Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Coop Building Phase I


Sure, you could buy your coop online and have it assembled faster than an IKEA project, or you can DIY.  I chose the latter - cheaper, more tailored to your specific space, customized to your specific needs, and just hipper. So...

Phase 1:  The foundation. I honestly didn't think this step mattered much, but my designer and architect of the coop, my engineer twin brother Scott, thought otherwise.  Apparently everything needed to be "level" and "bolted down." Seems easy enough right? My oldest sister Sherry will tell you otherwise! (It takes a village to raise chickens...).  She spent her sweat, muscles, and probably some tears trying to level-out the slanted side yard comprised of rock-hard soil.  She also suffered through many cat-calls at the local Home Depot.  But eventually, we leveled off the ground, set our cinder blocks in place, bolted our 4x4 foundation beams to those blocks, and we had a foundation. 

The second piece of this phase was building the floor.  This involved reading Scott's highly detailed blueprints (yes, these were multi-page blueprints with detailed measurements, diagrams, and photographs.  Think HGTV). While the designs required some translations for the average lay person, for example,
how to "mount" the frame (this was cleared up with a quick phone call to dear old Dad - again, it takes a village), the designs were otherwise flawless and we set to work.  We attached a piece of plywood to the frame of the floor, secured the base to the foundation, and then laid the cheapest vinyl flooring we could find at the Depot.  I chose vinyl flooring because it will make my bi-annual cleaning of the coop much easier.

Phase I Complete!


Drilling the cement blocs

Building the floor frame

Mounting plywood to the floor frame

Attaching the floor frame to the foundation, and spreading glue

Laying the vinyl floor


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