For Love of Linoleum

 

by Jennifer Sartell

We recently gave our chicken coop a flooring renovation. Our coop floor is constructed of 3/4" plywood. When we originally built the coop I gave it a good two or three coatings of shellac, hoping that would protect the wood floor and act as somewhat of a barrier against moisture and rot. I must say, it worked fairly well to begin with, but with the uneven texture of the plywood, and the repetitive scraping of shovels and brooms each week as we cleaned the soiled pine chips, eventually the shiny coating wore away and the porous wood surface slowly emerged.

Every time I cleaned the coop, I always felt that the job was half done. I would sweep the floor clean of droppings and bedding, but there were always stains and bits of dirt that wouldn't come off. I tried mopping the wood once; what a mistake that was! It took forever for the floor to dry. I tried spraying problem areas with cleaning products made for pet areas. I looked for wood sealers, natural antimicrobial barriers, super-absorbent products like corn cob pellets or extra fine wood chips, and while some of these products helped, they never really gave me the "clean" I was looking for.

We were at Home Depot one day looking for flooring for our own home when I spied rolls of pre-cut linoleum. I thought, this would work perfect!

Our coop was unfortunately larger than the pre-cut rolls, and because we wanted a seam-free floor we had our linoleum cut standard to fit our needs.

Once we got the roll home, it was very easy to install.

First we caulked the screw heads and all the seams where the 4 x 8 sheets of plywood met. Once that dried ...

... we laid the linoleum down in the coop, trimmed the edges close to where we needed them (erring on the side of "too large"). We pulled back one half and spread the adhesive using a toothed trowel. Then we laid that half of the linoleum down, smoothing the bubbles as we went. Then we pulled up the other half, spread more adhesive, making sure it blended with the first layer, and laid the second half down, smoothing as we went. Once the flooring was down, we trimmed the edges using a utility blade.

The smooth, water-resistant floor makes cleanup fast, easy and thorough. There's also less chance of mites and lice burrowing into the slick linoleum, so we have happier, healthier chickens. Check out our video to see how easy it is to clean!

Want to make videos like the one above? Enter the Purina 60 Day See The Difference Challenge for your chance to win a Flip Video Camera like the one used to make this video. Visit Iron Oak Farm for additional entry information.