Sunday, May 8, 2011

May 8, 2011

First off, Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there! Today we celebrated my mom, two aunts and of course, my wonderful wife! Yesterday was my mother-in-law.  Anyway, just now writing a post on last Sunday. 

I should start by saying we decided to move the coop to my house to continue working on it as it was getting way too heavy to move easily.  So much for 2x3s cutting down on the weight much.  To move it, we decided to take it apart to move it for several reasons.  One was it was easier to transport. Two it allowed us to fix a few things we decided to change about it, namely the width of the coop and the length of the rafters, as well as replace a warped roof.  And three it was much lighter to move to and from the truck.

Unfortunately, after it got to my house, I found the weather conspiring against me.  I could count on one finger the days good enough to work on the coop  Also, I've found I am not as good at construction as my brother is. He's been working little by little and is nearly done with his coop. Mine just sits in the back yard as I am afraid to do anything myself.  About all I was comfortable doing was putting it back together the way my father-in-law helped, with a few changes addressed above.  And even then, I had my dad there to direct me.

First things first, I cut 41 inch boards to create the spacing for the width of the coop. 36 inches didn't accommodate the two 2x3s we connected it to.  Oops.  That completed, decided while I was at it to re-think my roof plans.  Water from the constant rain had warped the 3/8" plywood used for the roof, so it was removed and will be used for scrap.  I decided to change to 5/8" plywood for the roof, and not to buy or install it until I could shingle it the same day.  Oh, and why not, I would not use a single 4x8 sheet, but have a seem in the middle.  That way I could have a bigger overhang.  Bantering back and forth with my dad resulted in my getting my wish for a 2 foot overhang in front to give me shelter from the rain.  So, 78 inch rafters replaced our 4 foot ones. More scrap.  Here are the first two installed, along with the floor framing in place.


And here's me drilling pilot holes and starting screws for the rest of the rafters.


A few minutes later and presto, rafters up!  Isn't this a gorgeous day?!


Not exactly why we decided on a 1 foot overhang in the back, but hopefully it will keep water from running down the plywood which will only be painted.  Not shown is all the blocking that got re-installed. Thankfully I was only a fraction off the original spacing so most of the blocking pieces could be reused as is.  Made quick work of it.


In speaking to my father-in-law about the changes, he said we really needed fascia on the ends of the rafters.  I'll buy pre-primed fascia and rip it down to 3 inches so we can buy one board for both sides. 

Anyway, it was at that point that I gave up for the day.  And since it was planning on raining the next day (read week), I took out my multi-purpose hoop cover plastic and threw it over the coop.  Rain wouldn't warp any more boards if I could help it. 


And there it's sat for over a week.  We've had exactly one good day in the last 10, Wednesday.  The plan was to buy the roofing stuff and have my father-in-law over to slap it together.  Then, as if someone were conspiring against me, I got a call for an interview... my first in months, for 2 PM on Wednesday, right in the middle of the day.  Alas, that canceled the work party, and then today was the only good day since.  Since it was Mother's Day, I thought it best not to work on my coop and cut out on the party.  hehe.

Tuesday looks like the next good day, and I had better make hay while the sun shines, so-to-speak, because they girls are getting antsy and bigger by the day.

Maybe tomorrow I'll surprise myself and build the framing for the nesting boxes.  Stranger things have happened.

Enjoy!

4 comments:

  1. Isn't it amazing that building something is so easy for some people? They can just see how to put things together and understand the best way to accomplish it. My brother is that way as well.

    The coop is coming along quite nicely. I am sure you will be pleased that you had opportunity to make the changes. If I could, I would send some sunny days your way.

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  2. Looking good. I'm watching this closely as I may try my hand at the birds next year.

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  3. I hope you get some more sunny days.

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  4. Slow and steady wins the race! It is coming along and once you get the basic structure completed, I bet you will feel far more comfortable with doing the remaining finish work yourself.

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