chalk paint

cornstarch + food coloring + water

odds and ends hen house

Just a show-and-tell, not a tutorial, since your scrap pile will differ from mine significantly. With the exception of hinges, hardware, and shingles from Bring and some chicken wire from the farm store, all materials were on-hand including leftover cedar siding and fence board scraps, sections of 2x4 and 2x2, chunks of 4x4 posts, and old bifold closet doors.

(This is a chicken house, yes, but our outside cat sleeps safely in there at night, protecting her from cars and fights.)

Enjoy!

The scrap pile was pulled out onto the lawn for planning the hen house.

Some pieces were cut to length for support structures.

With slats removed, bifold door braces make side supports.

The basic structure, made of 2x4 scrap, bifold door lumber, and 2x2 pieces.

The door, made of leftover cedar siding and 1x3 boards.

The first side gets covered in siding.

The "run", framed in, was ready to be covered with chicken wire.

The hen house was covered in cedar siding, then had the roof peak added.

Legs are made from 4x4 chunks leftover from a fencing project.

Inside, floor boards are made of scrap lumber, and a vent on the back wall is made of hardware cloth tucked between layers of siding. The space left in the floor is the entry/exit to the run.

Side view of the hen house attached to the run.

Hardware cloth is attached to the roof peaks for ventilation and a view.

Shutter slats are nailed in place to hide edges and cover the sharp ends of wire on the outside.

Roof decking is made of lengths of cedar fence boards.

Tar paper covers the roof decking. We've had this tar paper leftover from roofing and siding  projects on the shed and studio.

Asphalt shingles are pretty easy to come by at Bring in small quantities. I found just enough to cover the roof.

I used a partial tube of roofing tar to secure the shingles in addition to roofing nails. We had the tar leftover from installing a skylight in the shed earlier this summer.

The door handle and piano hinge came from Bring as well. The other hinges were removed from an old standing screen that had its lumber incorporated into this project.

A small shelf holds a cat food can up off the ground. The edge is made of shutter slats.

Finished! The chicken wire run is continued to the area underneath the hen house, allowing for extra space to move, and is held to the ground with tent stakes.

The door is latched with a hook & eye on each side. The run is attached to the hen house with hook & eye fasteners as well, which allows for easy cleaning.

Complete! One hen house made mostly of stuff we had on hand. This was an interesting challenge because the scrap pile had to be used creatively to make a solid and attractive structure. In the end, it lives up to expectations. I think any time I build from scrap I end up especially happy with the results, but this hen house is one of my favorites.

Thanks for following along as I innovated!

Linking up to:
My Repurposed Life

backyard sink!

I've been thinking for awhile that it might be nice to have a spot to wash hands and clean sandy toys and shoes in the backyard, aside from the hose. After pinning a few backyard sinks on Pinterest, I brainstormed what I might build as a sink support structure. We have a scrap pile, of course, that I regularly dip into for building projects. I considered building a counter top on legs (with a bucket underneath to capture what drains out of the sink). I considered attaching a shelf to the house with a sink imbedded. And then I thought about how already full of stuff our yard is, and where I'd put whatever contraption I came up with.

It made sense, really, to use something we already had back there, and this hardwood outdoor bar was a logical choice. We've had it for about seven years now; we use it occasionally for backyard barbecues, but not much else. I talked it over with the Mr., deciding finally that adding a sink wouldn't ruin the bar's usefulness, but add to it.

After measuring the bar to determine sink size, the next step was to scavenge for a sink. Bring Recycling was my first stop; they have dozens of sinks over there, and the kiddo and I considered several hefty porcelain-coated cast iron antiques before finally choosing a simple stainless steel bowl sink for its light weight. We picked a faucet, too, then headed over to the hardware store for various connectors, a length of hose, and some plumber's putty.

It had been suggested to simply cap off one of the brass water supply hoses to avoid the added plumbing work required for two; it was a suggestion that made sense, since we wouldn't be running hot water to the backyard anyway.

Capping it off is pretty easy. We found the right size threaded cap at the hardware store, put a little plumber's putty on the threaded brass water supply line, then screwed the cap on. Easy peasy.

The hose coupler is equally simple. It has two female ends, one that fits over the other brass water supply, and the other, larger end to fit over the hose. We eventually used plumber's putty on this area as well.

I cleaned the wood with a scrub brush, water, and some spray cleaner, then I used the sink turned upside down to trace the hole we'd have to cut.

To support the lip of the sink bowl, I traced a second line about 3/4 inch inside the first. This was our cut line.

I wasn't too worried about perfection; as long as the lip of the sink bowl covers the hole and is well-supported, I'm happy.

I'm not too fond of the reciprocating saw as there's a bit too much motor movement to use a blade that big with a kid running around in the yard with me. I waited until the weekend and the Mr. ended up cutting it out for me. And it looked awesome, set in place, like it was meant for this bar.

After testing for fit, I popped the sink back out and stained the top, since the weather had really worn down the previous finish. Then I put the sink back in place so we could get the faucet lined up right.

The yellow paper is one of the paper templates that I made up for each of three faucets to test for fit, and to help drill the holes in the right places. The original faucet I'd picked out had been too wide at the base, and the faucet was a little on the short side (sad trombone).

We tried out a couple more, finally settling on a faucet that fits pretty well. It doesn't have the two-handles I'd prefer, but the base is a tiny bit narrower and the faucet is a bit longer, so it works out pretty well.

This is what it looks like underneath. The hose lead connects to a y-splitter at the house (so we can still use another hose to water the garden). The black drain pipe drains into a bucket for the time being, to be used for watering plants, etc. The Mr. has some big ideas about adding more plumbing under there and a run-off hose, but I'm happy with this set up for now.

I caulked around the sink and faucet, and also some of the crevices along the surface. It's clear caulk, but it hasn't fully cured yet. I'll try to get an update shot in here once it's fully cured, but in the meantime, here it is, all finished and useful.

 

Thanks for reading!

Linking up to:
My Repurposed Life 
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