I sat down to type up a new post about an hour ago. Just as I began, I heard the rain begin with gusto. Sigh… Guess what I did? I put on my trust old coat (technically it is my husband’s but I have commandeered it as it has a really long waist and covers my back side. If there is one thing I cannot stand now that I am older is drafts), muckers, hat and went out in it. You see, we have just built a chicken house on our little place and each time it has rained the inside has been wet. This is not good. Chickens can endure some harsh conditions, but they need to be able to get dry, especially while they sleep. Once you have small livestock, you will never again enjoy the sounds of a rain storm without a care in your head.
After each storm, I have made modifications that I thought would fix it- to no avail. So, the only way to know is to go out when it is raining and sit and watch. Well, the problem is where the nails have attached the tin to the lathes on the roof. The roof is leaking like a sieve. Strange, considering that we used the correct sort of nail with a little rubber washer attached to prevent just this sort of thing. Regardless, this problem must be addressed. When the weather is dry and warmish- God only knows when that will be- we can calk the nail holes but for today I had to improvise. There were a few pieces very thin plywood in the scrap pile so I took these and wedged them on the ceiling. This will at least cause the water to run to one spot instead of all over the coop. The girls really haven’t seemed to mind so much they are eating and scratching about out in the rain.
We really don’t need any more water right now. It rained last week, then that froze while ice coated everything except the roads in my neck of the woods. It has been so cold that the ice stuck around for days and when it did melt it was like another rain storm. Frankly, I hate this weather. I am a Texas girl and we like the heat. There was a time not so long ago that I thought 45′ was cold. This morning when I saw 45′ on the thermometer, I thought “Great, it is warm enough for a run before the rain comes.” Well, it didn’t take long to remember that this is still on the cool side. But, the cold air in my lungs and just being outside did me a world of good. I didn’t beat the rain, however, a light shower came while I was running. Oh well, that is what hoodies are for. I am hoping the weather men have it together as they are predicting sunshine and 60’s next week. Hooray!
I may not like the ice, but it did make for some pretty landscapes.
Jonathan and the Duck are the only ones happy with this weather. Jonathan enjoys breaking the ice out of water bowls- what a handy fellow to have around!
Holly K. Ross 
Great story Holly. I’m glad the chicks will be snug and dry.
Thank you!
Hi Holly,
There are 2 things that could be causing your leak.
1) The slope of the roof really needs to be at 3:12 or better for this type of metal roofing to work properly.
2) The roofing fasteners, even with the neoprene washers need to be installed thru the top of the hump on the corrugated metal. Lots of folks install them in the valley because it is much easier, but they aren’t made to work that way.
Unfortunately neither of these things are easy to correct, and if you use caulk to seal them the galvanizing on the roofing material will cause oxidation to occur and it won’t stick for very long. Be sure to use the black roofing caulk available at most hardware stores.
Bob from Texas