The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Carey boy on October 23, 2014, 01:38:32 pm
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I need to build a new hen house. Thinking off using plywood and need 5) 8x4x12mm sheets. Have just found out that exterior ply is £40.00 plus a sheet and then plus the V.A.T. I have seen some "shuttering" ply at £16.00 per sheet and have been told it is WBP (what ever that is)
It looks a bit rough in comparison but will it do ?????.
Any help or advice please.
David
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Have you thought about using the plastic stockboard as it won't rot.
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WBP means "Water Boil Proof", which basically means you can use it externally.
Some words of caution though. I was given several sheets of shuttering ply a few years ago (cheap looking stuff, with the edges of the sheets painted blue-green), and I used bits of it for a number of different projects.
Most of it lasted less than a year before it started to delaminate, and had to be replaced entirely within two years. You pays your money and you takes your choice!
BTW, we built a duck house from tongue and groove weatherboarding three years ago, and it's still going strong. Perhaps not as good for redmite prevention, but I thought I'd mention it, as I don't recall it being that expensive.
Edit: ClydesdaleClopper - where's the best place to buy Stockboard / Stokboard? I've never actually seen it for sale anywhere as sheets?
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Have you thought about using the plastic stockboard as it won't rot.
No, it won't but ..... we purchased a livestock shelter from Animal Arks three years ago and used it for poultry. First year was fine then we started to notice the floor was very wet. Thought this might be due to condensation but vents were always wide open, so we drilled holes in the front wall too. Last winter it was so wet we moved the hens and I was actually inside cleaning out when the Heavens opened and I saw the rain was making its way down through the compressed, shredded plastic sheet. Since then holes the size of a match head and bigger have started to appear in the smooth surface of the roof board, although the sides look OK. Now have split feed sacks on the roof, weighed down with rocks and it's fine. (Looks like it belongs in a shanty town, but the hens don't mind and we cancelled the Homes & Gardens photo shoot.)
I did e:mail the company to report this occurrence and invite their response, but nothing so far.
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where are you going for ply? I got mine from local builders merch ant it was £20 12mm for 2m x 3m (or a bit larger actually, got them to cut it to size for me)
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I have built nearly all our coops and found from experience that plywood doesn't 'breathe' so is prone to condensation. Therefore the only place it is used is on the floor and the roof. In both applications it is primed and gloss painted so that it can be wiped down easily. Still gets black mould spores forming on the surface though, but nowhere near as bad as in an unpainted condition. We had a cockerel with a terrible respiratory infection with the first coops from the black mould forming on the roof. Ventilation was OK at 10% of the coop floor area, but the stuff still formed. I use hardwood ply with exterior grade adhesive because the softwood splits in time. Beware of the cheap stuff that looks like hardwood but is actually just a thin surface layer over softwood.
The sides are treated weatherboarding on frames. Worth spending a bit of extra thought and time and building a coop that can be dismantled. This allows for easy transportation and also application of creosote to kill red mite because the panels can be turned upside down to get the stuff into the joint grooves. The outside is finished in Cuprinol Shades. Nice to have different colours for each coop as well. So we have some in red, some blue and some pale green.
The floor should be at least 18mm thick because at some time you will kneel in it and if it is just 12mm, unless additionally supported, it may split. The plywood sheets I buy are 1.22m x 2.44m.
All our coops are 450mm off the floor, most on a separate chassis. This makes cleaning out easy and stops rats eating their way in.
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Marches Farmer - I think the animal arcs ones are made from Ecosheet rather than Stokboard and it has small holes that have to be properly filled
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I have a new to me chicken hut cost me £ 30 New felt and its a goer. Gumtree.
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Stockboard and eco sheet are available from http://www.solwayrecycling.co.uk/ (http://www.solwayrecycling.co.uk/) some ag merchants also stock it or can order it in for you. If it started leaking I would certainly be taking it back considering how much they charge for it.
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Mole Valley sell Stokboard if there is one near you. I was thinking about it for the walls of my next big house but not so sure now. I might give it a go and see what happens. I plan on building a frame and then the walls will be bolt on panels so I can take the whole thing apart and treat if required.
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If you are going for WBP ply then make sure it is Far Eastern and not Chinese ply, you will pay a bit more but it will last a lot longer, when we first started making our pig arks we made the mistake of using Chinese ply.
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2 Sheds iv nockt up
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Just seen this I have to say you need to shop around I just paid 18quid plus vat per sheet for 3 sheets of 12mm ply. Direct from a timber yard I do use a fair bit but I'm not an account holder or anything!
Use ply for all my chook houses liberally painted with creosote it does a great job!!
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2 Sheds iv nockt up
Tidy sheds VF. Had you considered using Onduline for the roof?
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i must admit i dont spend the cash on my sheds .THE 3 IV GOT I ONLEY HAD BOARDS so i boarded 6 inch board all over then light felt then cement fiber wich iv taken of other jobs .Then boarded inside 4 inch rotwool in the gap . i couldent get the jig so the sheds had to be built 4/2 this week a stable . I HAD ONE PERSON WHO HAD 5 HENS AND WONTED A PALICE FOR THEM
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Shuttering ply is fine for a year or so, but it comes apart when it gets wet between the ply even if you seal it.
I know it sounds expensive, but marine ply will save you in the long run.
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I've just bought a shed load of ply (pun intended). Was told to seal it even though I bought marine. Was expensive, hope it lasts the rest of my life and I never have to replace it. Hope I live to a ripe old age.
I never thought housing chickens would be so complicated.
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To pick this up again, I called our local timber merchant and he confirmed that you really need to seal any kind of ply once you cut it. Marine will last far longer but always wise to seal the ends.
Now, to my surprise, he recommended that I build houses out of structural OSB. He said the glue was waterproof and it took painting very well. I know they use it to temporarily board windows and stuff but as far as I was concerned, it's not really an exterior product. The offcuts I have used to shelter broody coops etc. have always soaked up water fairly rapidly. It's also not as strong and you can snap it far easier than the same thickness of ply.
So I'm more confused now. Planning on building 6 houses so want to get it right and have something which will last a good few years without spending too much.