Wood Questions for Coop

[4theloveofhens]

What type of wood is everyone been using to make their coops from scratch? I'm going with 2 x 4s and probably 2 x 2s but was wondering if people are just buying regular 8 foot 2 x 4s, treated ones, or painting and priming them? College student so on a budget, but not sure if I need to prime wood since it's untreated? Dad says its ok not to get treated wood since it's not like I'm building a home. What about plywood? Thoughts?

 

[Chicken Chat]

For wood that will make contact with the ground, I would recommend the pressure treated. For durability, any wood or plywood that will be exposed to the elements needs to be primed or sealed.

 

[bel]

Mine is made of 2x4 and used wood crates (made of plywood) from shipping high end electronics (CL freebies) might check Craigslist in your area before spending a bundle, sometimes you can find useful stuff for free or cheap.

You definately will want to paint or seal the coop, unfinished wood is a drywood termite magnet, also its more likely to get mosture damage and can mold or mildew.

I didn't prime mine, but got paint that says its paint and primer all in one (walmart was clearing out the brand and it was 50% off) its held up so far. Check the paints seconds in stores sometimes you can get good colors and high end paints for cheap like that, its not there because its bad paint, its because someones color matching failed.


If you are in an area with subterranean termites you might also want to put the legs on pavers so they are not having soil contact even if they are treated.

 

[4theloveofhens]

Quote:
Can you recommend any cheap sealers? I looked on homedepot.com and there are just so many I'm not quite sure what I am looking for? For example, "red guard water proofing", "spray wood preservative", "waterseal" etc. Am I sealing from water?

I am so oblivious to the construction world. My dad, knows everything and owns his own construction business, but he's sort of laughing at me right now that I am even getting chicks while I am in college, eheh. I'd like to show him that it's not just a "an itch" and that I am serious about this!

 

[bel]

Sorry I don't know much about stains and seals for outdoors. I just used paint to seal the outside and protect if from the weather (the wood types were too mismatched to consider staining and sealing them.)

If the wood is nice maybe a brushable urethane might make a good exterior seal, they make spar urethane for outdoors thats supposed to be tough, but I haven't tried it myself.

 

[nuts4hotwheels]

Quote:
I am building mine from old fence pickets that were given to me. I posted on Facebook and freecycle that I needed wood for a chicken coop and I got all that I need. I am in the process of building it and will be from 100% free wood that would have ended up in a landfill.