Where can I get free wood for coop in a pinch? Pls Help!!!!

[okiemommy]

We have been collecting wood for our coop for quite some time, but we have decided to build the coop much bigger than originally planned. We are in need of mainly structural pieces....2x6's, 2x4's and plywood the most, but need other sizes as well. We are building a 10x16 coop. So my questions are:

Do we have to use those pieces for structural, or is there a way to frame the walls etc using shorter 2x4's "scabbed" together (which we have 72" pieces) and it still be structurally sound?



Where can we find wood especially those pieces (if that's what we have to use for the structure)for free or very cheap on short notice? We have checked freecycle, and craigslist today and no listings.

Please help! My husband wants to go out and buy the pieces we need, so that he can get it done, and I really want to avoid it b/c it is way more than we really should spend!!

Your input is appreciated!!

 

[robinaggie]

If you have a Habitat for Humanity Re-Store in your community, they usually sell full-length 2x4s. I don't see why "scabbing" the pieces together wouldn't work - it just might look odd.

There is a recent thread on BYC under coops for the poor and unhandy, or something like that, where people provided alot of information on how to build a coop cheaply.

See if this link works: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=66456

 

[Anny]

Try Craigslist.com and Freecylce.org

Also hanging out at constrution sites and making some friends couldn't hurt.

 

[summerwindsfarm]

Look for houses that have burned and are being rebuilt. My hubby does fire restoration work and they tear some great lumber out of houses when they are rebuilding them. Some of it is smoke damaged but my chickens dont seem to care! They just throw it in the dumpster so are typically happy to have someone haul it off. All my pens and coops have been built from *recycled* lumber. The siding on my main coop was scraps from a bank he built...no way would i have paid that kind of money to side a chicken coop..but the scrap was free and it sure looks nice!

Im still waiting to see what he does with that church steeple he has laying out there though lol

 

[patandchickens]

You could scab them together (use galvanized nails, and plenty of them, and blunt the points first to minimize splitting the wood) and probably get away with it, especially for the uprights. I'd be leerier of using extensively cobbled-together bits for unsupported parts of beams or trusses or rafters, though -- especially if you want this to last a reasonable while.

You should be able to find longer pieces of 2x4s by finding companies who get things in big packing cases or on giant pallets. Anywhere that would be getting large pieces of machinery, etc. Even Walmarts sometimes have things like that - esp. this time of year, with plants and lawn furniture and whatnot - so it is worth asking. If you call all the businesses you can find in your town's phone book and let everyone you know, know that you're looking, SOMETHING may well turn up.

Or, find a construction site where they are building new homes or extensively renovating an existing one, and talk with the guys about whether they have any scrap pieces you could have. Since contractors generally have to pay per dumpster for stuff they dispose of, they're often willing to work with you. Be watchful for excessively warped or 'propellered' pieces though, as those are the ones most likely to end up in construction dumpsters and you'd have to decide on a case by case basis whether the curve is too severe to work for your purposes.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[okiemommy]

Thanks for everyones very helpful suggestions. There were some things that I hadn't thought of, and also things that I had read once, only slightly remembered, and then couldn't find the thread about them. I really appreciate everyone's help!

My husband revised the plans to use what we have with also keeping structural integrity. So if we do have to buy items, we will have to buy much less. (If we have to buy it at all)