop boards be lower down?

 

[black_cat]

4x4s are NEVER straight. They are also never 8' or 10' in length. You will have to trim them to size, which means two cuts from your typical 7 1/4" circular saw. That's a pain. Also, you probably don't need PT wood (as most 4x4s are) in your corners, unless you plan to use them as supports to hold your coop of the ground. (I did this, its not a bad plan, but you will need to go thru all the lumber in the yard looking for the straightest 4x4s you can find, in both planes).

If you aren't using your 4x4s as legs, I'd recommend 2x4s and a "california corner" instead - much easier to get the wood to square up nicely, and ultimately a stronger construction. (Picture stolen from internet, better than my crude sketches)

View attachment 2300437

Unfortunately, I do need to use the 4x4s as legs-that's why I was thinking I'd use them in the first place. I know that I have to bury them, I did NOT know that they are never straight-why is that? I guess I'll be doing some hunting.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

and roof pitch is usually expressed as x/12 in the form of rise/run. 3/12 is the minimum recommended for metal roof or shingles. Less than that, you will want to use the modified bitumen underlayment I talked about. Meaning a rise of 3' vertical for every 12' horizontal run.

If your building front is 1' taller than the back, and the building is 4' "deep" from front wall to back, then your pitch is 1/4, which could also be written as 3/12. If the building is 6' deep (as I think you mentioned earlier), that pitch would only be 1/6 (normally describes as 2/12, which is shallow. Since its just a hen house, if you are in a relatively dry area, you could probably get away with it. If you have a lot of rain,periods of sitting snow, etc, I'd either upgrade the underlayment or increase the pitch - and honestly, increasing the pitch would be my first choice.

and a 2x4 is 1.5 x 3.5. Nominal lumber disappeared a century ago.

 

[black_cat]

12" overhang.

I'd like to see the drawings.
signed -The Old Drafter

Sounds like a plan on the overhang! I am going to eat dinner very soon but after I will work on that. I have made many changes since my original sketches, so it may take a bit as I may have to do some re draws. Things might not quite be to scale-I have graph paper that is great for scaling anything flat, but when I try to show more than just one flat wall view, the scale gets a bit messed up. (edit-how the heck did you get it to say 'signed -The Old Drafter' when it wasn't there in your original post?)

 

[black_cat]

and roof pitch is usually expressed as x/12 in the form of rise/run. 3/12 is the minimum recommended for metal roof or shingles. Less than that, you will want to use the modified bitumen underlayment I talked about. Meaning a rise of 3' vertical for every 12' horizontal run.

If your building front is 1' taller than the back, and the building is 4' "deep" from front wall to back, then your pitch is 1/4, which could also be written as 3/12. If the building is 6' deep (as I think you mentioned earlier), that pitch would only be 1/6 (normally describes as 2/12, which is shallow. Since its just a hen house, if you are in a relatively dry area, you could probably get away with it. If you have a lot of rain,periods of sitting snow, etc, I'd either upgrade the underlayment or increase the pitch - and honestly, increasing the pitch would be my first choice.

Thanks for that explanation! If I am forced to do shingles I will definitely increase pitch- henhouse is 6' deep, as you said. *struggles to do math* so...if I wanted the proper pitch...I would need...(long pause as I struggle with my brain)....one side to be 1' 6'' taller than the other?

 

[aart]

Things might not quite be to scale-I have graph paper that is great for scaling anything flat, but when I try to show more than just one flat wall view, the scale gets a bit messed up.

The side view(elevations) are flat too.
Don't try to do isometric views....tho you can get isometric graph paper.

 

[black_cat]

The side view(elevations) are flat too.
Don't try to do isometric views....tho you can get isometric graph paper.

The side view is what I meant. Isometric graph paper looks AMAZING but unfortunately I don't have any at the moment. I will do all of the side views, all of the framing, then one attempt at an isometric view of the whole thing at the end.

 

[black_cat]

Here's the one BIG question that I have: How the heck do you frame a roof properly? As of right now I haven't looked at any videos on that, but I definitely will before building.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

4x4s are never straight because of the grain of the wood, and because of uneven/inconsistent drying after they are pressure treated. If you get a board wet on one side, then watch it warp as it dries??? Yeah, that's a 4x4 in a nut shell. and because of the way they are selected from raw logs, sometimes they will twist, too, so the 4x4 looks like a corkscrew as you view it down the length. and because there is so much "meat" to it, its very hard to straighten out - essentially impossible with 2x4 framing.

I'm not saying this to dissuade you - I used 4x4 corners myself in some of my stuff - for some of the same reasons. Just want you to know what to look for, so you don't go to put your siding on, or nail some 2x4 framing up, and find the 4x4 twisting away from you.