mr.hutch23 :
I've designed an 8x16 coop to build in my backyard. I'm not sure about what to set it on. We are in Vermont and the coop location is slightly sloped, fairly well-drained and under/nearby some maples. I've read a lot about people digging below the frost line and pouring concrete piers or purchasing concrete blocks for the purpose. This seems like overkill to me for such a small structure, particularly if one is trying to economize.
My question is, can't I just put down a little gravel and some large stones on the corners and mid-points? Rocks I got and lots of 'em, plus I'm cheap. Does anyone see any problems with just resting PT 2x8's on stones, assuming they are flat enough and I can get them level enough?
Thank you in advance for your comments and suggestions.
What you describe is how many, many barns and outbuildings (and a few houses that are mostly no longer around) were built 100-200 yrs ago.
If you do it right and on the right site, yes, it can work pretty well, at least for a few decades. Especially if you are lucky LOL
However, done wrong or in an inappropriate place, it will create a building that almost immediate starts to twist and writhe and settle/heave unevenly, and rip itself apart. (On concrete blocks can do the same thing, which is why it is not an ideal setup for sheds beyond 'small' size; but may tend to do it a bit less, because the blocks are more-identical than rocks are and thus tend to behave a bit more similarly to each other)
For the a-bit-bigger-than-small size coop you describe, you want to be doing it on soil that is "all of a piece" and all undisturbed. Not half on the site of an old dirt driveway, half off; not part of it on an area that was dug or plowed over in the past couple decades; not some of the coop above a boulder or area of rock ledge buried shallowly in the soil and the rest of the coop on deeper soil; etc. And you would not want to be doing it on
much of a slope. You'd have to use your judgement about that.
But if you seem to have the right situation and don't mind that it'll be less stable and less-assured of not getting twisty/saggy/funky, then I could certainly see doing it. Although it is usually not that hard to scavenge old cinderblocks either
It is worth paying extra attention to making sure the coop has good diagonal bracing (especially if you will be using something other than thick plywood as siding), because that can help the structure just tip *as a unit* rather than different parts moving separately and starting to work things apart.
Good luck, have fun,
Pat
