The building of... {no name yet} - let the *fun* begin! VERY pic heavy!

[jbher]

Did I really say "fun"? In a few weeks I may be regretting that. FINALLY the time has come that we are going to start working on our coop this weekend! I have been working all winter on what to build, how to build it, what size (we have limitations due to our ordinance), what colors (still have to figure this one out)... and what NAME! I hope to get some of ya'll following me and giving your input. I have never ever built anything like this. I helped cut a few deck boards when "we" (aka The Husband) built the deck. That's about it. BUT I am a quick learner and pretty hand otherwise. And yes, yes, I will have help from ^^ him too.

In the mean time - I'll show ya my SketchUp plan. I still need to figure out where I will put my roost and poop board. I'm thinking the North Wall. I still have to build my nest box (gonna do a community one) and insert that too.


Here's what I started with. I went with designing how I wanted it to "look" before gettin' down to business with the actual framing.



Then I finally started "building" it. I am limited in size. I cannot exceed 30sq ft nor can I exceed 8ft in height from ground to peak. Errrr darn ordinance!

Here's where I'm at with the framing. Please be gentle (nice) if there is some obvious mistakes - but please DO let me know!! I tried my best to research building and structural stuff. You should be able to click the photos to make them larger. Hopefully.

West Wall (below)


West Wall Exterior (I have these drawn as to how I will pre-build them in the garage. All gaps in insulation will be completed once walls are put up) (below)




North Wall (below)


North Wall Exterior (below)


East Wall (below)


East Wall Exterior (below)


South Wall (below)


South Wall Exterior (below)


Roof (below)


Roof Sheathing (below)


Overall (below)


continuing on next post....

 

[Pescadoman66]

Now that is some dedication but good work always pays off. You definitely don't do anything half ***

 

[hoosiercheetah]

Personally, I buy all my paint from the mis-tint shelf at Lowes or Home Depot. 5 bucks a gallon, and the chickens are guaranteed not to tell you if they don't like the color. ;-)

 

[keystone]

Don't use clear. Caulk before painting. I know limestone vulkem is very neutral and paintable after a day or so. It is a urethane caulk that works well with fiber cement. Very sticky. You can wet your finger with soapy water to tool. Use a good caulk gun and don't apply if it is cold outside. Will be hard to apply.

 

[jbher]

Well, got a few hours in this afternoon of work. 3 windows stripped. 2 to go. 1 door left to finish also. The door had 3 layers of paint! The heat gun is working MUCH better than using paint stripper. What a nightmare that was.

This one (below) I tried paint stripper on. Ick.

 

[keystone]

Cool colors! I advise my clients to always get a sample of "color to go" from Sherwin. Costs $6 for a quart. Paint it on a big scrap of whatever and look at it in all lights. (Morning noon and night). I can't tell you how many times I've heard " that looks nothing like the swatch!" Getting the right color is half the battle of painting. Can't wait to see your progress!

 

[jbher]

This is Charlotte, my gold laced English orp. She's only 3 1/2mo's old and she's huge!! She's queen of the coop

Stella is the salmon faverolle in the background. She's 2nd in command

 

[jbher]

Hi All! Wanted to come back to my old thread to update you on changes I’ve made over the years. Last fall I changed the roost set up and poop board.
Other than that the coop has served us well! I pop out our hardware cloth screens every year to clean with hot soapy water and I take all windows off to do the same. This summer I need to sand and repaint the door and the exterior of the coop needs a good cleaning. We moved our original garden fence over to make a bigger exterior run area for the chickens too. I’ll be adding chicken wire to the top this spring so they stop hopping over it.

 

[jbher]

Thanks for the update!!

Do they ever try to get on top of them?

They don't actually! If they did they'd fall off because they hang from chains and aren't stable at all.

 

[Rachela]

Oh thank you!!

I’ve been looking over yours again. I like how you added 4x4 ? Border then class 5 in there. Makes it looks nice and together