Thirty years ago, I built my first serious workbench. After using it nearly every day since, I still call the design a success. And that’s why I’m happy to share the plans with you.
A solid, do-it-yourself workbench is an excellent starting point if you’re interested in building self-reliance skills. In fact, a practical work surface is more important than most of the tools you’ll be using, as it makes so many jobs easier. Successfully repairing small machines, assembling projects and building furniture are entirely dependent on having a sturdy work surface at the right height. In the garden, transplanting and re-potting seedlings without straining your back requires a table that’s perfectly sized for you. You can build a bench using rough-cut lumber, as I did, or with standard construction-grade planks, composite lumber or even recycled plastic. Using these DIY workbench plans, you’ll turn out a bench that’s heavy enough to be secure, simple enough for any handy person to build, and durable enough to last longer than you. The flexible workbench designs I outline here have three main parts: the legs, top and storage shelf.
But before we get to the step-by-step instructions on how to build a workbench, let’s do some figuring. How long should your workbench be? How wide? How tall? The answers depend on who will be using the bench, and for what purpose. You can go small or large, depending on your space and needs.
The most important dimension is workbench height. The rule of thumb for a woodworking workbench is a work surface that hits your wrists as you stand with your arms hanging loosely at your sides. A general-purpose workbench for, say, sharpening your chain saw or fixing a broken toy could be taller. I’m 5 feet, 8 inches tall, and my old faithful stands 35 inches from the floor to the top of the work surface, and 35 inches deep from front to back.
Leg Frames
After you’ve figured the size, you’re ready to start building your DIY workbench. The exploded workbench plans on this page show how pairs of legs are joined together into frames, with the frames connected by the long rails, top boards and shelf boards. Your first task is to build as many of these leg frames as you’ll need to support the total length of the bench you want. Depending on the weight of things you’ll be putting on your bench, and the thickness of the top boards and shelf, aim for 24 to 48 inches between leg frames. The frames will need to be closer together if you’re using plastic composite boards, because these aren’t as strong as wood. If you’re not sure what length you want right now, build the minimum number of leg frames you think will do the job, and then temporarily set some top and shelf boards in place and see how things feel. You can always make an additional leg frame before final assembly if you decide it’s necessary.You can use 2-by-4s for the legs, but 4-by-4s will work better. Remember, a good workbench is a heavy workbench. Cut all of the legs and crosspieces you need at the same time. A miter saw is an excellent tool for getting these cuts perfectly square, but you can use a handsaw or hand-held circular saw, too. Use deck screws, because these hold better than nails and are easier to drive. My favorite deck screws for the smaller joints on this project are the Spax brand, which have serrated threads that bite aggressively into wood. I use the hot-dipped and galvanized version for rust-free exterior use. The large joints between the rails and legs are best connected with a heavier screw, such as theCamo structural screw.
Here’s a trick for assembling all of the legs and crosspieces accurately: Use a 4-by-8-foot sheet of plywood or oriented strand board (OSB) on the floor as a reference tool to ensure square leg frames. Because the corners of domestically produced, commercial sheet material are a perfect 90 degrees, they offer an ideal guide for positioning legs and crosspieces relative to each other. Place one leg flush with the long edge of the plywood as it rests on the ground, and align one end of that leg in the corner of the sheet. Place a second leg on the sheet parallel to the first one, with one end of the leg on the plywood’s edge. Space the outer edges of the parallel legs to match the length of your crosspieces. Double-check the alignment by measuring diagonals taken across the corners — square leg frames will always have equal diagonals. As long as the ends of both legs are aligned with the edge of the plywood and both legs are parallel, your workbench’s leg frames will have 90-degree corners.
Start assembling your workbench by securing the crosspieces to the first pair of legs. The upper crosspiece needs to be flush with the top of the legs, and the second crosspiece should be 6 inches up from what will become the bottom ends of the legs. Use glue and two 3 1/2-inch deck screws to hold each joint together.
The next step is to connect the leg frames to form the support structure. Long rails will make this happen, and recruiting a helper will make this step much easier. Use either 2-by-4s or 2-by-6s, depending on the length and strength you’re aiming for. Either way, the long rails should fasten flush to the top of the legs, and the shelf should rest on top of the lower crosspieces below.
Before you begin assembling the base, here’s another important trick to ensure your leg frames come together properly: Forget your carpenter’s square and grab a 24-inch-long level instead. Find a flat and level floor surface on which to set all of the leg frames upright. After you have the leg frames on a level surface, use the level to make sure they’re straight up and down (called “plumb”) as you fasten on the long rails. Do this, and all connections will be square.Have your helper hold up the leg frames and keep them in position while you add the long rails. As you do this, check that the leg frames are plumb, and then apply wood glue to the joints. Secure each long rail-to-leg joint using a single deck screw, set off-center so you have room for a second screw later. You could certainly forget the glue, but it’s amazing how much strength and rigidity it adds. And why cut corners? This design explains how to build a workbench that will last you a lifetime.
Your bench won’t be as strong at this stage because the glue is still wet, but that’s OK. Check one more time to make sure that the leg frames are all plumb, and then add a second screw to each joint. If you want the strongest possible workbench, get out your drill and use 3/8-inch-diameter carriage bolts instead of the second screws. Bore holes for the bolts and draw the joints together tightly with the bolts before the glue dries. Besides pulling the joints together for maximum glue strength, carriage bolts will also allow you to tighten the joints with a wrench if things ever loosen up in the future.
Workbench Top
You can build the top of your workbench with 3/4-inch plywood or solid 2-by-6, 2-by-8 or 2-by-10 planks. I prefer planks because they don’t cost any more than plywood and they produce a stronger, heavier bench. You also don’t need to cut any of the boards lengthwise to get a specific workbench top width. You can usually mix and match different standard widths and lengths of lumber to deliver the ideal 1 or 2 inches of overhang on the sides and ends. As you calculate your material needs, remember that a construction-grade 2-by-6 measures 5 1/2 inches wide, a 2-by-8 is generally 7 1/4 inches wide, and a 2-by-10 is typically 9 1/4 inches wide.
If you’re using lumber, make sure all top boards are the same length, and arrange them tightly together. It’s great if you can get a couple of pipe clamps to draw the wood together. If not, just pull the wood tight by hand while you fasten the boards to the crosspieces below, driving two or three 3 1/2-inch- or 4-inch-long deck screws into each top board at the crosspiece. Use no glue on these joints, because you want the option of removing and replacing top boards later if they get damaged.
If you’ll be using your bench for gluing or finishing wood, consider securing a replaceable layer of 1/4-inch plywood on top of the top boards. Use just enough small screws to keep the plywood secure. When the glue and mess get to be too much, simply remove the old plywood and replace it with a fresh piece.
Workbench Shelf
You can use long rails to stabilize the lower structure of your DIY workbench, but a shelf will serve the same purpose and also provide storage space. The shelf is nothing more than a replica of the top, except that it fits between the legs, not on top of them. And unless you’ll be storing exceptionally heavy things, 3/4-inch plywood is fine for the shelf. Cut the shelf material so it fits between the legs, and fasten it to the crosspieces To me, workbenches are one of those things that are best made, not bought. These instructions show you how to build a workbench that’s perfectly suited to your shop or garden. Take the time to build it right, and you’ll never wish you had a better workbench again.
Garden Potting Bench Plans
It’s easy and practical to turn your do-it-yourself workbench into a garden potting bench. You only have to inset a removable potting tub or two into the workbench top to make a garden sink. Buy a sturdy plastic tub with a lip, measure the length and width of the body of the tub, and then mark it on the bench top to the right or left of the center legs (somewhere between leg frames). Use 2-by-4s to reinforce the underside of the bench top immediately on each side of the tub’s intended location. Bore 1-inch-diameter holes through the bench top, just inside the lines, one at each corner. Insert a jigsaw’s blade into one of the holes, and cut all four sides of the opening. Drop the tub into position. You’re now ready to store soil or potting materials right at bench level.
If you’d like to add a sink and running water to your garden workbench, you’ve got a couple of options. You can install a garden sink the same way as a potting tub, or inset it below the surface so the sink can be covered with a removable piece of plywood whenever you want a continuous work surface. A reclaimed stainless steel kitchen sink is ideal for covering in this way because its perimeter lip is thin.
A reclaimed kitchen faucet is a more convenient way to bring water to your sink than a garden hose alone, and it’s not difficult to install. Fasten 6- or 7-inch lengths of 1/2-inch-diameter copper pipe onto the inlets of your faucet if it doesn’t already have any, and then secure the faucet to the bench’s countertop, behind the sink. Fit the end of one of the copper pipes coming off the faucet with a quick-release hose fitting, which will make connecting and disconnecting the water supply easy. Direct the waste water from the garden sink into a pail or a graveled area underneath the bench, and you’ll keep messes out of your kitchen by washing vegetables outdoors. Install an optional raised back and sides on the bench top to keep potting supplies and tools from rolling off during use.
Rough Wood or Smooth?
Standard construction-grade lumber — of the kind used to build houses — measures 1 1/2 inches thick, and is an excellent material for a workbench top. But if you live where small sawmills are in operation, you can use rough-cut lumber to make a terrific workbench. It’s typically thicker than construction-grade lumber milled for the homebuilding industry (1 3/4 inches to 2 inches instead of 1 1/2 inches) and, depending on the tree species, this extra thickness probably won’t cost you any more. The only issue to keep an eye on is thickness. Depending on the kind of mill used to saw the wood, rough lumber’s thickness can be quite consistent, or it can vary as much as a quarter-inch from board to board. Planing one side and one face of rough boards is the best way to make them consistent while retaining the greatest wood thickness.
Dean Steward built a 14-by-24-foot “in-ground” DIY greenhouse for just $120. He simply trenched out a walkway between ground-level beds, walled it with concrete blocks and covered the beds with cattle panels and plastic.
Steward laid out his DIY greenhouse with two 24-by-4-foot beds separated by a 3-foot-wide trench and two waist-high block walls.
“I used a backhoe to dig out the trench and laid the walls without mortar,” says Steward. “I drove rebar into each cell and rammed earth in to fill them. It has been more than a year, and they are holding well.”
He added concrete block steps at one end and built end-walls out of scrap lumber. For the roof, Steward drove in two lines of wood stakes, 10 to a side and 12 feet apart. He fastened 16-foot-long, 50-inch-wide cattle panels between the stakes and covered them with plastic.
“I’m 5 feet 8 inches tall, but with the curve of the cattle panels, I can walk on the beds without hitting my head,” he says.
The trench forms a heat sink during the day, and the concrete block walls soak up heat to release as outside temperatures cool.
For more information on this innovative design, send Dean an email at dsteward@hotmail.com.
By Anna Hess
February/March 2013
Dean Steward built a 14-by-24-foot “in-ground” DIY greenhouse for just $120. He simply trenched out a walkway between ground-level beds, walled it with concrete blocks and covered the beds with cattle panels and plastic.
Steward laid out his DIY greenhouse with two 24-by-4-foot beds separated by a 3-foot-wide trench and two waist-high block walls.
“I used a backhoe to dig out the trench and laid the walls without mortar,” says Steward. “I drove rebar into each cell and rammed earth in to fill them. It has been more than a year, and they are holding well.”
He added concrete block steps at one end and built end-walls out of scrap lumber. For the roof, Steward drove in two lines of wood stakes, 10 to a side and 12 feet apart. He fastened 16-foot-long, 50-inch-wide cattle panels between the stakes and covered them with plastic.
“I’m 5 feet 8 inches tall, but with the curve of the cattle panels, I can walk on the beds without hitting my head,” he says.
The trench forms a heat sink during the day, and the concrete block walls soak up heat to release as outside temperatures cool.
For more information on this innovative design, send Dean an email at dsteward@hotmail.com.
Homemade Heated Chicken Waterer
You can make this simple, DIY poultry waterer to provide unfrozen water to your birds all winter.February/March 2013
This do-it-yourself poultry waterer is easy to make and will make winter watering chores easier.
Illustration By Nate Skow
We have developed a line of poultry waterers, including this heated one you can make yourself. To construct the heated waterer, start with a 5-gallon bucket waterer with poultry nipples (visit Avian Aqua Miser for details). Additional supplies you’ll need include a second bucket, a 3-foot pipe-heating cable (aka heat tape, usually about $25) and duct tape. (Note: This project may not conform to the safety instructions provided by some heat tape manufacturers. — MOTHER EARTH NEWS)
First, cut the bottom off of your extra bucket by starting your hole with the drill, then make your cut with the jigsaw. Remove the handle. Starting from the bottom edge of the bottomless bucket, use a coping saw to make a small slit about 3 inches up the side, then set aside the modified bucket.
Wrap the heat tape around the outside of the unmodified bucket near the bottom, using duct tape to hold it in place. Then push the bottomless bucket onto the bucket waterer, letting the heat tape’s cord feed out of the slit. The bottomless bucket should extend a few inches beyond the bottom of the original bucket waterer.
A last, optional step is to wrap chicken-friendly insulation (such as Reflectix, a foil-backed bubble wrap insulation) around the sides and top of the bucket. Here in Zone 6, the resulting waterer provides frost-free hydration for our flock all winter long. For more information, you can visit our website (given above) and click on “Heated Waterers.”
Anna Hess
Dungannon, Virginia
It’s an incident I’ll surely remember for as long as we garden. One day last summer, I walked out to the backyard – either heading out to feed the hens or towards the garden for an early-afternoon watering, I don’t remember which — and something caught my eye in our lettuce patch.
One of the neighborhood rabbits, belly apparently as full as could be, lay there, passed out amongst the greens. As I got close, he came to, struggled to his feet like an overweight hobo waking up to catch a train, and — looking more like a tortoise than a hare — ambled off, leaving behind a barren patch of greens and garden soil that my sweat had fallen upon during early season preparation.
In the moments that followed, I started thinking about rabbit traps and bunny recipes.
Then, a funny thing happened while cruising the pages of GRIT’s 2012 Guide to Backyard Rabbits and seeing the efficiency and logic in raising rabbits in small spaces: I began entertaining the idea of having my own backyard rabbitry.
Be it chickens, bees, pigs or rabbits, the first step towards keeping any type of backyard animal is looking at the required housing and equipment. When it comes to raising rabbits in your backyard, multiple options lend themselves to creatively deciding which type of structure will provide your rabbits the highest quality of life.
In really hot climates, a good rabbit husband has to make the most of airflow, so a garage or indoor setting probably isn’t ideal unless the ventilation is great and you can cool the space. In any indoor operation, for that matter, excellent air ventilation is a must.
By the same token, in an outdoor setting owners need to provide shade so that a hot July sun isn’t beating down on a doe or buck all day long. Airflow must be maximized by placing a cage in an open area, so the wind can help cool the animals.
In cold climates, an outdoor cage is still an option, just pay close attention to ways to make life easier on that rabbit. Giving access to winter sunshine with a wire ceiling, attaching plastic sheeting around three sides of the cage to protect against strong winds or precipitation in the worst conditions, and designing a secure roof that will keep rain and snow out are three simple ideas to make your structure work the best for your animals in the cold; just like using fans, attaching misting fans to garden hoses, and filling plastic jugs with water and freezing them to place in the cages can help during the heat of summer.In short, any type of shelter will provide a layer of protection from two things: predators and the elements.
Since indoor rabbit cages require a significant amount of space, most small operations at least start out with outdoor housing structures.
Last year in my part of Kansas, we saw winter temperatures as low as 9 below zero and as high as 112 during the summer. To keep rabbits here, we need a housing structure that can run the gamut as far as optimizing the comfort of rabbits in extreme conditions.
Read on and learn about do-it-yourself plans for a conventional wire rabbit cage, a hutch frame for protecting outdoor rabbits from predators and the elements, a rabbit shed, the best nest box, and a plan for employing an automatic-valve waterer.
“Pens made of wood look nice, but rabbits will chew them up in less than a year,” Eric says. “The type of wire used in the making of pens is important. Some people will use cheap wire that is rough and light gauged. These types of materials will cause sores on the feet.”
Besides the damage a rabbit can do to a wooden hutch, consider that wooden frames get soaked with urine and become a breeding ground for parasites and disease.
Before getting too far, let’s consider what a rabbit needs to stay healthy. Cleanliness, light, ventilation, protection from extreme heat and cold, dryness, and enough room to rear a family, although domestic rabbits aren’t suited to hopping great distances like their wild cousins.
And secondly, what do you, the steward, need in a hutch? Easy access for the handler — for cleaning, feeding, watering, handling and observation — is important, as is being unescapable,
durable, affordable, and adaptable to both indoor and outdoor use in case anything changes.
A wire rabbit hutch (or cage) is just that — all wire. Don’t start with a little lumber and chicken wire, and start stapling it all together. If you don’t have time to do this right the first time, when will you have time to do it again?
Also, it’s important to note that it actually can be cheaper for a first-timer to buy prefabricated wire rabbit cages and merely assemble them. Consider that manufacturers nowadays can buy bulk material at a cheaper price than you could get a lesser amount of the same material. Also factor in that if you’re buying raw materials, you will undoubtedly have excess materials, whereas with the prefabricated hutches, you buy the exact amount of materials needed. But if you want to get busy with your own hands, check out the following plans for as good a rabbit hutch plan as you can find.
Materials
For sides:
1 length of 1-by-2-inch 14-gauge welded galvanized wire fencing, 18 inches wide by 11 feet long
For floor:
1 piece of 1/2-by-1-inch 14-gauge welded galvanized wire mesh, 30 by 36 inches
For roof:
1 piece of 1-by-2-inch 14-gauge galvanized wire mesh, 30 by 36 inches
For door:
1 piece of 1-by-2-inch 14-gauge welded galvanized wire mesh, 12 by 13 inches
Latch, dog-leash snap fastener, or wire coat hanger
Equipment
Measuring tape
Hammer
2-foot-long 2-by-4
J-clips or C-rings (about 80)
J-clip or C-ring pliers
Wire cutters
Instructions
To prepare the sides, first lay the full side piece of wire on the floor. Do not cut it. Using a hammer, make the four corner bends of the cage sides by bending each around the length of the 2-by-4. The sides will be 2 1/2 feet, while the front and back will be 3 feet (11 feet total from the one length of wire). Don’t bend against the welds.
Fasten into a rectangle by clamping J-clips or C-rings with pliers every 3 inches or so. If possible, use J-clip pliers.
For the floor, fasten the 1/2-by-1-inch floor mesh piece to the four sides to make the bottom, using rings or clips and pliers. Again, fasten clips or rings about every 3 inches.
For the roof, fasten 1-by-2-inch roof mesh piece in the same way. You now have all sides of the hutch assembled.
Preparing the door
Using wire cutters, cut a door opening 1-foot square on a wide side of the door piece; this will be the front. Leave 1/2-inch stubs.
Bend the stubs back with the pliers so there are no sharp edges.
The wire piece for the door is 13 inches square so that the door will overlap at least 1/2 inch all the way around. Attach the door to the hutch with the hinge at the top, so that to open the door, you push the door up into the cage. That way, even if you forget to latch the door, the rabbit cannot escape by pushing on the door. Galvanized metal door latches swivel left and right to open or latch the door in place.
Materials:
Four 10-foot lengths of 2-by-4 lumber
One 8-foot length of 2-by-4 lumber
One 4-by-5-foot sheet of exterior-grade plywood (3/4-inch thick)
12d common galvanized nails
6d common galvanized nails
8 L-brackets
Wood screws
Tools:
Saw
Tape measure
Hammer
Screwdriver
Pencil
• one 33-inch piece (side of the cage-support frame)
• one 36-inch piece (front and back of the cage-support frame)
• one 42-inch piece (front and back roof support)
Cut the 8-foot 2-by-4 in half. These pieces will be the side roof supports. You will later recut them to length.
Lay the four cage-support frame pieces on edge on a flat surface. They should form a large rectangle, with the 36-inch front and back pieces between the 33-inch side pieces. Drive two 12d nails through the outside face of a side piece into the end of the back piece to make the corner. Nail the three other corners together in the same fashion to complete the cage-support frame.
Screw the L-brackets to the inside face of the cage-support frame (see illustration in the Image Gallery). The bottom of each bracket should be flush with the bottom edge of the frame.
It’s a good idea to mark the bottoms of each leg to prevent confusion during assembly. Now measure up 32 inches from the bottom of the legs and draw a straight line across the inside edge of each leg. The cage-support frame will rest at this mark.
Use 12d nails to attach the legs to the ends of the cage-support frame, making sure that the bottom of the frame is even with the lines drawn on the legs.
Use 12d nails to attach the front and back roof supports to the legs. The top edge of the front roof support should be slightly higher than the top of the front legs to prevent the front legs from being in the way when it’s time to put on the plywood roof.
Take one of the side supports and hold it in place against the legs on the right side of the hutch. With a pencil, mark the angled cut you’ll need to make at the side roof support’s ends so it snugly fits between the tall front legs and shorter back legs. Cut the pieces to size, and attach with 12d nails to the front and back roof supports. Nail the pieces to the tops of the legs as well, for added strength. Do the same procedure on the opposite side of the frame.Take scraps of plywood and cut four isosceles triangles, with the equal sides being 12 inches long. Nail these braces to the hutch, as illustrated in the Image Gallery, with 6d nails.
Use 6d nails to attach the 4-by-4-foot plywood roof. The roof should overhang on all four sides, to help keep rain or snow out of the hutch. A larger overhang along the front will give extra protection to the attached feeders. Nail or otherwise attach plywood or plastic sheeting to the sides and back of the frame during winter for added protection from the elements. Add on to this frame to accommodate more hutches, although if you want to add on past the point of three segments, you might consider constructing a separate frame or a shed.
The basic design calls for pressure-treated 2-by-4s and 1/2-inch plywood. The key with this structure will be picking a suitable location, since moving it will be a chore. Pick a spot that will offer plenty of shade in summer and will be out of the wind in winter. Additionally, you need protection from predators, so a high, sturdy fence might be necessary.
Sturdy chains hold the rabbit hutches in place, suspended off the ground and off the structure. Keep a clear heavy plastic tarp on hand and fasten it around the shed in the event of rain or snow.
One great thing about this type of shed is that it offers wide flexibility in the plans based on how many rabbit cages you want, what breeds you raise (size of cages), and your local climate. See the illustration in the Image Gallery for the plans.
Disturbing your rabbits, especially the baby bunnies, is a no-no, so come up with a feeder and waterer plan that allows you to refill from the outside while not wasting food and water or making a mess.
Metal feeders are the way to go with food, and really they are quite cheap at your local farm-supply store. Waterers may be too, but here is a way to make your own waterer that keeps the water source outside of the hutch with the drinking spout protruding inside. You have to buy the actual automatic waterer valve, but then simply place it in a 2-liter soft-drink bottle, wire it in place, and those critters have fresh, clean water for two days (rabbits drink about a liter of water per day — more in hot weather, less in cold).With a sharp knife, cut a small hole near the bottom of the vertical part of the bottle. Set the automatic watering valve in place, and seal the opening with epoxy.
Take the automatic watering valve system a step further by attaching your water source to 3/16-inch black plastic hosing and running the hose the length of all your hutches. Just make sure to employ a standoff clip to keep the rabbits from chewing your tubing. You’ll need some tee connectors that will attach each individual automatic valve waterer to the main water line connecting all the hutches to the water source.
You’ll still have to use a crock or small bowl during winter, but there really isn’t a simple solution to watering in winter that doesn’t require heating the water and spending significant time and resources. One solution that makes it less of a hassle is to use two watering bowls per hutch, so that the handler fills one bowl to give in the morning and can let the other one thaw during the day before giving more fresh water in the evening.
Replacing frozen water diligently is part of the process with most any farm animal in winter.
With all these things in place, you’re now ready to take fresh rabbits from farm to table in your own backyard. Enjoy providing your family with tasty, high-quality meat, hides and more; and perhaps even slip in the occasional garden marauder if you’re feeling up to it.
Read more about how to raise rabbits rabbits successfully in A Rabbit Nest Box.
Each buck should have his own hutch. With young does, two does in the same hutch is OK, at least until mating time. Ideally, every rabbit should have its own hutch.
By David Reed
January 28, 2014
Dungannon, Virginia
It’s an incident I’ll surely remember for as long as we garden. One day last summer, I walked out to the backyard – either heading out to feed the hens or towards the garden for an early-afternoon watering, I don’t remember which — and something caught my eye in our lettuce patch.
One of the neighborhood rabbits, belly apparently as full as could be, lay there, passed out amongst the greens. As I got close, he came to, struggled to his feet like an overweight hobo waking up to catch a train, and — looking more like a tortoise than a hare — ambled off, leaving behind a barren patch of greens and garden soil that my sweat had fallen upon during early season preparation.
In the moments that followed, I started thinking about rabbit traps and bunny recipes.
Then, a funny thing happened while cruising the pages of GRIT’s 2012 Guide to Backyard Rabbits and seeing the efficiency and logic in raising rabbits in small spaces: I began entertaining the idea of having my own backyard rabbitry.
Be it chickens, bees, pigs or rabbits, the first step towards keeping any type of backyard animal is looking at the required housing and equipment. When it comes to raising rabbits in your backyard, multiple options lend themselves to creatively deciding which type of structure will provide your rabbits the highest quality of life.
Rabbit houses: indoors or out?
The first major decision is whether your rabbitry — or really, your location and space — is better suited to keeping rabbits inside or out. These critters are most comfortable at 50 to 69 degrees Fahrenheit, although they can withstand temperatures well below freezing and higher than 100, if their cages — the place where they will most likely spend nearly all of their time — are set up to make conditions most optimal.In really hot climates, a good rabbit husband has to make the most of airflow, so a garage or indoor setting probably isn’t ideal unless the ventilation is great and you can cool the space. In any indoor operation, for that matter, excellent air ventilation is a must.
By the same token, in an outdoor setting owners need to provide shade so that a hot July sun isn’t beating down on a doe or buck all day long. Airflow must be maximized by placing a cage in an open area, so the wind can help cool the animals.
In cold climates, an outdoor cage is still an option, just pay close attention to ways to make life easier on that rabbit. Giving access to winter sunshine with a wire ceiling, attaching plastic sheeting around three sides of the cage to protect against strong winds or precipitation in the worst conditions, and designing a secure roof that will keep rain and snow out are three simple ideas to make your structure work the best for your animals in the cold; just like using fans, attaching misting fans to garden hoses, and filling plastic jugs with water and freezing them to place in the cages can help during the heat of summer.In short, any type of shelter will provide a layer of protection from two things: predators and the elements.
Since indoor rabbit cages require a significant amount of space, most small operations at least start out with outdoor housing structures.
Last year in my part of Kansas, we saw winter temperatures as low as 9 below zero and as high as 112 during the summer. To keep rabbits here, we need a housing structure that can run the gamut as far as optimizing the comfort of rabbits in extreme conditions.
Read on and learn about do-it-yourself plans for a conventional wire rabbit cage, a hutch frame for protecting outdoor rabbits from predators and the elements, a rabbit shed, the best nest box, and a plan for employing an automatic-valve waterer.
Wire rabbit cages
When it comes to rabbit cages, you have two options: wooden or wire. Eric Rapp, rabbit farmer and owner of Rare Hare Barn, which supplies rabbit meat to local restaurants in Kansas, recommends wire rabbit cages, without question.“Pens made of wood look nice, but rabbits will chew them up in less than a year,” Eric says. “The type of wire used in the making of pens is important. Some people will use cheap wire that is rough and light gauged. These types of materials will cause sores on the feet.”
Besides the damage a rabbit can do to a wooden hutch, consider that wooden frames get soaked with urine and become a breeding ground for parasites and disease.
Before getting too far, let’s consider what a rabbit needs to stay healthy. Cleanliness, light, ventilation, protection from extreme heat and cold, dryness, and enough room to rear a family, although domestic rabbits aren’t suited to hopping great distances like their wild cousins.
And secondly, what do you, the steward, need in a hutch? Easy access for the handler — for cleaning, feeding, watering, handling and observation — is important, as is being unescapable,
durable, affordable, and adaptable to both indoor and outdoor use in case anything changes.
Getting down to the nitty GRIT-ty
Starting out, let’s aim to build an affordable, durable wire rabbit hutch for the outdoors, in a spot well-ventilated and lit, but that also can be adapted to limit the draft in colder weather (having fur, remember that rabbits can withstand the colder temps more easily than they can the hotter ones).A wire rabbit hutch (or cage) is just that — all wire. Don’t start with a little lumber and chicken wire, and start stapling it all together. If you don’t have time to do this right the first time, when will you have time to do it again?
Also, it’s important to note that it actually can be cheaper for a first-timer to buy prefabricated wire rabbit cages and merely assemble them. Consider that manufacturers nowadays can buy bulk material at a cheaper price than you could get a lesser amount of the same material. Also factor in that if you’re buying raw materials, you will undoubtedly have excess materials, whereas with the prefabricated hutches, you buy the exact amount of materials needed. But if you want to get busy with your own hands, check out the following plans for as good a rabbit hutch plan as you can find.
Rabbit cage plans
The most common type of wire used for sides and tops of hutches is 14-gauge wire woven in 1-by-2-inch mesh. Use a smaller size for the floor, to protect rabbit feet from getting stuck and resulting in broken or dislocated feet and legs. Rabbit feet, particularly the padded rear hocks, are perfectly suited to perforated floors. You might have the choice between 14 and 16 gauge, but I would go with 14, as it’s heavier. Also, metal that is galvanized after being welded will be stronger and smoother for the rabbits’ feet. These plans are adapted fromStorey’s Guide to Raising Rabbits by Bob Bennett.Materials
For sides:
1 length of 1-by-2-inch 14-gauge welded galvanized wire fencing, 18 inches wide by 11 feet long
For floor:
1 piece of 1/2-by-1-inch 14-gauge welded galvanized wire mesh, 30 by 36 inches
For roof:
1 piece of 1-by-2-inch 14-gauge galvanized wire mesh, 30 by 36 inches
For door:
1 piece of 1-by-2-inch 14-gauge welded galvanized wire mesh, 12 by 13 inches
Latch, dog-leash snap fastener, or wire coat hanger
Equipment
Measuring tape
Hammer
2-foot-long 2-by-4
J-clips or C-rings (about 80)
J-clip or C-ring pliers
Wire cutters
Instructions
To prepare the sides, first lay the full side piece of wire on the floor. Do not cut it. Using a hammer, make the four corner bends of the cage sides by bending each around the length of the 2-by-4. The sides will be 2 1/2 feet, while the front and back will be 3 feet (11 feet total from the one length of wire). Don’t bend against the welds.
Fasten into a rectangle by clamping J-clips or C-rings with pliers every 3 inches or so. If possible, use J-clip pliers.
For the floor, fasten the 1/2-by-1-inch floor mesh piece to the four sides to make the bottom, using rings or clips and pliers. Again, fasten clips or rings about every 3 inches.
For the roof, fasten 1-by-2-inch roof mesh piece in the same way. You now have all sides of the hutch assembled.
Preparing the door
Using wire cutters, cut a door opening 1-foot square on a wide side of the door piece; this will be the front. Leave 1/2-inch stubs.
Bend the stubs back with the pliers so there are no sharp edges.
The wire piece for the door is 13 inches square so that the door will overlap at least 1/2 inch all the way around. Attach the door to the hutch with the hinge at the top, so that to open the door, you push the door up into the cage. That way, even if you forget to latch the door, the rabbit cannot escape by pushing on the door. Galvanized metal door latches swivel left and right to open or latch the door in place.
Wire rabbit hutch frame
Now that the hutch is made, owners who plan on keeping rabbits outdoors will need to think about how they’ll protect their critters from the elements and predators, and that protection often comes in the form of a hutch frame. The hutch frame plans shown at right (adapted from The Backyard Guide to Raising Farm Animals by Gail Damerow) are for a single hutch, but they can easily be adapted to accommodate multiple hutches.Wooden frames are good for several reasons: They can have removable sides for added ventilation in summer or extra protection during winter; the hutch can easily be removed for cleaning; the hutch can be moved if an expectant doe needs extra protection from the elements during winter; and the hutch cleans itself for the most part because, being off the ground, all urine and excrement fall out of the cage, giving you excellent fertilizer.Materials:
Four 10-foot lengths of 2-by-4 lumber
One 8-foot length of 2-by-4 lumber
One 4-by-5-foot sheet of exterior-grade plywood (3/4-inch thick)
12d common galvanized nails
6d common galvanized nails
8 L-brackets
Wood screws
Tools:
Saw
Tape measure
Hammer
Screwdriver
Pencil
Legs
Cut two 60-inch lengths from one of the 10-foot 2-by-4s to form two front legs. Cut two 56-inch lengths from a second 10-foot 2-by-4 to form two shorter back legs.Support pieces
From each of the two remaining 10-foot 2-by-4s, cut:• one 33-inch piece (side of the cage-support frame)
• one 36-inch piece (front and back of the cage-support frame)
• one 42-inch piece (front and back roof support)
Cut the 8-foot 2-by-4 in half. These pieces will be the side roof supports. You will later recut them to length.
Lay the four cage-support frame pieces on edge on a flat surface. They should form a large rectangle, with the 36-inch front and back pieces between the 33-inch side pieces. Drive two 12d nails through the outside face of a side piece into the end of the back piece to make the corner. Nail the three other corners together in the same fashion to complete the cage-support frame.
Screw the L-brackets to the inside face of the cage-support frame (see illustration in the Image Gallery). The bottom of each bracket should be flush with the bottom edge of the frame.
It’s a good idea to mark the bottoms of each leg to prevent confusion during assembly. Now measure up 32 inches from the bottom of the legs and draw a straight line across the inside edge of each leg. The cage-support frame will rest at this mark.
Use 12d nails to attach the legs to the ends of the cage-support frame, making sure that the bottom of the frame is even with the lines drawn on the legs.
Use 12d nails to attach the front and back roof supports to the legs. The top edge of the front roof support should be slightly higher than the top of the front legs to prevent the front legs from being in the way when it’s time to put on the plywood roof.
Take one of the side supports and hold it in place against the legs on the right side of the hutch. With a pencil, mark the angled cut you’ll need to make at the side roof support’s ends so it snugly fits between the tall front legs and shorter back legs. Cut the pieces to size, and attach with 12d nails to the front and back roof supports. Nail the pieces to the tops of the legs as well, for added strength. Do the same procedure on the opposite side of the frame.Take scraps of plywood and cut four isosceles triangles, with the equal sides being 12 inches long. Nail these braces to the hutch, as illustrated in the Image Gallery, with 6d nails.
Use 6d nails to attach the 4-by-4-foot plywood roof. The roof should overhang on all four sides, to help keep rain or snow out of the hutch. A larger overhang along the front will give extra protection to the attached feeders. Nail or otherwise attach plywood or plastic sheeting to the sides and back of the frame during winter for added protection from the elements. Add on to this frame to accommodate more hutches, although if you want to add on past the point of three segments, you might consider constructing a separate frame or a shed.
Rabbit shed
Taking it a step further, larger operations might be best served by a rabbit shed. These structures can maximize space by offering owners the ability to stack cages on top of one another. Remember, you don’t want urine and excrement to ever fall on a rabbit, so take special care to maintain the drain boards and give your rabbits the highest quality of life possible.The basic design calls for pressure-treated 2-by-4s and 1/2-inch plywood. The key with this structure will be picking a suitable location, since moving it will be a chore. Pick a spot that will offer plenty of shade in summer and will be out of the wind in winter. Additionally, you need protection from predators, so a high, sturdy fence might be necessary.
Sturdy chains hold the rabbit hutches in place, suspended off the ground and off the structure. Keep a clear heavy plastic tarp on hand and fasten it around the shed in the event of rain or snow.
One great thing about this type of shed is that it offers wide flexibility in the plans based on how many rabbit cages you want, what breeds you raise (size of cages), and your local climate. See the illustration in the Image Gallery for the plans.
Rabbit waterer
Finally, the last do-it-yourself project before you’re all set to get rearing: It will benefit you infinitely to have an automatic waterer, as rabbits require clean, fresh water to grow well. When devising a plan for watering rabbits — and feeding them for that matter — consider how much easier it is if you don’t have to open the cage daily.Disturbing your rabbits, especially the baby bunnies, is a no-no, so come up with a feeder and waterer plan that allows you to refill from the outside while not wasting food and water or making a mess.
Metal feeders are the way to go with food, and really they are quite cheap at your local farm-supply store. Waterers may be too, but here is a way to make your own waterer that keeps the water source outside of the hutch with the drinking spout protruding inside. You have to buy the actual automatic waterer valve, but then simply place it in a 2-liter soft-drink bottle, wire it in place, and those critters have fresh, clean water for two days (rabbits drink about a liter of water per day — more in hot weather, less in cold).With a sharp knife, cut a small hole near the bottom of the vertical part of the bottle. Set the automatic watering valve in place, and seal the opening with epoxy.
Take the automatic watering valve system a step further by attaching your water source to 3/16-inch black plastic hosing and running the hose the length of all your hutches. Just make sure to employ a standoff clip to keep the rabbits from chewing your tubing. You’ll need some tee connectors that will attach each individual automatic valve waterer to the main water line connecting all the hutches to the water source.
You’ll still have to use a crock or small bowl during winter, but there really isn’t a simple solution to watering in winter that doesn’t require heating the water and spending significant time and resources. One solution that makes it less of a hassle is to use two watering bowls per hutch, so that the handler fills one bowl to give in the morning and can let the other one thaw during the day before giving more fresh water in the evening.
Replacing frozen water diligently is part of the process with most any farm animal in winter.
With all these things in place, you’re now ready to take fresh rabbits from farm to table in your own backyard. Enjoy providing your family with tasty, high-quality meat, hides and more; and perhaps even slip in the occasional garden marauder if you’re feeling up to it.
Read more about how to raise rabbits rabbits successfully in A Rabbit Nest Box.
What size rabbit hutch?
A good rule of thumb for hutch size: Does raising a litter need about the same square footage as their weight. So the 2 1/2-by-3-foot wire hutch described in this article would be sufficient for a 7 1/2-pound doe. This rule works for owners who wean at 8 weeks. Some folks wean earlier, so does would require less space.Each buck should have his own hutch. With young does, two does in the same hutch is OK, at least until mating time. Ideally, every rabbit should have its own hutch.
How to Build a Stone Culvert
Learn how to build a stone culvert with dry-stacked and flared wing walls to divert water.January 28, 2014
A dry-stacked wall made with large stones secures this 9-foot-diameter (2.7-m) stone culvert at its discharge end.
Photo courtesy Lark Crafts
Learn techniques for building functional and beautiful stoneworks that will last for ages withThe Complete Guide to Stonescaping (Lark Crafts, 2013). With easy to follow instructions and hundreds of breathtaking photos David Reed shares stone projects to turn any yard or garden into a retreat. In the following excerpt, Reed outlines how to build a stone culvert under a driveway that crosses a creek or stream.
Purchase this book from the MOTHER EARTH NEWS store: The Complete Guide to Stonescaping.
Reworking a Creek Culvert
Many property owners with driveways that cross over creeks or streams already have culvert pipes in place. In this project, you’ll learn how to build a stone culvert with dry-stacked walls around the intake end of one of these pipes.
The 4-foot-diameter (1.2-m) culvert shown in the photo above allows a creek to run beneath my driveway. When I first moved to the property, the outflow end of the culvert — a concrete-block wall faced with stone — was still in good shape. The dry-stacked stonework at the inflow end, however, had collapsed into piles of stone on both sides of the pipe’s opening, and the slope from the driveway down to the top of the pipe was caving in. The simplest and most practical solution was to stabilize the bank by dismantling the old stonework and restacking the stone walls.
One tip before you start a similar project: Unless the creek or ditch is dry, there’s no way to avoid getting wet as you build the stone walls of a culvert! You’ll be standing right in the bed of the creek or ditch as you work. To minimize sogginess, wear a pair of tall rubber boots. Making a few walkways by placing boards just above water level will also help.
Dismantling the Old Stonework
I started work when the creek was low. First, I completely dismantled the old stonework on the right-hand side of the inlet end. In order to redirect some of the creek water away from my work area and off to the left, I removed some of the largest stones and placed them in the creek itself.
Some of the original stones were suitable for restacking. The others, irregular in shape, were good backfill material, so I saved them to thicken the new wall and add to its ballast. To supplement the useable recycled stones, I handpicked about 1/2 ton (508 kg) of stone at a stone yard.
Stacking Flared Wing Walls
During heavy spring rains, the volume of this creek increases dramatically. Sometimes, the water level reaches the bottom edges of the capstones on the right-hand side of the culvert, in front of the hemlock tree. I therefore decided to build dramatically flared new wing walls — ones that would funnel this rush of water into the pipe. Because the water flow is sometimes extremely heavy, I also knew I’d have to use very large stones. I dry-stacked the right-hand wall first. I started by wedging stones between the outside surface of the pipe’s opening and the soil bank to make sure that water wouldn’t flow behind the pipe. Then, to clear a site for the first course of the wall, I removed a few stones that jutted out from the creek bed. Next, I laid out the first course of the wall by placing some of my largest stones directly into the creek.
As I stacked this wing wall, I set the first stone in each course to overlap the lip of the pipe. I also rounded the wall dramatically in order to make sure that water flowing out of a smaller creek on the right would hit stones rather than soil as it entered the larger creek. To backfill the wall, I combined the irregularly shaped culls that I’d saved with crushed limestone that I had on hand and small stones gathered from the creek. The creek was also a good source for shims, wedges, and the smaller stones across the top of the pipe.
As I continued to stack courses, I had to remove the lower branches of the hemlock tree in order to provide working space. I took care to leave enough soil and space for the tree’s future growth.
After capping off the section of the wing wall in front of the tree, I cut a shelf in the bank behind the tree and stacked a couple of courses of that wall. Then I shifted my attention to the wall on the left-hand side of the creek.
First, I had to move the water-diverting stones that I’d set in the creek. I placed these at the opposite side to divert water from my new work area at the left-hand side of the culvert. Then I stacked the new wing wall, using my largest stones in the bottom course and backfilling as before.
The final stage of this project was stacking the wall just beneath the road, which I did in the usual fashion.
Working with New Culvert Pipe
If you have a small creek on your property and would like to install a culvert pipe with a pathway over it, try the following project. If, however, your creek is large and you want to build a driveway over the culvert, I strongly recommend that you consult with a professional. You can certainly dry-stack the stones at the ends of a large culvert, but setting the pipe, gravel, and road bond will require the use of heavy equipment. For smaller projects, you’ll only need a pick-up truck to haul the pipe, gravel, and stones.
Culvert pipe is cylindrical in shape and made of rigid plastic or heavy-gauge galvanized steel. Diameters can range from 1 to 10 feet (30 to 305 cm). To create a 6-foot-wide (183 cm) path over a small creek, a pipe 10 feet long and 3 feet (91 cm) or smaller in diameter will be sufficient. To find a local supplier, just look in your telephone book, under “Pipes” or “Culverts.”Have the pipe cut to length before you pick it up or before it’s delivered. Most pipe sellers will deliver, but if you don’t want to pay for this service, a small truck can usually transport short sections. You can join these with a connector once they’re at your site. Elbow sections that allow pipes to be joined at 90- and 45-degree angles are also available.
Determining the diameter of the pipe you’ll need is tricky, as there’s no way to gauge exactly how much water will flow through the pipe at any given time. One way to estimate the diameter is to observe the volume of water in the creek after a heavy rainfall. Take note of the water’s width and depth at the spot where you want to set the culvert; your culvert pipe must be able to cope with that volume of water.
Order a pipe the diameter of which is slightly larger than the diameter you think you need; you never know when the hundred-year flood will hit! If your creek is small and the culvert site is close to its headwaters (where the creek begins), the volume of water may not change drastically from season to season or day to day. If, on the other hand, the site is below a number of tributaries that feed into your creek, or if much new development is taking place upstream, the water can rise dramatically.
Setting the Pipe in Place
Work on this project during a dry season, when the water level in the creek or stream is low. To divert any water flow, refer to the tips presented at the beginning under “Reworking a Creek Culvert.”
As you visualize the finished project, keep in mind that the bottom lip of the culvert pipe should sit at or slightly below the bottom of the creek bed. The pipe should slope slightly downward from its intake end to its discharge end.
Start by clearing out any rocks that protrude from the creek bed; set them aside to use in the walls at each end of the pipe. The creek bed must be free of any material that will keep the pipe from sitting evenly along the bottom. Use 3/4-inch (2-cm) gravel to fill any holes left by the rocks you remove.
Next, spread a shallow gravel bed down the center of the creek, sloping it downward toward the discharge end and shaping it slightly to match the contour of the bottom of the pipe. The depression in the gravel will ensure good contact between the bed and pipe. Ideally, the lower lip of the pipe should rest at or slightly below the bottom of the creek at the intake end, so don’t make the bed too deep.
To position the pipe on the gravel bed, simply roll it into the creek and adjust it by hand. If you’re working with two sections of pipe, band them together with a metal collar after placing them on the gravel bed. (Large diameter pipes must be set by heavy equipment.)After the pipe is in place, stabilize it by placing a few stones along both sides, 1 foot (30 cm) in from each end. Then, toward the center of the pipe, start pouring and tamping layers of gravel in the spaces between the creek banks and the pipe. Your goal is to create a tightly tamped bed that buries most of the pipe and fills the area above it from one side of the creek to the other. Leave enough space at the ends of the pipe to dry-stack walls around the pipe’s openings.
Building the Wing and Head Walls
At the inlet end, you’ll build angled wing walls that flare out so they’ll funnel water into the pipe. The wall at the discharge end will be perpendicular to the pipe rather than flaring outward. Use the same instructions from before to dry-stack the inlet-end walls first; then stack the wall at the outlet end. As you stack the stones, you’ll probably have to add extra gravel behind them to fill the space between their backs and the gravel you poured earlier.
Stack both walls until they’re tall enough to ensure that your pathway will be at the height you desire. To stabilize them, add capstones. To make a pathway over the gravel above the culvert, just add a layer of soil, pea gravel, small crushed stone, bark mulch, wood chips, or tamped road bond.
When the Creek Floods
Some friends of mine live in a beautiful valley with a large creek flowing through it. Shortly after moving in, they noticed that during heavy rains, the 4-foot-diameter (1.2-m) culvert beneath their driveway couldn’t handle the volume of water in this creek. Excess water flooded the driveway and eroded its edges.
When the culvert was built, it was more than adequate in size, but substantial development upstream had significantly increased the water volume. New rooftops, paved driveways, and other hard surfaces had almost doubled the runoff into the creek. To remedy this situation, my friends widened the creek at their bridge and installed a second, 4-foot-diameter culvert next to the first.
For more projects from The Complete Guide to Stonescaping: Read DIY Stone Benches.
Reprinted with permission from The Complete Guide to Stonescaping: Dry-Stacking, Mortaring, Paving & Gardenscaping by David Reed and published by Lark Crafts, 2013. Buy this book from our store: The Complete Guide to Stonescaping.
Summer's getting long in the tooth; rain is scarce and leaves are beginning to show color. The family vacation is over (if not paid for) ,the garden is tending itself, the fish have quit biting and pro football hasn't yet kicked off. Weekends drag, it's time to find something to get you out of the house. What better project than building a shed to store your gear?
In just such circumstances some years back, I responded to a magazine ad for a plan set that promised a pretty shed "anyone could build." But the plan proved to be nothing but a single sheet of paper with a crude drawing, a materials list written in shorthand, and instructions that began "Anchor sole plate..." What's a sole plate? Don't ask me, the plan didn't say.
The shed is a few inches short of 16' long, 8' high and deep. It's designed for mistake-proof construction, using economical, standard-size materials. But it is made to last, with ground-facing floor beams of pressure-treated (PT) lumber to resist decay and insect damage, and a frame more closely spaced than you'll find in many new homes. The siding is T-1-11 plywood, which is weather-proofed and grooved on one side to simulate barn boards.
With careful shopping, all new materials should cost less than $600 (at 1993 prices). Finish it to match your house with prehung doors, windows, and clapboards or shingles, and the cost can more than double. But if you shop wisely, use recycled lumber, and build your own doors and windows, the cost can be less than what you spend for seed and soil conditioners each year.
You'll find these directions detailed enough to complete the shed, even if you barely know a hammer from a saw. Construction entails a lot of "tacking" (temporary fastening with fasteners sunk part way) to eliminate errors. I've even included tips on compensating for the type of amateur-builder mistakes I've made myself.
Prehung exterior doors and windows are quickest to install but are expensive. Freestanding glazed sashes don't cost much and can be fixed in place or hinged from any edge. You can hang any freestanding, solid-wood door in a box of 1" boards attached flat to wall framing, but avoid the hollow doors used in new-home interiors. Their thin skins can be pierced by a good bump from a loaded garden cart and they aren't weatherproof. Cheaper is to build and hang a plank door. Then rig an old window sash or scrap plywood-shutter to slide in wood channels fastened to the outside of the wall.
The following are simplified terms, materials and orientation for framing members. Rot-resistant PT 2 x 6s are used for the floor-framing members. The sill rests atop the foundation to hold floor beams or joists, placed 24" apart. The walls and roof are framed with 2 x 4s. They're laid flat around the edge of the floor to make up the sole plate or sleeper. The sleeper supports vertical 2 x 4 wall studs, which are placed 12" apart, extending up to the plate at top. This plate supports the 12"-spaced 2 x 4 roof beams, or rafters. Two by-fours are doubled at the end rafters in order to make corner supporting beams, and also around windows and doors.
Flat boards can sag and buckle, so framing members are placed with their stronger, narrow dimension facing the sheathing they support. Floors, roof and wall sheathing are standard 4' x 8' sheets of exterior-glued plywood or oriented-strand particleboard.
Design your shed's frame around the placement and "rough cutouts" for doors and windows. Openings should be a bit larger (all around) than the box frame of prehung units or the margins of freestanding, prebuilt windows or doors, plus twice the thickness of door-frame boards. The opening for a single door should be at least 33" wide to admit the tiller. Double doors can open 60" or so for the lawn tractor or to let you come and go with arm loads of tomato stakes. Live with the shed on paper for an imaginary season; you may even make scale cutouts of your wheeled equipment to make sure it will fit.
Properly anchored in a mortared-block foundation, your shed will be a permanent structure. So, take your plan to the regional building inspector and local zoning boards to find out restrictions of size, appearance, materials and structural design. Also find out if your shed must be a certain distance from shared property lines and public ways. Follow the rules or you may be forced to tear your work down. Now, pick up your materials and get to work. Take your time and enjoy. Every hour or so, relax with a cool drink and quit for the day before you get too tired.
Clear and mow a level piece of ground at least 25' long and 12' deep and lay out stakes and crisscrossed string to locate the foundation. Along what will be the shed's back line, sink a pair of flatboard stakes 20' apart, with their wide sides facing one another. Run taut cord between them, tying foot-long loops at both ends so the cord can be adjusted and removed. Measuring carefully, set stakes to hold another line 7'4" in front of and parallel to the back line.
To lay out the side lines, sink a stake 2' to the rear and 2' in from one of the back stakes. Run line from it and across both front/back lines to another stake out in front. Use the framing square to make it perpendicular to the lines in place. Put in the other end line 15 1/2' from the first. Where lines cross will be the approximate outside corners of the foundation. Place four concrete blocks inside the string rectangle with the long dimensions matching the long dimension of the building, outer corners at the "+" in the line. Place two more blocks at the midpoint of front and back lines. Mark holes 12" larger all around than the blocks. Then mark with ink where they cross, unloop them from one stake and coil out of the way.
The footing of a large building must extend below frost (at least 6' deep in the north). In most soils, a shed won't have meaningful frost-heaving problems if you sink the footing through topsoil and several inches into the subsoil.
Remove blocks and dig out sod and dark topsoil (add it to your compost). Remove lighter-colored subsoil to a depth that's an even multiple of a concrete block's 8" thickness: 16", 24", or 32" below surface of the highest ground under your foundation. Pour in 6" of gravel. Tamp well with a 2 x 4. Mark on tamper, measure against a length of string, and add or remove gravel as necessary to get all hole bottoms on a level plane (deeper up-slope).
Replace layout string. Use the line level to adjust strings on stakes so all are level and touching where they cross. Now square the layout lines. (Don't skip this step, and do rely on the plywood floor to square the building; you want foundation and floor perfectly square to one another.) Double-check that opposing lines are an even 15 1/2' and 7'4" apart all along. With a helper or more stakes, mark 3-4-5 triangles at each corner to assure that all are 90° right angles; that is, mark 6' from the "+" on a side line, and 8' on the adjoining front/back line. When the diagonal between them is precisely 10', the corner is a right angle. You can also use a long cord to assure the diagonal distance between crossed lines (between right rear and left front and vice versa) is equal. Move loops slightly on stakes or relocate stakes to get the corners at precise 90° angle and diagonals to measure the same—only then will your layout describe a perfect rectangle. Sink stakes plumb (vertical to the ground in both front-to-back and side-to-side dimensions) at the outside angle of the "+" that marks each corner.
Note: These directions will give you a shed that sits at ground level. The PT-lumber floor frame will resist rot and repel bugs even in moist weather. However, if you live in termite country or a damp climate, you may want to raise the shed for more airflow and better access. For a 12" crawl space, make the hole 4" deeper or shallower and add a tier or two of blocks to the foundation piers.
To keep moisture from moving from blocks to wood, center a 12" x 20" rectangle of roll-roofing atop blocks. Slit corners and bend 2" of roofing down over outer edges. To admit anchors, cut "X"s over cell holes of blocks. Note: Roll-roofing is 36' long, and you'll need two 16' lengths—totaling 32' out of each 36' roll—to cover the roof without seams. So, cut no more than a yard of roofing off the end of any one roll.
Select two pairs of PT 2 x 6s, and lay pairs flat and butted end-to-end atop front and back foundation blocks. Join pairs where ends meet over the middle foundation-piers; use hole-punched, metal trussplates and 8d galvanized, common nails. Trim ends so they extend beyond blocks by 1/4" (skirt board will overlap sill, leaving room for roofing bent down over blocks). Set sill boards on edge, so that ends and outer edges extend 1/4" beyond the side margins of front and rear foundation. Trim two 2 x 6s so that they fit between ends of the back/front sills. Place them so they will jut 1/4" over edge of foundation.
Center-join two more pairs of 2 x 6s and trim them to fit snugly between end boards, inside and flat against the outer front and back sills. Don't nail yet, but trim two 2 x 6s to fit between the inner end boards. Trim seven more 2 x 6s to the same length to serve as floor joists. Turn the inner back and front sill boards to lay flat and place them side by side atop piers so you can mark joist and stud locations on both at once. Find and mark the precise center. From center and out to each side, mark a line every 12" with pencil and try square. The final marks will be less than a foot from the ends.
Make a nailing template by tamping one joist hanger snugly to a length of scrap 2 x 6, out-flaring flanges of hanger even with the board's end. With hanger "U" at bottom of the 2 x 6, align midpoint of the narrow top edge of the board with the center and every other 12"-spaced mark to each side. Mark nail locations through holes in hanger flanges. Over nail-hole marks, tack hangers in place (so you can pull nails and adjust joist locations later if need be) by setting 8d galvanized common nails halfway into sill. Lay outer sill boards flat atop foundation piers. Center inner boards flat atop them. Fasten inner to outer sill boards using two 8d galvanized common nails, one above the other, between joist hangers. Now, fit sill together squarely atop foundation; fasten ends with 12d nails.
If you have a 12-horsepower or smaller lawn tractor, nail on wood or metal X-braces every 2' between 2 x 6s under its parking spot. If tractor is larger, add 2 x 6s so they are spaced every 12 inches.
Put two spikes through holes at bottom of prepunched angle-steel anchors. Poke down into corner blocks and fasten anchors to inside corner of sill with 8d nails. Mix a half bucket of leftover concrete or mortar per corner, and fill block cell containing foot of anchor with clean rock or rubble wedged in and spot-cemented. With a hacksaw, trim anchors so they're even with top of sill. Tap joists into hangers (ends butted tight to side of sill) till upper edge is even with top of sill. Fasten hanger to joists with 8d nails through holes in hanger brackets. (But, for now, leave joist hangers tacked only to sills.)
Use your try square to transfer "on-center" marks inside the sills to out-facing faces of front and back sills to use later in locating studs. Lay 2 1/2" plywood or 5/8" particleboard sheets with seam in the middle of the frame, front edges even with front sill, rear edges jutting beyond sill. Place the two remaining sheets. These should join to the middle sheets over midpoint of underlying joists (sides will jut beyond sill). Adjust joists and hangers if necessary so all seams are centered over a joist. Then lift flooring, one edge of one sheet at a time, and sink tacked on joist-hanger nails in sill. Don't forget this step, just flooring-over loose joist hangers.
Apply chalk to a 20' length of cord. Tighten and snap cord to make chalk lines where floor extends beyond sills. Trim flush to sills, using the circular saw and a fine-toothed plywood blade. Align chalk line with centers marked on outer front/back sills, tighten and snap cord to mark nail lines down middle of flooring.
Set 8d nails every 4" around the perimeter of flooring; alternate them 3/4" and 2 1/2" from the edge. Set nails 5/8" from edge of ply, staggering them from side to side every 3" down joints between sheets. Angle nails slightly in toward underlying joist. Set nails every 6" along chalk lines over joists. Now, your floor is on and anchored. Your back is no doubt aching from stoop labor—take a break.
For sleeper (sole plate) at bottom and plate at top, trim two sets of flat, end-joined 2 x 4s to fit front and back perimeter of floor, and connect them with truss plates—just as you made the outer sills. You want a standard 8' sheet of plywood to cover the entire front except for the bottom 4" or so of the sill (where you will attach the 6"-wide PT skirt board). So reduce studs by the combined thickness of sheet flooring, plus the thickness of 2 x 4 sleeper and plate, plus 2" (5 1/2" to 6" total). Trim nineteen 2 x 4 studs by this amount.
Now, lay out the front wall frame. Lay one joined pair of boards (that will be the sleeper) up on the edge along the front of floor. Every 12" (at marks on outside of sill) set studs on edge with one end butted to inside of sleeper. Double studs at both ends. Place another joined 2 x 4 flat to ends of joists at top as the plate. Be sure studs at 4' intervals from center are squarely "on center" of the mark at top and bottom; they'll be nailers for sheathing joints. Tack sleeper and plate to nailers and end studs with two 12d nails through flat board, and halfway into cut end of each stud.
To be sure plywood sheets meet over a nailing stud, lay four plywood or particleboard floor sheets squarely atop frame. Start with the two center sheets over the central stud. Adjust studs as needed. Final-fasten studs to sleeper and plate and remove ply. Next, frame door and window openings according to your plan. (Set prehung doors and windows in place on the floor and box them top and sides, in place and not too snugly, with doubled 2 x 4s laid on edge.)
Nail flat-board braces to front of frame at a diagonal at each lower corner. Then tack four evenly spaced short boards extending 6" above front edge of floor. These will catch the bottom of the wall frame when you raise it. At the middle of the outer face of each endstud, tack two long ground-brace boards. Their long ends should aim toward the back so they'll slide forward on the ground and hold the frame as you raise it.
With a helper(s), raise the frame. Set it squarely to the floor and hold it up by tacking the rear end of ground braces to side sills. Nail sleeper even with front edge of floor, two 12d nails between each stud. Use truss plates to connect end studs to sill.
Notch all rafters, and nail two together for each end. Fasten doubled-end rafters to front/back plates with 8d nails through narrowest part of front and rear notches; fasten with metal truss plates at sides. Top and bottom inside, put 8d nails at a 45° angle into plate. Place other rafters over wall studs and tack to plate with finishing nails sunk vertically and all the way in (so they won't interfere with fastening roof sheeting, but rafters can be removed easily if necessary).
Now, put in sidewall frames. Beginning at center of sidewall sleepers, place vertical 2 x 4s every 12" "on center" with narrow edge facing out and even with edges of sleeper and top plate.
You'll have to cut top ends to match the angle of the roof. To measure in place, center inner tip of 2 x 4s atop the on-center mark on sleeper and hold narrow edge against outside of end rafters (being sure that stud is perfectly plumb and square). Use outside bottom edge of rafter to mark angle of top cut. Saw this angle by adjusting the foot of your circular saw to 12.5°. Make several trial cuts to be sure angle is right.
Tack middle stud till you are sure sheathing joint meets squarely down its middle. But, final-fasten the rest top and bottom with small truss plates or by inserting 8d nails one inch from stud's cut end, and angling at about a 45° angle into sleeper or plate. To prevent splitting, drill a 1/16" pilot hole for each nail.
First, install sheathing to front wall. Beginning with two sheets meeting in a seam over the middle stud, tack on plywood—narrower ends up and textured side out. It is heavy and unwieldy stuff, but take the time to assure that bottom edges are level, that sides are square and that the splintery little lap joints meet over a stud. It should snug up against rafter bottoms and overlap sill by 2" or so.
On inside of ply, mark overrun at ends, as well as door and window openings. Mark bottom line of ply on face of sill. Remove ply, make cutouts and trim ends. Then, fasten 6"-side aluminum flashing with 3/4"-long, big-topped roofing nails every 6" all around sill (so lower edge extends 1 1/2" below bottom line of siding). Cut slits in lower 2" at corners. At door openings, make two cuts in flashing even with inner edges of jack stud, and bend the thin metal in. Replace ply (over flashing), and final-fasten with 6d nails—first to center of top plate, then every 4" to alternating sides. Nail every 6" to studs in a line under midline of rafters, and finally nail to sleeper. Alternate angled nails every 2" along seams. Nail every 3" around cutouts.
Measure, trim and fasten side and back sheathing so bottom edges are horizontal and even with the front. Keep it square, and with seams over studs. You can mark the angled top cuts of side sheathing against upper edge of end rafters; measure carefully (at least twice) to get the backwall sheathing correct.
Along bottom of sheathing, bend flashing up and out at 90°. Fasten 5/4" x 6 x 8 PT skirt boards to sill with 8d nails. Upper edge of skirt should be under lip of flashing, and lower edge overlaps top of blocks and sandwiches edge of roll-roofing placed atop blocks. Bend exposed edge of sheathing down over skirt to form a drip edge.
Now, add doors and windows. Trim away flashing in door opening if building a flush door. For installing a prehung door, bend flashing in along floor edge and put a bead of caulk on front lip. Push box into rough opening till outer trim boards are tight against wall all around. Tap shim shingles between jack stud and box frame, using level to assure that frame is level and plumb. Carefully release door and adjust shims as needed till door swings freely and closes without binding. (Don't push shims in too far, as you can bow the frame and the door will stick.) Then, fasten box through shims to studs. For added door sill strength, cut a strip of PT skirting and fasten under lip of door sill.
Working on the ladder, tap rafters off plates, and get one centered under each joint in roof sheeting. Use your try square to make sure that each rafter is square to the plate. Final-fasten rafters to plates with "U"-shaped rafter brackets or universal joining brackets. Remove tacked-on trim from front of rafters.
Then go up on the roof. At joints, fasten roof sheeting to rafters every 2", alternating between sheets so two nails don't go in side by side (in other words, nails are set every 4" along the edge of any one sheet of plywood or particleboard).
Now, attach 1 x 6 trim to ends of the rafters in the front. Best is to nail on 1 x 6 x 16s, trimming one end. Or, nail on two 1 x 6 x 8s, being sure ends meet in the middle over a rafter end (fasten 2 x 4 nailing cleats to each side of rafter, long grain edge facing out). Nail 6" trim to ends (and back as well if trim will be open to view); place so top of trim snugs up under roof ply. Later, for a more finished look, you can cut strips of scrap ply and fasten to underside of rafters at front and back. This will keep out nest-building phoebes (and bats and wasps if really tight); cut holes at the peak of side walls, and install screened aluminum vents over the holes to let out summer heat.
Roof with asphalt shingles or (at three times the price) wood shakes. For cheapest and easiest roofing, buy two-yard-wide, 36'-long "one-square" rolls of light-weight, mineral-covered asphalt roll-roofing. Do not use mere tar paper or roofing felt that will wrinkle as it absorbs rain water or tear and blow off in the first high wind). Get roofing in a dark color in the north, light in the south. If not using metal drip molding, edge front and back with butted wood shim-shingles extending 1/4" beyond edge of ply front and back. Lay a 6"-wide strip of scrap roofing alongside edges.
Take rolls to roof and orient so they'll unroll along long dimension of shed. Push one end exactly 2' beyond one side edge of roof. Unroll, keeping edge square to long edge of ply, and let sun-warm, if needed, to lie flat. Then, 23" from other edge of the roof, cut square with utility knife against a heavy straightedge.
From two rolls, you'll get four 16'-long, yard-wide strips, so you can overlap each strip by more than 1/3" of its width—a good practice on a low-slope roof. Install from lower eave to upper, with uncoated border at top and overlapping strips running across the wide dimension of the roof. Lay so that 1/2" of roofing extends beyond drip edge all around. Overlap strips so lower 23" is exposed "to weather." Turn the upper strip around so factory-cut coated edge is at top, extending 1/2" beyond edge of drip molding. Trim to 23" wide.
Cement and nail following directions for your particular roofing (that you'll find printed on the brown paper cover). Roof ply is thin and nails would punch through and twinkle on the shed ceiling. So, fasten upper margin of roofing (to be double covered) along rafters. Use a chalk line if need be to mark rafter locations. With trowel or caulking gun apply roofing cement along all edges and in narrow up-down strips every 2' along nail lines.
For foundation work: one shovel or posthole digger; a ball of nonstretching hard cotton mason's cord; five 1 1/2' wood stakes; a line level; a hand or electric drill with a 1/16" wood-drilling bit; a large adjustable wrench; a soil-tamper (2 x 4 will do); a small cement mixer; a large bucket or sheet of old plywood; a hoe to mix concrete and mortar, water to mix it with, and a trowel to spread it.
For carpentry: a sturdy stepladder; a pair of 4'-wide, 30"-high sawhorses (make them from metal or plastic brackets and some old 2 x 4s); four straight 8' 2 x 4s and a sheet of 1/2" exterior-glued plywood to rest atop them to make a worktable; an electric circular saw with rough-cut plus good quality crosscut and plywood blades; an electric drill and 1/16" bit for drilling pilot holes plus a heavy-duty three-wire extension cord long enough to reach from house to shed (or rent a portable electric generator); chalk to make a snap line; a long (4' is best) carpenter's level; an "L"-shaped metal framing or roofing square; a small try square; a four-pound hammer; and a line-powered or 10- or 12-volt portable power-driver.
For roofing with asphalt roll-roofing: a heavy straightedge (a steel fence stake is best); a utility knife; a disposable trowel; a hacksaw to trim anchors; and tin snips for aluminum drip molding.
Editor's Note: Because of the extensive time and energy that goes into building this shed — and because you're probably painfully sunburned by now—we've decided to print the directions for installing doors and windows in our next issue. So enjoy a little R&R, and get ready to tackle stage two, the final stage, next month.
Summer's getting long in the tooth; rain is scarce and leaves are beginning to show color. The family vacation is over (if not paid for) ,the garden is tending itself, the fish have quit biting and pro football hasn't yet kicked off. Weekends drag, it's time to find something to get you out of the house. What better project than building a shed to store your gear?
In just such circumstances some years back, I responded to a magazine ad for a plan set that promised a pretty shed "anyone could build." But the plan proved to be nothing but a single sheet of paper with a crude drawing, a materials list written in shorthand, and instructions that began "Anchor sole plate..." What's a sole plate? Don't ask me, the plan didn't say.
A Storage Shed is Always Useful
As luck would have it, our little country town took up recycling that year and I got to carry boards for a carpenter as he built us an open-fronted recycling shed. I still have a mind's-eye picture of him with his deliberate but steady pace, measuring twice, cutting once and then setting nails with a whack. Thus instructed, I built a scaled-down version of the recycling shed, closed in the front, and made a woodplank door and sliding window. You can use this shed to store garden tools or wood, to garage your lawn tractor and attachments, to house a few goats, sheep or chickens, or for a combination of uses. (Just be sure to put a dust-proof partition between the laying hens and your work or storage area.)The shed is a few inches short of 16' long, 8' high and deep. It's designed for mistake-proof construction, using economical, standard-size materials. But it is made to last, with ground-facing floor beams of pressure-treated (PT) lumber to resist decay and insect damage, and a frame more closely spaced than you'll find in many new homes. The siding is T-1-11 plywood, which is weather-proofed and grooved on one side to simulate barn boards.
With careful shopping, all new materials should cost less than $600 (at 1993 prices). Finish it to match your house with prehung doors, windows, and clapboards or shingles, and the cost can more than double. But if you shop wisely, use recycled lumber, and build your own doors and windows, the cost can be less than what you spend for seed and soil conditioners each year.
You'll find these directions detailed enough to complete the shed, even if you barely know a hammer from a saw. Construction entails a lot of "tacking" (temporary fastening with fasteners sunk part way) to eliminate errors. I've even included tips on compensating for the type of amateur-builder mistakes I've made myself.
Planning the Shed
Locate the shed where it'll be most accessible for use. Mine is midway between house and garden and convenient to the driveway, as we use it to store a canoe and bicycles as well as the tiller and wheelbarrow. A small shed needn't be built from the brand new, kiln-dried, defect-free materials that building codes require for dwellings. Boards need only be strong, sound and uniform. (Don't build any one component—a wall, roof or floor—of mixed sizes and species.) Look at several lumberyards, building-supply recyclers, sawmills and even nearby demolition dumps (which may contain remains of torn-down buildings). All lumberyards have cut-price sales, and recyclers have surplus as well as used materials at a fraction of the price for new. Look in the Yellow Pages under "Building Materials—Used" and "Lumber—Retail." Look around, local mills may not have a phone. Whatever the source, reject boards with major knots or cracks. Look down the long side of each edge and discard any with serious warps or twists.Prehung exterior doors and windows are quickest to install but are expensive. Freestanding glazed sashes don't cost much and can be fixed in place or hinged from any edge. You can hang any freestanding, solid-wood door in a box of 1" boards attached flat to wall framing, but avoid the hollow doors used in new-home interiors. Their thin skins can be pierced by a good bump from a loaded garden cart and they aren't weatherproof. Cheaper is to build and hang a plank door. Then rig an old window sash or scrap plywood-shutter to slide in wood channels fastened to the outside of the wall.
Measure Lumber and Complete Plan
Go to your lumber supplier and measure the materials you plan to use (a "nominal" 2 x 4 x 8 stud is 8' long but actually only 1 1/2" thick and 3 1/2" wide). Before you buy a board, draw up a detailed "actual" measure plan, using a scale ruler or square-ruled graph paper.The following are simplified terms, materials and orientation for framing members. Rot-resistant PT 2 x 6s are used for the floor-framing members. The sill rests atop the foundation to hold floor beams or joists, placed 24" apart. The walls and roof are framed with 2 x 4s. They're laid flat around the edge of the floor to make up the sole plate or sleeper. The sleeper supports vertical 2 x 4 wall studs, which are placed 12" apart, extending up to the plate at top. This plate supports the 12"-spaced 2 x 4 roof beams, or rafters. Two by-fours are doubled at the end rafters in order to make corner supporting beams, and also around windows and doors.
Flat boards can sag and buckle, so framing members are placed with their stronger, narrow dimension facing the sheathing they support. Floors, roof and wall sheathing are standard 4' x 8' sheets of exterior-glued plywood or oriented-strand particleboard.
Modifications
You'll note that dimensions supplied are a bit short of the standard 8' lumber and plywood lengths that are specified in conventional shed plans. This means you must trim most frame members and sheet goods, which takes a little time. But, it also gives you room to compensate for mistakes and produces a shed with a pleasing roof overhang.On paper, experiment with door and window locations. The shed is long and narrow, with a single door in one end wall and a double door on the front at the other end. This will give the most long-wall storage area. Put a big window beside the front door. Or you might want doors on the front and windows on the sides. Note: Detailed instructions for hanging the doors and windows of this shed will appear in the upcoming issue, No. 140.Design your shed's frame around the placement and "rough cutouts" for doors and windows. Openings should be a bit larger (all around) than the box frame of prehung units or the margins of freestanding, prebuilt windows or doors, plus twice the thickness of door-frame boards. The opening for a single door should be at least 33" wide to admit the tiller. Double doors can open 60" or so for the lawn tractor or to let you come and go with arm loads of tomato stakes. Live with the shed on paper for an imaginary season; you may even make scale cutouts of your wheeled equipment to make sure it will fit.
Properly anchored in a mortared-block foundation, your shed will be a permanent structure. So, take your plan to the regional building inspector and local zoning boards to find out restrictions of size, appearance, materials and structural design. Also find out if your shed must be a certain distance from shared property lines and public ways. Follow the rules or you may be forced to tear your work down. Now, pick up your materials and get to work. Take your time and enjoy. Every hour or so, relax with a cool drink and quit for the day before you get too tired.
Foundation
This shed will be a work of art you can be proud of. Don't ask for a lopsided eyesore in a few years by plunking it directly on sod, on a pair of 4 x 4 timbers, or on concrete blocks sunk a few inches into the ground. If you've got money to spare, have a contractor install a poured concrete floor with footings around the perimeter; attach the frame to the anchor bolts he'll put in. Or use cylindrical Sonotubes to form poured concrete piers with molded-in anchor bolts. Easiest for an amateur is to build foundation piers of concrete blocks.Clear and mow a level piece of ground at least 25' long and 12' deep and lay out stakes and crisscrossed string to locate the foundation. Along what will be the shed's back line, sink a pair of flatboard stakes 20' apart, with their wide sides facing one another. Run taut cord between them, tying foot-long loops at both ends so the cord can be adjusted and removed. Measuring carefully, set stakes to hold another line 7'4" in front of and parallel to the back line.
To lay out the side lines, sink a stake 2' to the rear and 2' in from one of the back stakes. Run line from it and across both front/back lines to another stake out in front. Use the framing square to make it perpendicular to the lines in place. Put in the other end line 15 1/2' from the first. Where lines cross will be the approximate outside corners of the foundation. Place four concrete blocks inside the string rectangle with the long dimensions matching the long dimension of the building, outer corners at the "+" in the line. Place two more blocks at the midpoint of front and back lines. Mark holes 12" larger all around than the blocks. Then mark with ink where they cross, unloop them from one stake and coil out of the way.
The footing of a large building must extend below frost (at least 6' deep in the north). In most soils, a shed won't have meaningful frost-heaving problems if you sink the footing through topsoil and several inches into the subsoil.
Remove blocks and dig out sod and dark topsoil (add it to your compost). Remove lighter-colored subsoil to a depth that's an even multiple of a concrete block's 8" thickness: 16", 24", or 32" below surface of the highest ground under your foundation. Pour in 6" of gravel. Tamp well with a 2 x 4. Mark on tamper, measure against a length of string, and add or remove gravel as necessary to get all hole bottoms on a level plane (deeper up-slope).
Replace layout string. Use the line level to adjust strings on stakes so all are level and touching where they cross. Now square the layout lines. (Don't skip this step, and do rely on the plywood floor to square the building; you want foundation and floor perfectly square to one another.) Double-check that opposing lines are an even 15 1/2' and 7'4" apart all along. With a helper or more stakes, mark 3-4-5 triangles at each corner to assure that all are 90° right angles; that is, mark 6' from the "+" on a side line, and 8' on the adjoining front/back line. When the diagonal between them is precisely 10', the corner is a right angle. You can also use a long cord to assure the diagonal distance between crossed lines (between right rear and left front and vice versa) is equal. Move loops slightly on stakes or relocate stakes to get the corners at precise 90° angle and diagonals to measure the same—only then will your layout describe a perfect rectangle. Sink stakes plumb (vertical to the ground in both front-to-back and side-to-side dimensions) at the outside angle of the "+" that marks each corner.
Note: These directions will give you a shed that sits at ground level. The PT-lumber floor frame will resist rot and repel bugs even in moist weather. However, if you live in termite country or a damp climate, you may want to raise the shed for more airflow and better access. For a 12" crawl space, make the hole 4" deeper or shallower and add a tier or two of blocks to the foundation piers.
Setting Blocks
For each hole, combine half buckets of dry concrete mix with water (follow directions on sack). Dump a half bucket of mixture onto tamped gravel in each hole, spread it out, and then set blocks in mix. Use a carpenters' level to assure that the outer edges are lined up inside the string boundaries. Use a length of wood to make sure all of the block tops are on the same plane below the string. Check to see that each block is plumb and level. Combine dry mortar mix and water. Use a trowel to put mix 1/2" around edges and on the webs between open cells. Set in more blocks till all piers are above ground. Again, use the carpenter's level to make sure all sides of each block are lined up with string above and blocks below and that they are all plumb and level. Lay the top course with a thick bead of mortar, move level-string down to the lowest block, and do a final check to make sure blocks are level. Then remove the string and stakes. Let mortar set overnight and fill area around outside of blocks with tamped gravel or subsoil.To keep moisture from moving from blocks to wood, center a 12" x 20" rectangle of roll-roofing atop blocks. Slit corners and bend 2" of roofing down over outer edges. To admit anchors, cut "X"s over cell holes of blocks. Note: Roll-roofing is 36' long, and you'll need two 16' lengths—totaling 32' out of each 36' roll—to cover the roof without seams. So, cut no more than a yard of roofing off the end of any one roll.
The Floor
Now position the sill (a rectangle of doubled PT 2 x 6s placed on edge atop the foundation). Nail it to prepunched anglesteel anchors held inside cells of concrete blocks with cement mix. Then, using metal hangers, fasten the floor joists between front and back sills and attach the flooring atop the joists. (Do not substitute 2 x 4s for the 2 x 6s.)Select two pairs of PT 2 x 6s, and lay pairs flat and butted end-to-end atop front and back foundation blocks. Join pairs where ends meet over the middle foundation-piers; use hole-punched, metal trussplates and 8d galvanized, common nails. Trim ends so they extend beyond blocks by 1/4" (skirt board will overlap sill, leaving room for roofing bent down over blocks). Set sill boards on edge, so that ends and outer edges extend 1/4" beyond the side margins of front and rear foundation. Trim two 2 x 6s so that they fit between ends of the back/front sills. Place them so they will jut 1/4" over edge of foundation.
Center-join two more pairs of 2 x 6s and trim them to fit snugly between end boards, inside and flat against the outer front and back sills. Don't nail yet, but trim two 2 x 6s to fit between the inner end boards. Trim seven more 2 x 6s to the same length to serve as floor joists. Turn the inner back and front sill boards to lay flat and place them side by side atop piers so you can mark joist and stud locations on both at once. Find and mark the precise center. From center and out to each side, mark a line every 12" with pencil and try square. The final marks will be less than a foot from the ends.
Make a nailing template by tamping one joist hanger snugly to a length of scrap 2 x 6, out-flaring flanges of hanger even with the board's end. With hanger "U" at bottom of the 2 x 6, align midpoint of the narrow top edge of the board with the center and every other 12"-spaced mark to each side. Mark nail locations through holes in hanger flanges. Over nail-hole marks, tack hangers in place (so you can pull nails and adjust joist locations later if need be) by setting 8d galvanized common nails halfway into sill. Lay outer sill boards flat atop foundation piers. Center inner boards flat atop them. Fasten inner to outer sill boards using two 8d galvanized common nails, one above the other, between joist hangers. Now, fit sill together squarely atop foundation; fasten ends with 12d nails.
If you have a 12-horsepower or smaller lawn tractor, nail on wood or metal X-braces every 2' between 2 x 6s under its parking spot. If tractor is larger, add 2 x 6s so they are spaced every 12 inches.
Anchors
Put two spikes through holes at bottom of prepunched angle-steel anchors. Poke down into corner blocks and fasten anchors to inside corner of sill with 8d nails. Mix a half bucket of leftover concrete or mortar per corner, and fill block cell containing foot of anchor with clean rock or rubble wedged in and spot-cemented. With a hacksaw, trim anchors so they're even with top of sill. Tap joists into hangers (ends butted tight to side of sill) till upper edge is even with top of sill. Fasten hanger to joists with 8d nails through holes in hanger brackets. (But, for now, leave joist hangers tacked only to sills.)Use your try square to transfer "on-center" marks inside the sills to out-facing faces of front and back sills to use later in locating studs. Lay 2 1/2" plywood or 5/8" particleboard sheets with seam in the middle of the frame, front edges even with front sill, rear edges jutting beyond sill. Place the two remaining sheets. These should join to the middle sheets over midpoint of underlying joists (sides will jut beyond sill). Adjust joists and hangers if necessary so all seams are centered over a joist. Then lift flooring, one edge of one sheet at a time, and sink tacked on joist-hanger nails in sill. Don't forget this step, just flooring-over loose joist hangers.
Apply chalk to a 20' length of cord. Tighten and snap cord to make chalk lines where floor extends beyond sills. Trim flush to sills, using the circular saw and a fine-toothed plywood blade. Align chalk line with centers marked on outer front/back sills, tighten and snap cord to mark nail lines down middle of flooring.
Set 8d nails every 4" around the perimeter of flooring; alternate them 3/4" and 2 1/2" from the edge. Set nails 5/8" from edge of ply, staggering them from side to side every 3" down joints between sheets. Angle nails slightly in toward underlying joist. Set nails every 6" along chalk lines over joists. Now, your floor is on and anchored. Your back is no doubt aching from stoop labor—take a break.
Wall and Roof Frame
You can assemble front and back walls flat on the floor, using floor nail lines and mid-joist marks made on sill fronts as a stud-layout guide. (Snap chalk lines between marks to make it even easier.)For sleeper (sole plate) at bottom and plate at top, trim two sets of flat, end-joined 2 x 4s to fit front and back perimeter of floor, and connect them with truss plates—just as you made the outer sills. You want a standard 8' sheet of plywood to cover the entire front except for the bottom 4" or so of the sill (where you will attach the 6"-wide PT skirt board). So reduce studs by the combined thickness of sheet flooring, plus the thickness of 2 x 4 sleeper and plate, plus 2" (5 1/2" to 6" total). Trim nineteen 2 x 4 studs by this amount.
Now, lay out the front wall frame. Lay one joined pair of boards (that will be the sleeper) up on the edge along the front of floor. Every 12" (at marks on outside of sill) set studs on edge with one end butted to inside of sleeper. Double studs at both ends. Place another joined 2 x 4 flat to ends of joists at top as the plate. Be sure studs at 4' intervals from center are squarely "on center" of the mark at top and bottom; they'll be nailers for sheathing joints. Tack sleeper and plate to nailers and end studs with two 12d nails through flat board, and halfway into cut end of each stud.
To be sure plywood sheets meet over a nailing stud, lay four plywood or particleboard floor sheets squarely atop frame. Start with the two center sheets over the central stud. Adjust studs as needed. Final-fasten studs to sleeper and plate and remove ply. Next, frame door and window openings according to your plan. (Set prehung doors and windows in place on the floor and box them top and sides, in place and not too snugly, with doubled 2 x 4s laid on edge.)
Nail flat-board braces to front of frame at a diagonal at each lower corner. Then tack four evenly spaced short boards extending 6" above front edge of floor. These will catch the bottom of the wall frame when you raise it. At the middle of the outer face of each endstud, tack two long ground-brace boards. Their long ends should aim toward the back so they'll slide forward on the ground and hold the frame as you raise it.
With a helper(s), raise the frame. Set it squarely to the floor and hold it up by tacking the rear end of ground braces to side sills. Nail sleeper even with front edge of floor, two 12d nails between each stud. Use truss plates to connect end studs to sill.
The Back Wall
For the rear wall, cut 19 studs 1 1/2" shorter than those in the front wall (2' shorter in heavy snow country). Then build and fasten the rear wall frame just as you did the front. Now you must notch rafters to fit flat atop plates. Be sure opposing ends of wall frame are square and plumb. Take a 2 x 4 up on a ladder and set it on edge atop and square to ends of the plates, bottom rear corner extending 2" beyond the back edge of the rear plate. There should be a 3" to 4" overhang in front. With a level, make vertical lines on the rafter off top edges of plates. Leaving rafter on plate, use the level to draw horizontal lines describing wedges (when removed, these wedges will let rafter rest flat on plate). On ends of both rafters, use level to draw vertical cutoff lines, showing the small wedge that must be removed to make each end vertical. Square wall frames at the other end and then see if marked rafter fits. If so, cut out wedges in the master rafter and use it to mark 18 more. If master rafter can't be made to fit the other end by loosening braces and pulling on the frame a little, mark another to fit. Then free-hand a board that's a compromise between the two. Notch two like that; force one wall in and the other out to fit.Notch all rafters, and nail two together for each end. Fasten doubled-end rafters to front/back plates with 8d nails through narrowest part of front and rear notches; fasten with metal truss plates at sides. Top and bottom inside, put 8d nails at a 45° angle into plate. Place other rafters over wall studs and tack to plate with finishing nails sunk vertically and all the way in (so they won't interfere with fastening roof sheeting, but rafters can be removed easily if necessary).
Now, put in sidewall frames. Beginning at center of sidewall sleepers, place vertical 2 x 4s every 12" "on center" with narrow edge facing out and even with edges of sleeper and top plate.
You'll have to cut top ends to match the angle of the roof. To measure in place, center inner tip of 2 x 4s atop the on-center mark on sleeper and hold narrow edge against outside of end rafters (being sure that stud is perfectly plumb and square). Use outside bottom edge of rafter to mark angle of top cut. Saw this angle by adjusting the foot of your circular saw to 12.5°. Make several trial cuts to be sure angle is right.
Tack middle stud till you are sure sheathing joint meets squarely down its middle. But, final-fasten the rest top and bottom with small truss plates or by inserting 8d nails one inch from stud's cut end, and angling at about a 45° angle into sleeper or plate. To prevent splitting, drill a 1/16" pilot hole for each nail.
Siding
By now the leaves need raking, the pennant races are heating up, and you're anxious to finish the shed. Don't cut corners. Most of all, don't throw up wall ply and then teeter on a ladder while trying to trim it in place with a circular saw. The blade can kick back and throw you off the ladder. The studs are sheathed with T-1-11 plywood that can stain and rot prematurely from ground splash, so the bottom of the shed is trimmed with a skirt made from 3/5 x 6" PT decking lumber.First, install sheathing to front wall. Beginning with two sheets meeting in a seam over the middle stud, tack on plywood—narrower ends up and textured side out. It is heavy and unwieldy stuff, but take the time to assure that bottom edges are level, that sides are square and that the splintery little lap joints meet over a stud. It should snug up against rafter bottoms and overlap sill by 2" or so.
On inside of ply, mark overrun at ends, as well as door and window openings. Mark bottom line of ply on face of sill. Remove ply, make cutouts and trim ends. Then, fasten 6"-side aluminum flashing with 3/4"-long, big-topped roofing nails every 6" all around sill (so lower edge extends 1 1/2" below bottom line of siding). Cut slits in lower 2" at corners. At door openings, make two cuts in flashing even with inner edges of jack stud, and bend the thin metal in. Replace ply (over flashing), and final-fasten with 6d nails—first to center of top plate, then every 4" to alternating sides. Nail every 6" to studs in a line under midline of rafters, and finally nail to sleeper. Alternate angled nails every 2" along seams. Nail every 3" around cutouts.
Measure, trim and fasten side and back sheathing so bottom edges are horizontal and even with the front. Keep it square, and with seams over studs. You can mark the angled top cuts of side sheathing against upper edge of end rafters; measure carefully (at least twice) to get the backwall sheathing correct.
Along bottom of sheathing, bend flashing up and out at 90°. Fasten 5/4" x 6 x 8 PT skirt boards to sill with 8d nails. Upper edge of skirt should be under lip of flashing, and lower edge overlaps top of blocks and sandwiches edge of roll-roofing placed atop blocks. Bend exposed edge of sheathing down over skirt to form a drip edge.
Now, add doors and windows. Trim away flashing in door opening if building a flush door. For installing a prehung door, bend flashing in along floor edge and put a bead of caulk on front lip. Push box into rough opening till outer trim boards are tight against wall all around. Tap shim shingles between jack stud and box frame, using level to assure that frame is level and plumb. Carefully release door and adjust shims as needed till door swings freely and closes without binding. (Don't push shims in too far, as you can bow the frame and the door will stick.) Then, fasten box through shims to studs. For added door sill strength, cut a strip of PT skirting and fasten under lip of door sill.
The Roof
Tack lengths of any 1"-thick trim wood to front of rafters, so upper edge of trim boards is even with point of rafters. Take plywood or particleboard to roof, and adjust so that sheets are square to frame, edges are butted close down middle of a rafter, and front and back edges are even. Align lower front edge of roof with face of tacked-on trim, leaving extra roof to hang off back. A few inches will jut out.Working on the ladder, tap rafters off plates, and get one centered under each joint in roof sheeting. Use your try square to make sure that each rafter is square to the plate. Final-fasten rafters to plates with "U"-shaped rafter brackets or universal joining brackets. Remove tacked-on trim from front of rafters.
Then go up on the roof. At joints, fasten roof sheeting to rafters every 2", alternating between sheets so two nails don't go in side by side (in other words, nails are set every 4" along the edge of any one sheet of plywood or particleboard).
Now, attach 1 x 6 trim to ends of the rafters in the front. Best is to nail on 1 x 6 x 16s, trimming one end. Or, nail on two 1 x 6 x 8s, being sure ends meet in the middle over a rafter end (fasten 2 x 4 nailing cleats to each side of rafter, long grain edge facing out). Nail 6" trim to ends (and back as well if trim will be open to view); place so top of trim snugs up under roof ply. Later, for a more finished look, you can cut strips of scrap ply and fasten to underside of rafters at front and back. This will keep out nest-building phoebes (and bats and wasps if really tight); cut holes at the peak of side walls, and install screened aluminum vents over the holes to let out summer heat.
Roofing
Trim roof ply along sides and rear. Snap chalked-cord cut lines so the cut will be straight and even with trim (or sheathing). With roofing nails, fasten L-shaped aluminum drip molding along front, back and sides. Nail right through soft, thin metal. Trim ends with tin snips.Roof with asphalt shingles or (at three times the price) wood shakes. For cheapest and easiest roofing, buy two-yard-wide, 36'-long "one-square" rolls of light-weight, mineral-covered asphalt roll-roofing. Do not use mere tar paper or roofing felt that will wrinkle as it absorbs rain water or tear and blow off in the first high wind). Get roofing in a dark color in the north, light in the south. If not using metal drip molding, edge front and back with butted wood shim-shingles extending 1/4" beyond edge of ply front and back. Lay a 6"-wide strip of scrap roofing alongside edges.
Take rolls to roof and orient so they'll unroll along long dimension of shed. Push one end exactly 2' beyond one side edge of roof. Unroll, keeping edge square to long edge of ply, and let sun-warm, if needed, to lie flat. Then, 23" from other edge of the roof, cut square with utility knife against a heavy straightedge.
From two rolls, you'll get four 16'-long, yard-wide strips, so you can overlap each strip by more than 1/3" of its width—a good practice on a low-slope roof. Install from lower eave to upper, with uncoated border at top and overlapping strips running across the wide dimension of the roof. Lay so that 1/2" of roofing extends beyond drip edge all around. Overlap strips so lower 23" is exposed "to weather." Turn the upper strip around so factory-cut coated edge is at top, extending 1/2" beyond edge of drip molding. Trim to 23" wide.
Cement and nail following directions for your particular roofing (that you'll find printed on the brown paper cover). Roof ply is thin and nails would punch through and twinkle on the shed ceiling. So, fasten upper margin of roofing (to be double covered) along rafters. Use a chalk line if need be to mark rafter locations. With trowel or caulking gun apply roofing cement along all edges and in narrow up-down strips every 2' along nail lines.
Finishing Touches
Trim corners with 1 x 4 boards cut to fit tightly between top trim and skirt board, using 6d galvanized finishing nails. Attach to side and then to front, so that front trim covers edge of side trim boards. Build a ramp to get the tiller or tractor in. For each 6" of rise, cut a yard of long wedges made from scrap PT 2 x 6s (or set diminishing lengths atop one another in a stair-step pattern, angling the forward end of each). Arrange wedges 1' apart atop a level tamped-gravel base in front of the door and nail on scrap plywood. Fasten ends of wedges to sill with L brackets. Raw wood and plywood will discolor. Use a one-coat exterior sealer or stain in a shade that appeals to you.Tools Needed
For measuring: a 16' steel tape-measureFor foundation work: one shovel or posthole digger; a ball of nonstretching hard cotton mason's cord; five 1 1/2' wood stakes; a line level; a hand or electric drill with a 1/16" wood-drilling bit; a large adjustable wrench; a soil-tamper (2 x 4 will do); a small cement mixer; a large bucket or sheet of old plywood; a hoe to mix concrete and mortar, water to mix it with, and a trowel to spread it.
For carpentry: a sturdy stepladder; a pair of 4'-wide, 30"-high sawhorses (make them from metal or plastic brackets and some old 2 x 4s); four straight 8' 2 x 4s and a sheet of 1/2" exterior-glued plywood to rest atop them to make a worktable; an electric circular saw with rough-cut plus good quality crosscut and plywood blades; an electric drill and 1/16" bit for drilling pilot holes plus a heavy-duty three-wire extension cord long enough to reach from house to shed (or rent a portable electric generator); chalk to make a snap line; a long (4' is best) carpenter's level; an "L"-shaped metal framing or roofing square; a small try square; a four-pound hammer; and a line-powered or 10- or 12-volt portable power-driver.
For roofing with asphalt roll-roofing: a heavy straightedge (a steel fence stake is best); a utility knife; a disposable trowel; a hacksaw to trim anchors; and tin snips for aluminum drip molding.
Editor's Note: Because of the extensive time and energy that goes into building this shed — and because you're probably painfully sunburned by now—we've decided to print the directions for installing doors and windows in our next issue. So enjoy a little R&R, and get ready to tackle stage two, the final stage, next month.
Make a Chicken Brooder Out of a Cardboard Box
Recently, people’s attitudes and ideas have changed about how we could be living our lives. Activities that might have seemed crazy just a few months before the economy tanked – like raising chickens in the backyard – suddenly seem like perfectly logical choices. It’s one topic that has, for a number of reasons, become a hot item. Anytime there’s renewed interest in something like raising chickens, an inevitable barrage of products arrive, tempting us to spend our money.
Humans and domestic fowl have a shared history that goes back nearly to the dawn of time and spans every continent on Earth. Raising chickens is not a new phenomenon, nor does it need to be difficult. The needs of chickens are relatively few: food, water, shelter and the ability to get up off the ground to roost.
Young chicks, on the other hand, have a slightly different set of requirements. In addition to food and water, they need to have an adequate heat source and to be protected from drafts. Here’s the catch. Baby chicks grow really fast, so you have to make sure your housing solution is large enough to handle them comfortably for the first few weeks. I’m going to show you one way to meet all those needs with a lightweight, low-cost alternative to commercially available rearing systems. It even gives you easy access to the birds and won’t leave you with a bulky brooder to store until your next batch of day-old chicks arrives. I’m talking about building a chicken brooder from cardboard boxes.
Check with a local furniture store, liquor store or supermarket for boxes, or even buy them from a self-storage place, if push comes to shove. Boxes sized 24-by-18-by-18 inches are a standard moving size, will work just fine for six to eight birds and shouldn’t set you back more than $10 or $12. For the purposes of this article, this is the size of box used. I was lucky enough to obtain my boxes for free – I found them in a dumpster.
You should build your brooder sometime before the chicks come home with you; they don’t do well for long in the small shipping boxes in which they arrive.
To make this explanation as clear as possible, I’ll refer to the short sides of the box as 18s and the long sides as 24s.
To get started you’ll want to first fold up the bottom flaps of the box. With the box upside down, fold the two 24-inch flaps first and tape them in place with some strong packaging tape. This way, when you turn the box over and check the inside, you will see the 24s have come together to make a single seam. This will also be taped as a seal and will keep the bedding that will be added later from getting trapped inside the folds of the box. Next, fold the 18-inch flap that touches the box’s factory seam over those 24s you just taped and tape that down as well. This will assure that you have a stronger brooder later on. The other flap can remain loose for now. Repeat this process for one more box until you have two folded boxes that are open at the top, with one flap hanging loose and a single seam on the inside bottom.
After making the cuts, turn the two 18-inch sides of the boxes that can now be opened like barn doors so that they face each other. With the loose 18-inch flaps folded under and the sides opened out, you should be able to line the boxes up together so they fit like two puzzle pieces. Slide the boxes together so the two 18-inch flaps overlap the 24-inch flaps that were taped together on the inside on the first step. At this point, go ahead and thoroughly tape down all the flaps and seams on the inside of the box, making sure not to leave any loose clumps of tape. The chicks will find these, pick at and eat them, I promise.
On the food end, cut off all the top flaps. They will only get in the way of accessing the food and water and, after all, we want the children to be able to reach in and easily get to their chicks, right? On the other side, where the heat lamp will be, trim off all but the two 24-inch flaps; these will hold your heat lamp.
To make a bracket from the leftover flaps to hold the lamp, take one of the 18-inch flaps that has been cut off and mark it in thirds lengthwise. Fold the piece like you would a letter until it’s an 18-inch-long, approximately 3-inch-wide strip; completely tape it along the seam. To hold it on the box, make two angled cuts into the folded (non-seam) side. Make the cuts nearly halfway through the width of the piece with the angles facing in. After making the cuts, slide the two remaining 24-inch flaps into them, and the bracket will sit steadily on top of the brooder. You can now hang your heat lamp from this on one end of the brooder and still have easy access to the food and water on the other. The chicks will lie under the light while they sleep or rest and venture over to the food as needed. You can slide the food and water closer to the light early on and then separate them more as the chicks grow.
Remove the two 18-inch flaps from the top of the box, and one from the bottom. Slide this third box on top of the end of the brooder where the heat lamp was so that it looks like a big “L.” To hold the third box in place when you put it on top, tuck the 18-inch flap inside and the two 24-inchers on the outside. Cut off or tape down the 24-inch flaps from the original brooder (the third box will not require fasteners). The bracket to hold the light can now sit atop the third box, providing plenty of head room below to the growing birds. You can even put a couple of holes on the outsides of the box and slide a dowel through to give them a low roosting bar. You’d be surprised how early they figure out how to roost.
After your chicks have feathered out and are ready to go outdoors to their new coop, you’ll now have to figure out what to do with your brooder. It’s not something that you’ll want to keep; in fact, that’s half the beauty of it, you don’t have to. Since it’s cardboard, you can either compost it or, better yet, rip it into lengths and lay it under a new garden bed. It will help keep weeds down, break down into the soil on its own and all that chicken manure that’s been in it will help a future garden grow.
GRIT Blogger Paul Gardener maintains a large garden and his feathered friends on a quarter-acre lot in suburban Utah.
Humans and domestic fowl have a shared history that goes back nearly to the dawn of time and spans every continent on Earth. Raising chickens is not a new phenomenon, nor does it need to be difficult. The needs of chickens are relatively few: food, water, shelter and the ability to get up off the ground to roost.
Young chicks, on the other hand, have a slightly different set of requirements. In addition to food and water, they need to have an adequate heat source and to be protected from drafts. Here’s the catch. Baby chicks grow really fast, so you have to make sure your housing solution is large enough to handle them comfortably for the first few weeks. I’m going to show you one way to meet all those needs with a lightweight, low-cost alternative to commercially available rearing systems. It even gives you easy access to the birds and won’t leave you with a bulky brooder to store until your next batch of day-old chicks arrives. I’m talking about building a chicken brooder from cardboard boxes.
Recycling at its best
To build your cardboard box chicken brooder, you’ll first need to get some cardboard boxes. Ideally, you should start this project with at least two boxes of the same size. Three is even better. These can be just about any kind of cardboard box; the only really important part is that the boxes should be as near to 24 inches square as possible and 15 to 18 inches deep.Check with a local furniture store, liquor store or supermarket for boxes, or even buy them from a self-storage place, if push comes to shove. Boxes sized 24-by-18-by-18 inches are a standard moving size, will work just fine for six to eight birds and shouldn’t set you back more than $10 or $12. For the purposes of this article, this is the size of box used. I was lucky enough to obtain my boxes for free – I found them in a dumpster.
You should build your brooder sometime before the chicks come home with you; they don’t do well for long in the small shipping boxes in which they arrive.
To make this explanation as clear as possible, I’ll refer to the short sides of the box as 18s and the long sides as 24s.
To get started you’ll want to first fold up the bottom flaps of the box. With the box upside down, fold the two 24-inch flaps first and tape them in place with some strong packaging tape. This way, when you turn the box over and check the inside, you will see the 24s have come together to make a single seam. This will also be taped as a seal and will keep the bedding that will be added later from getting trapped inside the folds of the box. Next, fold the 18-inch flap that touches the box’s factory seam over those 24s you just taped and tape that down as well. This will assure that you have a stronger brooder later on. The other flap can remain loose for now. Repeat this process for one more box until you have two folded boxes that are open at the top, with one flap hanging loose and a single seam on the inside bottom.
Building with boxes
The next part requires close attention. You will need to cut down the side of each box at one corner that meets the loose 18-inch flap. It doesn’t matter which corner you cut, as long as you cut the same corner on both boxes. I find the easiest thing to do is lay the boxes next to each other with the long sides touching and the loose 18-inch flaps hanging out on the same side. This removes any confusion and helps me be sure that I cut down the same corner, either right or left, on both boxes.After making the cuts, turn the two 18-inch sides of the boxes that can now be opened like barn doors so that they face each other. With the loose 18-inch flaps folded under and the sides opened out, you should be able to line the boxes up together so they fit like two puzzle pieces. Slide the boxes together so the two 18-inch flaps overlap the 24-inch flaps that were taped together on the inside on the first step. At this point, go ahead and thoroughly tape down all the flaps and seams on the inside of the box, making sure not to leave any loose clumps of tape. The chicks will find these, pick at and eat them, I promise.
Finishing touches
At this point, you now have the basics of your cardboard box chick brooder. When the brooder is finished, you will have a heat lamp at one end and the food and water at the other.On the food end, cut off all the top flaps. They will only get in the way of accessing the food and water and, after all, we want the children to be able to reach in and easily get to their chicks, right? On the other side, where the heat lamp will be, trim off all but the two 24-inch flaps; these will hold your heat lamp.
To make a bracket from the leftover flaps to hold the lamp, take one of the 18-inch flaps that has been cut off and mark it in thirds lengthwise. Fold the piece like you would a letter until it’s an 18-inch-long, approximately 3-inch-wide strip; completely tape it along the seam. To hold it on the box, make two angled cuts into the folded (non-seam) side. Make the cuts nearly halfway through the width of the piece with the angles facing in. After making the cuts, slide the two remaining 24-inch flaps into them, and the bracket will sit steadily on top of the brooder. You can now hang your heat lamp from this on one end of the brooder and still have easy access to the food and water on the other. The chicks will lie under the light while they sleep or rest and venture over to the food as needed. You can slide the food and water closer to the light early on and then separate them more as the chicks grow.
Growing space for growing chicks
If you decide to start your flock early in the year and you’re in a cold winter climate like mine, you may have them indoors for long enough that they will outgrow the maximum height of the heat lamp. There’s an easy fix to this – one I call the chicken condo. This is where the third box comes into play.Remove the two 18-inch flaps from the top of the box, and one from the bottom. Slide this third box on top of the end of the brooder where the heat lamp was so that it looks like a big “L.” To hold the third box in place when you put it on top, tuck the 18-inch flap inside and the two 24-inchers on the outside. Cut off or tape down the 24-inch flaps from the original brooder (the third box will not require fasteners). The bracket to hold the light can now sit atop the third box, providing plenty of head room below to the growing birds. You can even put a couple of holes on the outsides of the box and slide a dowel through to give them a low roosting bar. You’d be surprised how early they figure out how to roost.
After your chicks have feathered out and are ready to go outdoors to their new coop, you’ll now have to figure out what to do with your brooder. It’s not something that you’ll want to keep; in fact, that’s half the beauty of it, you don’t have to. Since it’s cardboard, you can either compost it or, better yet, rip it into lengths and lay it under a new garden bed. It will help keep weeds down, break down into the soil on its own and all that chicken manure that’s been in it will help a future garden grow.
GRIT Blogger Paul Gardener maintains a large garden and his feathered friends on a quarter-acre lot in suburban Utah.
No comments:
Post a Comment