Chickens, and things related

[bmac]

Thanks, pal.

Enjoy your dirt!

 

[Tororider]

Looking good bmac. I will be working on mine tomorrow.

 

[bmac]

A long day at the ol' chicken coop today. I had my brother and his daughter over after church and we jumoed right in. Got started a little after 11AM and really hit the ground running. He and his daughter started nailing in some of the rafters I had already put in and they cut out the opening for the nest boxes while I was notching out the last rafter and cutting the last 3 gable end studs.

After that, we started on the 2x6 subfascia for the rafter ends and then covered that with the 1x6 HardiPlank fascia. We then cut and installed the HardiePlank rake boards at the gable ends. Things were looking good.

My brother had intended to head back to FL by 4PM but he wanted to have a roof in place before he departed. It became clear that we would not meet that goal by 4, so he decided to stay on and go home tomorrow. However, my niece had to leave at 5PM so my wife (who had been cleaning and painting the coop doors all afternoon) came out to relieve her.

One thing that slowed us down a lot was the realization that we needed something to nail the OSB roofing to between the gable end studs. So, we had to add blocking between those on both gable ends. That took about 2 hrs.
Also, I made a an error in my measurements somewhere along the way that resulted in not having enough OSB for the roof sheathing.

So, at the end of the day, we were running out of daylight, energy and material. My brother will leave early in the AM without the satisfaction of seeing the roof in place. However, I assured him that, no matter how far we fell short of our goals for the day, I'm much farther along than I would have been doing this alone.

First picture is of the crew hard at work early in the afternoon. The second shows the blocking we had to add behind the HardiPlank on the gable ends. And then a picture or 2 of how things looked as the sun was setting.

We are all very tired.

 

[Tororider]

Bmac,
Well I am no Eddie, but it is looking good to me. Congrats

 

[bmac]

Thanks, Tororider.

I wish I could get Eddie and Harvey to come here for a weekend. Just imagine what kind of masterpiece we'd end up with!

Eddie, I've got another question for you. I bought a couple of gable vents that measure 18" x 24". The problem is that the thickness of the vents would require removing the 2x4 that is providing the vertical support for the ridge board. Can I do that without compromising the roof? My guess is that once the rafters are in place, the 2x4 studs add little to the integrity of the roof. But, obviously, I'm not confident enough in my guess to make that call without consulting you.

So, what's the correct way to do this?

Thanks?

 

[EddieWalker]

bmac,

In this type of roof, the ridge beam support is part of the overall design of the roof. If you had bottom plates that went from wall to wall and tied the ends of the rafters together, that would be different. You need to leave the support in place.

That said, the vent is just installed over the stud. They don't block enough air to make a difference and you never see them through the screens and louvers anyway.

Cut and mark you siding for the location you want the vent. The higher the better, but in this case, a few inches either way isn't going to make any difference. Put them where they look nice.

With the style of soffits that you have you might find it impossible to get the siding to fit between your soffit boards. Instead of stressing over the angles and getting it cut to fit, which is fine if you want to do this, just cut your siding to fit snug against the bottoms of the siffit boards. Then fill the spaces with your fascia material, or something smooth like 1x6 lumber. It will look real nice and give you a finished look that doesn't have any gaps.

With the OSB and fascia boards in place, it's really looking nice. I'm starting to wonder if this will be the building you show guests when the come over before the tour of the new house?

On a side note, I just got to thinking about the space under the building. Do you have a plan to make it critter proof? With chickens, there will be seed around, which means other animals will wants some. Having a place for them to hide out and make there home under your building is something you really don't want. Especially if it's a snake or a skunk!!!!!

Nicely done,
Eddie

 

[4720 OWNER]

I would agree with eddie about critter housing under the house. Especially since just found a hole in the back of my chicken house that is about rat sized and is thru a 6x6 wood beam. Do not have rats anymore (compliments of last owner, and not my favorite critter). The corners were reinforced with some sheet metal.

If you look at the coop just right it could be a face? Yellow eyes, green door for a nose, gable end as a pompadour? But that would be a JD house! What a hoot.

Very nice job. I am envious of your talents!

 

[bmac]

bmac,

In this type of roof, the ridge beam support is part of the overall design of the roof. If you had bottom plates that went from wall to wall and tied the ends of the rafters together, that would be different. You need to leave the support in place.

That said, the vent is just installed over the stud. They don't block enough air to make a difference and you never see them through the screens and louvers anyway.

Cut and mark you siding for the location you want the vent. The higher the better, but in this case, a few inches either way isn't going to make any difference. Put them where they look nice.

Eddie

Eddie,

I don't think I can place the gable vent over the support stud. It is too thick. I've attached a couple of pictures so you can see what I have.

Before I went and refreshed my memory about the vent, I was thinking that I could cut a 1 1/2" notch for the vent frame to go around the stud. But, it you look at the 2nd picture you'll see that I would have to remove the insect screen and then I would also be cutting about half way or more through the louvers and (with my luck - skills), would probably destroy the whole thing in the process.

I'm thinking I need to find a different kind of vent - one that's not so think.

 

[bmac]

bmac,

With the style of soffits that you have you might find it impossible to get the siding to fit between your soffit boards. Instead of stressing over the angles and getting it cut to fit, which is fine if you want to do this, just cut your siding to fit snug against the bottoms of the siffit boards. Then fill the spaces with your fascia material, or something smooth like 1x6 lumber. It will look real nice and give you a finished look that doesn't have any gaps.

Eddie

I'm not sure I'm following you here. I was planning to frame and sheath the gable ends before I put up the soffit and then use the trim boards to cover my crappy saw job on the soffit material. Will this work?

 

[bmac]

bmac,

On a side note, I just got to thinking about the space under the building. Do you have a plan to make it critter proof? With chickens, there will be seed around, which means other animals will wants some. Having a place for them to hide out and make there home under your building is something you really don't want. Especially if it's a snake or a skunk!!!!!

Nicely done,
Eddie

Eddie and 4720 owner,

What do you suggest to varmit-proof the crawl space? My original plan was to trench along the back wall only and bury galvanized 1/2' mesh to keep critters out of the pen. Didn't think I'd have a problem with them making a home under the building.

Should I just continue this around the entire coop? Trenching close to the coop is going to be a bear as I've got concrete from the 4x4 supports extending to the ground surface and wide enough that it goes past the perimeter of the building.

And 4720 owner, trust me when I tell you that I posess very few skills when it comes to construction. You may have noticed that I've shown very few close ups of details on this project. This has been intentional. But, thanks for the kind words anyway.

Oh, here's a picture from today after I got the last of the OSB on the roof. The prettier material is the new stuff I bought this AM. The darker piece is the last of the stuff I bought with my original materials purchase.