walk in coop and sand

[Robbo]

those of you with walk in coops and sand... is your floor just the usual wood floor?

Curious... I want to use sand in my new 8ftx10ft coop, it has a floor... but can I put it straight on the floor or should I lay a "flooring" down. It isn't a finished flooring, just finished wood. I guess like a usual shed....

If I have to put one down first I was thinking of using the stick linoleum, that is the only stuff I know how to do.

 

[lindalouly]

I don't have a walk in coop but I have read that many people lay linoleum down first for easy cleaning.

 

[Morigen]

Very new here, but have done a lot of reading around here.

I read somewhere around here that the 1'x1' stick down linoleum isn't that great because the sand and grit and junk starts to work it's way under and the corners start to peel up and then the chickens start to peck and pull at the corners. I help do repairs on my parents rental properties, and in my experience these stick down squares usually aren't worth it.

If you were to do the deep litter method, this might not be an issue, but with sand and stuff, i think it could be.

Another option would be to buy linoleum off the roll at a local store (like Home Depot). The cons to this is it is supposed to be glued down, and that can be a pain.

If it were my coop (the ones I manage are all concrete floors), I'd get whichever was cheapest by the square foot, and nail/tack, staple the suckers down. If the price difference is not that much, I'd go with the single sheet as it would use less nails. Just use small trim boards/firring strips/whatever you can find around the walls and nail down through them through the linoleum.

As you have a coop you can't walk into, I am assuming the area isn't that big, so you would probably be better off using the stick down stuff. I'd slap a small headed nail (not a finishing nail and not a huge nail either) in each corner, and you would proably never have problems (but if any started to come up, just replace it if it's too bad, or just nail that part).

Then again, I am new here and just remember the one post about those stick down types. Other people may have had great success with them. Good news is you should have a lot of good advice pretty quickly.

 

[Folly's place]

My coop has an old broken concrete floor, and I use deep bedding with shavings. I would think that sand on top of woo would be bad for the wood and much more labor intensive to keep clean. Shoveling out the deep bedding two or three times a year is way easier than daily scooping! Mary

 

[MumsyIII]

I just built three new trio pens with slide out partitions. My barn is old and the dirt floor is so low after generations of chickens and cleaning I needed a new floor option. I evened out the floor and put a 3'x4' rubber stall mat in each pen. They are end to end so even when I remove partitions, the foor is still nice. It offers firm footing, drains well and is easy to clean.
~

 

[Folly's place]

I have rubber stall mats in one section of my old coop, because the old floor is so uneven, it's much easier to muck out with the mats. Mary

 

[Robbo]

Very new here, but have done a lot of reading around here.

I read somewhere around here that the 1'x1' stick down linoleum isn't that great because the sand and grit and junk starts to work it's way under and the corners start to peel up and then the chickens start to peck and pull at the corners. I help do repairs on my parents rental properties, and in my experience these stick down squares usually aren't worth it.

If you were to do the deep litter method, this might not be an issue, but with sand and stuff, i think it could be.

Another option would be to buy linoleum off the roll at a local store (like Home Depot). The cons to this is it is supposed to be glued down, and that can be a pain.

If it were my coop (the ones I manage are all concrete floors), I'd get whichever was cheapest by the square foot, and nail/tack, staple the suckers down. If the price difference is not that much, I'd go with the single sheet as it would use less nails. Just use small trim boards/firring strips/whatever you can find around the walls and nail down through them through the linoleum.

As you have a coop you can't walk into, I am assuming the area isn't that big, so you would probably be better off using the stick down stuff. I'd slap a small headed nail (not a finishing nail and not a huge nail either) in each corner, and you would proably never have problems (but if any started to come up, just replace it if it's too bad, or just nail that part).

Then again, I am new here and just remember the one post about those stick down types. Other people may have had great success with them. Good news is you should have a lot of good advice pretty quickly.

Thanks Morigen,

My coop is up on a steel foundation and then has treated even (slick) floor. Just like sub flooring in your house before they lay down your floor, but much thicker. It's a 8ftx10ft floor so I think I might actually go with one full strip, how do you go about laying that down... will the hardware store be able to point me in the right direction for glues and such?






Also I do not want to do the deep litter method or just lay straw down on top of the flooring that is already in there as though it can handle getting a LITTLE wet... if I get any molding it voids my 15yr warranty. I am almost thinking of laying a pond liner down and stapling up the walls a little bit... I saw this recommended a lot too.

 

[aart]

I used a single sheet of heavy foam backed vinyl flooring and did not glue it down, it has some slight 'bumps' here and there but are not a problem.
Cut notches at corners and edges go up wall 2-8" and tacked with a few washers and screws.
It was a bear to get in place, but has worked out very well in the long run.

 

[Morigen]

Thanks Morigen,

My coop is up on a steel foundation and then has treated even (slick) floor. Just like sub flooring in your house before they lay down your floor, but much thicker. It's a 8ftx10ft floor so I think I might actually go with one full strip, how do you go about laying that down... will the hardware store be able to point me in the right direction for glues and such?

Laying it down is pretty easy. Especially for an 8x10 area. Basically you lay out the fitted piece on the floor, then the easiest way would be to roll it up against one wall, preferably the one opposite the door.. The glue comes in buckets, (which they will have) and will need to be applied with a notched trowel (which the bucket of glue would specify how big of notches and the store would also carry). pour a little glue out on the floor (make sure the floor is nice and clean and dry) very near the opposite wall from the roll, and just trowel it on the floor along the wall. The goal is to get enough glue down so you can roll the linoleum back out and smooth it down on the glued area AND have enough room to kneel on the glued area, while rolling up the unglued section to you, then you can reach over the roll, apply glue and just work your way to the door, rolling the linoleum onto the glued down area as you go. Otherwise, after you got the initial spot glued, you can stay off the linoleum by working on the wood floor and work backwards towards the door, rolling the linoleum out as you glue. Either way, it shouldn't take long to do an area that size, and yes, if a store sells the linoleum on a roll to be cut to size, they will have all the other supplies you need, and should have competent people to give you good advice.

 

[Robbo]

I used a single sheet of heavy foam backed vinyl flooring and did not glue it down, it has some slight 'bumps' here and there but are not a problem.
Cut notches at corners and edges go up wall 2-8" and tacked with a few washers and screws.
It was a bear to get in place, but has worked out very well in the long run.

I did a small search on foam backed vinyl since I wasn't so sure... is this the type of stuff you are talking about?


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