The coop scoop . . . need help!

[flopsy]

Hubby built my coop (my idea) on a concrete slab that used to be a dog kennel. It is inside a chain link run. Coop is about 9x15, I think. Since we've had so much rain lately, the coop flooded, and the wood that touches the concrete floor seems to absorb water to about the six inch mark. We are thinking of lining the inside bottom of the walls with 2x4's on top of a silicone sealer and nailing them to the walls of the coop. We hope this will stop the seepage into the coop when it rains. Will it work? Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[ghillie]

I would raise the coop off the concrete on blocks to keep it from soaking up water......

 

[azelgin]

Unless you can get the floor level and the walls above the surrounding slab area, you're fighting a loosing battle. There are no practical long term solutions to what you are dealing with. Even if you manage to seal the water out now, which needs to be done on the exterior of the walls, as soon as things dry out and the wood shrinks again, your caulking will no longer seal the leaks. Sorry I couldn't help.

 

[Chicken Fruit]

I'd put it on blocks... Of it you cant to that put some roll roofing down.

 

[DarkWolf]

I would also raise the coop up. Bring the height up and use a course or two of bricks for a foundation. This is assuming that it's a floorless building and the concrete slab is the floor.

 

[Slywoody]

For a sure fire solution,you have to raise the coop or you will be asking for troubles later. I'd raise it up at least a foot and go thru the process of putting a floor in it. Sorry, just trying to help.

 

[DarkWolf]

To touch on what Slywoody said, if you raise the coop and mortar a fondation of cinder blocks down, so that they protrude to the inside of the coop, a floor frame and joists can then be set directly onto the block overhang to give floor support. Then just make sure that you bolt the floor to the bottom plate of the walls.

 

[flopsy]

I wish I

were as smart as you folks are, then I wouldn't have had this problem in the first place! Hubby and I must get busy now! Peas to pick and a coop to fix . . . Thank you all.

 

[funkychicken]

I had almost the same problem...mine is a garden shed from HD...put it on a concrete slab...no floor...we are able to get 4 inch thick styrofoam so we lined the bottom of the coop with that and put a blue tarp over that and up the wall a bit and then put the wood chip litter on top...not a problem now...also hubby put a thick bead of caulk along the front of the coop to divert water ...it really has solved the problem...oh and the run is concrete also...I put hay down for the gals to scratch in and to help the poo dry out...I dont think I could have chickens on dirt as my coop is about 30foot out my back door so I clean out the run and sanitize about every other week...but the coop is deep litter with D.E. and I just love that it stays so clean(i have a poop pan under the roost and feed areas)