Wouldn't this be a problem.........??

[lewisfarmgurl]

My husband and I had a fight this weekend over building our coop and I need to know which way is better:

1) building the floor flat on the ground over the grass with no sand ,cement , or blocks

2) With a cement floor , sand base, cement blocks or atleast footers.


My husband just wants to have it like the first one but I'm afraid it would not be a good idea to do it that way. We are using pressure treated lumber for the flooring frame but he wants to use pressboard that has a layer of plastic under it for the flooring top with laminet(spelling) kitchen flooring on top of the pressboard. ( I call it pressboard but you may know it as partical board)

Any one have any suggestion?

Thank You, Mona

 

[fullhouse]

I would raise it on skids off the ground, or on blocks. You are putting in a roll or Pergo-type flooring?

 

[Wildsky]

My coop has a dirt floor - it has cinder blocks all round the edges (buried), but nothing on the floor but that which was there to start off with!

 

[lewisfarmgurl]

Quote:
A roll of laminet flooring not pergo.

I was worried that moisture from rain would get past the plastic and distroy the partical board.

 

[lewisfarmgurl]

Quote:
We are building a 10'x20' shed type coop and he wants to use part of it for a shed on one side so he wont go for the dirt floor option.


I just thought the plastic will get holes in it where he nails down the partical boad to the floor frame and treated wood still absorbs moisture so it could cause water damage to the floor through the nail holes.

You can tell we know nothing about building can't you....LOL.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
My suggestion is that you plan a gala night of whipped cream and mirrors, or whatever your husband is into, to jolly him up for the idea that he is totally 100% incorrect on this one

What he would be building would be a saggy mold sandwich, also quite likely a rodent farm. Also no protection from anything that wants to dig under the walls to get in.

Without good air circulation under there, it will get Real Real Damp (from natural ground moisture, which yes there is even if you live in the desert, as well as from condensation due to temperature differences). Assaulted by near-100% humidity from below plus somewhat damp litter (poo, and occasional waterer spils) from above, I absolutely guarantee that even if you caulk the heck out of things, there will soon be SOME crevice through which moisture can penetrate to the pressboard. Moisture turns pressboard into oatmeal. Moldy oatmeal. Furthermore, this construction will be real real hard to fix once the problems sit in -- not only will you have to jack the whole thing up onto cinderblocks which for a walk-in coop is a significant physical challenge plus a significant strain on its structure, you will have to replace the floor which, if you follow typical construction practices, will be sandwiched under the wall sills and thus the edges will be inaccessible for removal.

If you want a wooden floor, raise the whole enchilada up on cinderblocks at the corners so that it sits a foot or more above the ground . Unless the chickens will have access under there - and if they will, consider how *you* will have access to them under there - it would be smart to put down landscape fabric under gravel, or something like that, to discourage weeds underneath the coop. And I would suggest using actual real plywood for the floor -- it is not a situation comparable to flooring underlayment in houses, because the dampness quotient is so much higher. Also don't plasticize *both* sides of the floor, just one or the other, otherwise it accellerates rot.

If OTOH you want the coop on the ground, do not do the wooden floor. Instead, either a) pour concrete (ka-ching) or b) set pavers FIRMLY AND SQUARELY over a good gravel and sand bed, preferably extending out a couple feet around all edges of the coop to discourage digging, or c) have a dirt floor, but make some sort of VERY digproof barrier all around the bases of the walls (pavers, or buried pavers, or buried flashing -- personally I would not trust buried wire as even galvanized wire will rust and disintegrate, and it's not like it'll be easy to replace. unless it's laid as an apron which would be ok)

Good luck (especially with the husband end of the equation <g>),

Pat

 

[patandchickens]

if he wants to use part of it for a shed or workshop, 2' square pavers (laid really well, over a well-tamped bed of screenings and sand) would be the easiest way to go. Or poured a concrete slab, just on that part of the structure, if he wants to pay for it.

Pat

 

[lewisfarmgurl]

Thank you Pat, I appreciate you answering with alot of info.

When it rains here it looks like a river in my yard but by morning it is all gone. (we have very sandy soil) I just can't see trying to cut corners to that degree just because it is a chicken coop and even told DH that he wouldn't if it was just a shed for him .

When he comes home again in 2 weeks I'm going to have his favorite meal cooked and I just purchased a book from Barnes & Noble on shed building for him to look at. I want this Chicken coop to last for a good long time and hope he rethinks it while out in the truck before he comes home.

 

[lewisfarmgurl]

I was looking around on the internet and saw these things called FAST Framers for putting up sheds and thought they might save us some money in the construction so we could afford a cement floor.

I've let him look at the coop part of this site in hopes he would get ideas on the way most of you have your floors off the ground. Here is hoping we will get to the building part soon because the wait is killing me!

 

[patandchickens]

Ooo, if "when it rains here it looks like a river in my yard" then DEFINITELY you oughta build it raised up a foot or more on cinderblocks. You do NOT want to risk EVER flooding in the coop.

Unfortunately those fast framing type kits don't actually really save you any money over stick-built, they just make it a bit easier for novices to build b/c you don't have to measure and cut as precisely for the roof. At least the ones I'm familiar with.

Good luck,

Pat