The shelter in the larger section of the triangle pen was in need of repair. I pulled it away from the wall of the pen to remove the roof and was surprised to discover that the two sections of roof were in completely different conditions. Both halves of the roof were made from 1/4” plywood, painted on both sides. One half was so delaminated that I could peel off the layers and roll up the whole stack to remove it from the pen. The other half was slightly bowed and had a bit of cracking and peeling in a small area. Such a contrast! I’m not upset, though, because the shelter has probably been outdoors for 15 years with no protection but the paint.
The triangular plywood sides are in fine shape, as are the rails that connect the two sides together, even though they have been sitting on the ground. Originally, there was one board supporting the roof by connecting across the top and back rails. That board broke under the weight of the snow, last winter. In my scrap pile, I found some suitable replacement boards and screwed them in. There are now three support boards.
As an experiment, I purchased a piece of 1/8” tempered hardboard as a roofing material. It has been covered on both sides with exterior stain and water sealant. Hardboard is less than half the cost of 1/4” plywood and it will be relatively dry for most of the year. So, there is a chance it will be cheaper in the long run. We’ll see.
Last winter, the roof over our back porch collapsed when snow slid off the house roof. I recovered a decent amount of very old corrugated fiberglass roofing panels. These were stored for possible future use and their time has come. I used my angle grinder (one of my favorite tools) with a cutoff disc to cut out the usable sections of the panels. These sections will now be used as shingles for the shelter roof.
A few rows of lath were all it took to hold the shingles onto the shelter roof. I used roofing screws with gaskets to minimize the potential for leakage. Since I did not want to spend money on the wiggly wood strips that usually go under the corrugated roofing, I screwed through the valleys rather than through the peaks.
It was an ordeal accomplishing all this while unable to stand up and with only 18” of work space between the roof and the screen wall of the pens. My eldest offspring assisted by passing me screws and shingles and holding things until they were fastened. I was glad when it was finished and am looking forward to the looks of appreciation from the chicks after they move in.
Since all I had to buy was the hardboard and screws, the shelter roof only cost about $25. If it lasts a few years, it will be worth the money
It reads as though you have saved just the right things from other projects through the years.
I just bet that offspring is learning things you didn’t intend to be teaching, too – plan your work and work your plan.