Weatherproofing our nesting box hinge! - Hangin' with the Hagens

When designing my chicken coop and run I wanted to make sure that not only would my chickens have a well ventilated, dry, clean, and comfortable place to call home (resulting in more eggs for me!) but I also wanted it to be a beautiful addition to my backyard and help my daily maintenance and routines to be as fast and easy as possible because let’s face it…I have a very full plate. For these reasons I decided that I wanted to be able to collect eggs each morning without having to enter the run and open the man door into the coop. I decided that a hinged roof on top of my nest box protrusion would be the best way to do this and so this design was brought to life.

However, I decided that the hinge would be an area where water and air could find entrance into my nesting box area…and that might cause problems for me down the road so I decided to take actions to weatherproof it.

Here’s what we used for this project:

Materials

Some sort of flexible, durable waterproofing material (We used vinyl with PVC threads added for strength because that is what we had laying around, but you could use rubber or some other material.)
Trim material used on the rest of the coop (1’x3.5’x16″ doug fir rough cut on one side smooth on the other)
Finish nails
1 1/4 inch screws
Caulk
Staples

Tools

Skillsaw (If you have tablesaw that would be best for angled cuts but we gotta work with what we have.)
Square-I use one like this one…Irwin Tools Combination Square, Metal-Body, 12″, 1794469 as well as one like this one… DEWALT DWHT46031 Aluminum 7-inch Premium Rafter Square
Measuring Tape-MILWAUKEE 5 m/ 16 ft Compact T this tape is stiff enough to make measuring alone easier but it also rolls in quickly by itself.
Pencil
Hammer- Preferably a finish hammer meaning the head is smooth so it wont leave patterns in your trim or nails. VAUGHAN & BUSHNELL CO 1650 16oz Finish hammer
Drill with appropriately sized bit to predrill holes for screws
Impact driver with appropriate bit for securing screws
Stapler

First thing we did was take off our hinge and lid and measure, being sure to add in the thickness of the side pieces of trim.

We decided that in order to prevent any gaps between the nesting box area and the lid we would cut the trim at the same angle (in our case 45 degrees.) Then to ensure that our vinyl would lay the direction that we wanted it to smoothly we cut the top edge at the same 45 degree angle which you can see in the picture below. Then cut it to length and attached with screws (pre-drilled) as pictured above.

Next you will want to cut your side pieces of trim which will need to be cut at a 45 degree angle on top to ensure no gaps and then flat on the bottom. You can choose to miter your corners but I like the look and simplicity of square cuts. Be sure to measure only to the bottom of the nesting box so that you will be able to attach your bottom trim properly.

Because these side and bottom pieces of trim will not be holding our hinge they can be secured using your finish nails.

Once all of your trim is secure, it’s time to reattach your lid and hinge to the top piece of trim so that the top edge of your hinge is flush with the edge of your 45 degree cut as shown below. Because you’re using fairly thin wood I would suggest pre-drilling holes for your hinge screws as well to prevent splitting, always be sure that the bit you use to pre-drill is big enough to prevent splitting but small enough that your screws will hold.

Be sure to test the hinge to make sure it is opening properly and not hitting anywhere it shouldn’t.

Next you will cut your waterproofing material to the proper length and width to provide protection from weather and proper drainage of water. Be sure to cut it shorter than the trim but longer than your lid/roof. Staple it onto the 45 degree edge of trim as follows.

You can caulk the back edge of your top piece of trim before nailing it on or you can secure it in place first and then caulk the top crack between the coop and trim to add extra waterproofing.

Secure your top piece of trim.