The Poultry Keeper

richard · Joined: 14 Oct 2005 Posts: 258 Location: somerset

if you go to Focus diy you can buy extra strong clear plastic sheets. They are about 14ft by 10ft and are used as a tarp. etc. They also sell membranes for foundation work which are dark blue & about the same size. Also very strong. They can be stapled to the frame of your run using a builders stapler which can also be bought in a diy shop for about £5. If you put a small piece of thicker plastic on each point where you are going to staple before the staple goes through, it makes the joint stronger & the sheet will not rip in strong wind. I used the strong plastic tape that large cardboard boxes are tied with. It's impossible to tear this stuff but it can be cut with scissors. If I knew how to attach a photo to this message I would. How do you do that?

summayah · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 4289 Location: luton

pm Stephen and ask him for some gallery space. Then you can upload your pictures to there and then to the forums

By the way how do you fix the clear plastic sheets ~ can you drill through them and then screw through them?

richard · Joined: 14 Oct 2005 Posts: 258 Location: somerset

Do you mean the corrugated plastic? I have covered part of my run with this but It's really expensive which is why I went for the plastic tarpaulin when I extended the run. You can drill the corrugated stuff but you have to buy the plastic fixings to stop the screws damaging the roofing. These roofing sheets only seem to be available at builders merchants & are about £15 for a 5ft x 3ft sheet. The big clear tarps are only about £7. I just put bricks on top of the solid roofing so I could get in the run easily & it's never come off. I'm better with DIY than computers!

summayah · Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 4289 Location: luton

Sorry I got it wrong. When I read your first message I thought there were sheets 14 x 10 of clear plastic (hard stuff) I didn't read further properly to see that they were like tarpaulin. I tried using heavy duy polythene once, just to cover part of the run for a broody & her chicks, but although it had a drop of 18" over 12' it always sagged with the rain. I just couldn't get it tight enough without it starting rip. Then I read a post of mojo's where he said to put a pole in the centre so the rain ran off all the time, I'd never thought of that.