Posts Tagged ‘found materials construction’
Internal Detailing
When choosing to make it up as you go along, assembly projects can gobble up a lot of time. I had visions of putting up the walls on the new chicken coop yesterday, but never quite got that far. We did make good progress on visualizing the steps we would take to get the internal details finished, despite not actually making the final cuts and screwing the last few things into place.
We started the day by completing the all-important “poop board” assembly that is located underneath the roost branches. We have designed it for a plan of daily sliding the board out for a quick cleaning, scraping off the droppings so they can be composted for fertilizer.
While I was sawing and nailing the bits and pieces associated with that feature, Cyndie worked on making an entrance ramp for the chickens, using branches for the outer frame and then weaving grape vines around them.
Slowly but surely, I devised a plan for how we will secure the edges of hardware cloth with trim boards that I have scrounged from a store of lumber in the garage that has probably been around since the day the house was built.
That means it has been here through two owners before us.
We cut pieces of hardware cloth to cover the window openings on three walls and got those stapled in place. Then I did some work on enclosing the ceiling below the roof structure.
Cyndie cut openings in the plastic bins we are using for the nest boxes and I measured and marked the dividers for those.
It was about that point in the day where things stalled a bit, because I had forgotten twice earlier to take my spare battery to the shop to get it charging.
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Note to self: When working on the last internal details, don’t neglect the other important details of taking care of the equipment that allows you to finish the task at hand.
Eventually, the second battery ran out of power and I was forced to take them both up to be charged. That left me unable to cut anything on which I had marked dimensions.
With luck, that will allow me to make some good progress this morning, quickly cutting the prepared pieces to finish the nesting boxes and securing the last of the hardware cloth beneath the roof.
Then it’ll be time to close the walls, baby.
Oh oh. That means I’ll next need to figure out how I’m going to do the doors. One more thing I’ve never done before in my life.
I’m pretty sure we’re gonna need some hinges…
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Creating Results
I have envisioned a possible design for a wash station for years. Yesterday, with the kids here to help, we finally just did it. Regardless the way I pictured it, we ended up choosing to exclusively use material we had on hand. It meant we could take immediate action and not wait to buy supplies.
For example, instead of buying gravel to fill the grids we used, Julian and I scraped the driveway behind the barn. Time will tell if that will work as hoped. I can always replace material in the future if we find it doesn’t drain well enough. One benefit we have over whether this design serves the purpose or not is our complete control over its use.
We do not board horses for other people. There are just 4 horses here and they don’t need frequent washing. We have the ability to match our use with the limitations of the design. Likewise, we can upgrade the design as necessary if shortcomings become evident after use.
It looks good to see the space decked out now like the way I have been imagining it, but time needs to pass for the surface to “weather,” becoming stable enough to support the weight of our horses. Cyndie and the horses have waited this long, they can hold off a little longer before putting it through the ultimate testing.
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I’ve talked with Cyndie about trying it out in phases. Soon we will invite one horse at a time to pay a visit and maybe park themselves there, tethered to the hitching post, to receive some dry grooming for a spell.
In the long run, it’s the horses who will create the real final results.
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Relative Something 