Roof Slant and Overhang Question - Pics now on 2nd page!!!

[Rose66]

We are going to start building our coop really soon.

But I have a few questions. First, on a a slanted roof coop, is there a "standard or recommended" amount of slope from front to back for the roof based on the size of the building? We live in central/eastern Alabama so snow/ice is not an issue. It will be a 12x12 coop and at first I was thinking 8' in the front and 6' in the back but then that seems way too slanted. In my mind that would look funny. Would going 8' in the front to 7' in the back be okay or would 7' in the front and 6' in the back be okay?

One other question: How do I know how much overhang should be built onto the roof on all four sides in order to keep a lot of the rain from blowing into the coop?

Thanks!
Rose

 

[CrazyCatLady76]

Way too slanted? A 1:6 slope isn't very slanted at all for a roof. My current plan is for a drop of 2 feet over a 5 foot wide coop.

If you're not sure how it will look, do what I did and make a paper mock-up. I took graph paper and drew out my walls, with a scale of 2 squares=1 foot, and taped them up to make a box. Roof looks fine to me.

 

[julie75]

Hubby said 6 inches should be enough of a slant, no more than a foot. As far as over hang hubby asked was it an open coop or closed?? Ours is closed with no over hang on the sides but we have about 2-3 foot on the back side (where the people door is) because I have a storage shelf on the outside wall that I want to keep covered. Hope this helps.

 

[countrychix]

Our coop is 12x10 and slopes along the 10' width. It slopes from 8' in the front to 6' in the back. It works just fine for us in SWNY with all our snow but if I were to do it again I would have an even greater pitch, just because I think I would have like the look a bit better with all our other out buildings as the pitch is much steeper on our barn, garage and old corn crib- now shed. If you think you will ever be hanging a light in there then go with an 8' height as you will be walking into it! Sorry can't help you on your overhang question but you might want to consider having it wide enough on the sunny side to shade any windows you might be placing there. Temps in our coop get into the mid-90s in the summer even with a fan.

 

[Judy]

Just keep in mind that down here keeping them cool enough is much more of a challenge than our so-called cold. Mine have been going in for the shade, holding their wings out and panting to cool down already; I always feel sorry for them in the summer, run a box fan all summer and the coop is VERY breezy with wire mesh instead of solid walls in large areas that make it like a wind tunnel in there. Shade and breeze are a necessity, not a comfort for them.

1' drop is probably enough if your roof is solidly built enough that it won't sag anywhere, though it's not a lot to ensure good runoff.

 

[Capvin]

My coop and run is 8 feet x 16 feet. I have the front 7 feet and the rear 6 feet. I find that to be very sufficient and looks good. I have 12 inch overhangs in front and back.

 

[RiddleMe]

A lot of it also depends on the type of roofing material you want to use. If you're using shingles, I think your 8' front/6' back would just meet the minimum recommended slope. But a metal roof could go on less slope.

 

[spotstealer]

Mine is 6'X4'. It pitches from 4' down to 30". I have a 12" overhang all the way around making the roof 8'X6'. Be sure to support the overhang, no matter how big/ small to prevent warpage. I went with a larger overhang for several reasons including matching up with the run, plenty over windows for shade and protection. It turned out pretty decent.

 

[Toothless Willie]

Howdy,

As a structural wood engineer my opinion is the more slope the better. However in my mind, given your southern location your primary concern is ventilation. The greater volume of space within the roof envelope the greater the convection of hot air upwards and the more vents that can be employed to remove heat and humidity.

Riddleme is also correct. A shingle roof is not recomended on a slope of less than 3" of rise for every 12" of run. Metal roofing requires minimal fall to be effective.

In regards to overhang, that partially depends on a number of things. Is the coop under trees or out in the sun? Is it exposed on a hill or down in the valley? Are there un-shuttered openings which will allow the rain to blow in? LOL. More questions than answers. Our coop which is in the last stages of construction has only 6" in the back but is heavily shaded and protected by a 6' privacy fence. The front has 18" and is much more exposed. The ends also have 18" overhangs.

Here is the link to the thread showing early pictures of our coop; https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=482279&p=1
As you can see the roof is almost as massive as the coop itself. Later in the thread I explain part of the purpose for all this roof. Also, the pitch matches that of the roof on our house.

Luck!

 

[patandchickens]

What they said. Since in the South you are better off with a flattish roof, I would suggest just not even PLANNING on using shingles, plan on using metal roofing panels or opaque polycarbonate (not pvc -- yes, polycarbonate is more expensive) roofing panels so that you can have a slope of 1:12 or thereabouts, and you'll be good.

For roof overhang, I would suggest looking at it not so much as how much should I build as how much CAN I build (without making the thing tend to sag or blow off). The more roof overhang the better, up to the point of structural failure or requiring excessively complicated construction

You should be able to manage a 12" overhang all round with no problem; up to 24" is not unreasonable but you would want to start thinking about how exposed the coop will be to very strong winds. If it is in a pretty non-sheltered exposed location (to t'storm gusts or hurricane winds) then I would err on the side of less rather than more overhang.

Some rain *will* blow into the coop, but in your climate that is ok; if you are in a fairly exposed site you may find that you cannot have large enough wall openings for ventilation without letting in an unacceptable amount of storm rains but in that case you can make something to shelter the opening, such as a solid 'porch roof' over the opening or a shadecloth lean-to (shadecloth will let a bit of rain thru but not that much and mostly just as fine spray, as opposed to drenching rain coming in). It really depends on your coop location whether these extra measures are necessary; also on how much you MIND if some rain blows in. You have the advantage of it being a fairly substantial-sized coop so if half of it gets wet then Oh Well in the summer and it should always have enough room for the chickens to stay out of the way of incoming wind/rain, as opposed to if it were a 4x6 coop or something like that

Good luck, have fun,

Pat