All,
I am hoping I am posting this in the right section on the forum. However, it is a bit of a 2 part question.
The first part - To insulate or not to insulate? This might be a better question for the Poultry forum, though.
We are located a bit NW of Central Ohio and can get winters with temps down below 0deg F, some winters between -10 and -20deg F. Our neighbors raise chickens, also, and, although they do not insulate, they do run heat lamps when it gets real cold.
I would feel better if we had some insulation.
At this point, though, we are needing to get the coop going - we have chickens hatched on 4/1 (over 2 months old now) and they are still in a large brooder inside. We need to get them outside.
The added cost of the insulation wasn't an initial consideration. Doing some math with current offerings and pricing - fiberglass backed batting (R19 I believe is what we looked at) that would fit between the joists is in the $600 range - we'd like to spread that out over the rest of the season if we can.
So part 2 of the question - if we do insulate - we need to either do it now, or have provisions in place to do it later.
Therein lies the problem. The floor sheathing covers the whole floor framing and the wall framing is anchored directly on top of the floor sheathing down to the floor framing. If we build in this manner that will make it impossible to get in to the joists without taking down all the walls.
The underside of the floor joists is lined with 1/2" hardware cloth - so the underside of the joists is inaccessible as much as the top (not that you'd be able to squeeze under the gap to the ground, anyway, to install it from under, either).
So how can we build the floor in such a way that it is strong and we can still pull up the floor sheathing?
The idea I have now is to cut the perimeter of the sheathing all the way around inside where the base of the wall sections attaches and use screws to anchor down the sheathing. That would leave a separation in the short sides between the last joist and the outside that would have to have some kind of extra support, yet wouldn't prevent the access for the batting to drop down in there.
From the pictures - you can tell the floor is elevated. We did this in this way due to the high water here. The whole acreage (ours, our neighbors, and the hundreds of acres around us) do not drain very well. For that reason we poured pilings a couple inches above the ground then built up the framing on top of that as you see - 4x4 uprights to the concrete and the sub frame on top of that. It resulted in about a 6" or so rise above the ground (gap to the wood) and about 14" floor height. That air gap in the winter time adds significantly to my insulation concern - nothing to stop the cold air blowing under/through. However, I think due to the water that is the right approach to keep the wood from rotting out in time.
Thoughts?
Floor dimensions are 8' x 12', the sheathing is just laying there - not anchored yet.
One last question - if we do go with insulation (any type) - how do you keep critters from pulling it apart and removing it over time? The hardware cloth will keep some of that down, but not all as they can still get between the weave to pull some through.
I am hoping I am posting this in the right section on the forum. However, it is a bit of a 2 part question.
The first part - To insulate or not to insulate? This might be a better question for the Poultry forum, though.
We are located a bit NW of Central Ohio and can get winters with temps down below 0deg F, some winters between -10 and -20deg F. Our neighbors raise chickens, also, and, although they do not insulate, they do run heat lamps when it gets real cold.
I would feel better if we had some insulation.
At this point, though, we are needing to get the coop going - we have chickens hatched on 4/1 (over 2 months old now) and they are still in a large brooder inside. We need to get them outside.
The added cost of the insulation wasn't an initial consideration. Doing some math with current offerings and pricing - fiberglass backed batting (R19 I believe is what we looked at) that would fit between the joists is in the $600 range - we'd like to spread that out over the rest of the season if we can.
So part 2 of the question - if we do insulate - we need to either do it now, or have provisions in place to do it later.
Therein lies the problem. The floor sheathing covers the whole floor framing and the wall framing is anchored directly on top of the floor sheathing down to the floor framing. If we build in this manner that will make it impossible to get in to the joists without taking down all the walls.
The underside of the floor joists is lined with 1/2" hardware cloth - so the underside of the joists is inaccessible as much as the top (not that you'd be able to squeeze under the gap to the ground, anyway, to install it from under, either).
So how can we build the floor in such a way that it is strong and we can still pull up the floor sheathing?
The idea I have now is to cut the perimeter of the sheathing all the way around inside where the base of the wall sections attaches and use screws to anchor down the sheathing. That would leave a separation in the short sides between the last joist and the outside that would have to have some kind of extra support, yet wouldn't prevent the access for the batting to drop down in there.
From the pictures - you can tell the floor is elevated. We did this in this way due to the high water here. The whole acreage (ours, our neighbors, and the hundreds of acres around us) do not drain very well. For that reason we poured pilings a couple inches above the ground then built up the framing on top of that as you see - 4x4 uprights to the concrete and the sub frame on top of that. It resulted in about a 6" or so rise above the ground (gap to the wood) and about 14" floor height. That air gap in the winter time adds significantly to my insulation concern - nothing to stop the cold air blowing under/through. However, I think due to the water that is the right approach to keep the wood from rotting out in time.
Thoughts?
Floor dimensions are 8' x 12', the sheathing is just laying there - not anchored yet.
One last question - if we do go with insulation (any type) - how do you keep critters from pulling it apart and removing it over time? The hardware cloth will keep some of that down, but not all as they can still get between the weave to pull some through.