Woods-style house in the winter

[Arielle]

I "found" 7 windows yesterday enroute to pick up a son from a playdate. I was wondering if I could put in a bank of windows on the east side as that will abut woods and only get filtered light when the leaves are out on the trees. In the winter the sun will shine in and the heat. THese windows are double paned. ANyone have thoughts??

 

[JackE]

I "found" 7 windows yesterday enroute to pick up a son from a playdate. I was wondering if I could put in a bank of windows on the east side as that will abut woods and only get filtered light when the leaves are out on the trees. In the winter the sun will shine in and the heat. THese windows are double paned. ANyone have thoughts??

If you are building a Wood's coop, and build it to design, the coop will be lit up inside and doesn't need any more windows. As far as heat from the extra windows go, again with a Woods, you will find the inside temp is always higher than the outside already with it's present design. And the most important thing, if you add these extra holes down the side of the coop, make sure they are installed properly and don't allow drafts to blow through the coop in the winter.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Fortunately DH is a good builder. Has worked on construction of several houses over the years and we turn to BIL with techinical Q's as he is still in that field. One of the purposes of the windown was to have more material to cover the sides. I am limited to the supplies I have and being short on money for the project will need to buy good lumber for the roof rafters.

THe 2x3 material is not up to code, not even close. THe roof must be able to withstand very heavy snow loads.. A few years ago we had a very bad winter here and a number of buildings suffered cave ins. All over NEw ENgland cave ins. WE did ok because we built our house better than current codes and it is still standing. All our barns are also at code or better.

I think the 2x3 may have been at code way back when, but it is NOT sufficient now in New ENgland. We can get 30-36 inch snows, and then get rains-- this is th worst possible combinations. We get the snow off the roofs if we know rain is coming.

As for the drafts-- good construction at the time of including the wooden framed windows makes for draft free. I did see one woods building that had two double hung windows side by side on the south wall ( assuming big windows were on the east side) , then a big window and a door on the north side.

I'm still reading . . .

 

[Arielle]

Also-- where are the nest boxes located??? INside or can I set it up for outside access??

 

[JackE]

It's good you have a pro to build the coop. He'll probably have that coop together quick. It took me (Not a pro,but I like the work) a coupla months to get mine together. I pre-built the wall sections in my garage, then dragged everything down and put it together like a 3-dimensional puzzle. I see what you are saying about space filling material, with the windows. It'll make it easier to peek in there and see what's going on.
About the 2X4s. Back in the day when they said 2X4, they meant it. The board was a full 2X4", not 1 1/2 X 3 1/2". It was a lot stronger board than what we get today. Also, that's another reason for the sharp roof pitch on the deeper part of the coop, to shed snow. They had this all figured out, as they got mass amounts of snow back then too.
Now as far as nest box placement, mine is straight across from the entrance door, inside the coop. You could, if you want, hang them off the side externally. But I've read about folks having a problem with frozen eggs with external boxes.

 

[Arielle]

Definitely not the Wood's clerestory. But his book showed photo's of other examples of "fresh air" coops. I'm hoping for the rest of us that they were to some degree as functional.

GW-- I do like that you tried to incorporte some of the ideas of the wood construction principles. THe OPEN front is a key element of the design. Keep us posted how it works for your chickens.

 

[Eggcessive]

It's good you have a pro to build the coop. He'll probably have that coop together quick. It took me (Not a pro,but I like the work) a coupla months to get mine together. I pre-built the wall sections in my garage, then dragged everything down and put it together like a 3-dimensional puzzle. I see what you are saying about space filling material, with the windows. It'll make it easier to peek in there and see what's going on.
About the 2X4s. Back in the day when they said 2X4, they meant it. The board was a full 2X4", not 1 1/2 X 3 1/2". It was a lot stronger board than what we get today. Also, that's another reason for the sharp roof pitch on the deeper part of the coop, to shed snow. They had this all figured out, as they got mass amounts of snow back then too.
Now as far as nest box placement, mine is straight across from the entrance door, inside the coop. You could, if you want, hang them off the side externally. But I've read about folks having a problem with frozen eggs with external boxes.

Where we live there are a couple of local sawmills where you can get rough cut lumber that really is 2X4 and so on. Sorry for butting in on the thread, have been reading it for a couple of years. Hopefully all of you building will post some pictures of the new coops.

 

[JackE]

Here's a couple of pics of a very nicely done 10X20' Woods another member built.

 

[aart]

That last one looks different in the proportions of the depth...which I thought was critical for the Woods concept.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Those are really nice looking!