# Q: Interior Construction Details



## rfboyer (Jun 18, 2009)

We're making some progress on our loft; have laid a plywood floor (over the original floor of PT wood), but need suggestions for safe and effective materials to seal seams and fill the divots where screws have been countersunk. 

We also need suggestions for floor sealing & finishing; I don't think vinyl or linoleum will work for us, and don't want to leave the wood bare; I don't think I'd ever be satisfied that "stuff" wasn't growing in it.

We have luaun for the interior walls, and we plan to paint them, the box perches (of regular shelf-boardstock), and the uprights of the nest boxes (of furniture-grade plywood; the horizontals will be matte-finished formica finished particle board that we RPA'd, so won't need finishing). What's the best kind of (hopefully scrub-able and possibly scrape-able) paint to use? 
The horizontal shelves of the nest boxes are planned to be able to remove for cleaning when necessary.

I've tried searching this section of the forum for answers to the above, but apparently don't have good keyword-fu today.  
If I've missed other threads or posts on these subjects, please respond with links?


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## The_Dirteeone (Apr 18, 2010)

The thought of plywood with poop on it might sound bad.I found that the plywood is good,because they have to poop somewhere.I started using an expensive marine grade plywood with a super smooth finish.I thought ,easy scraping great!Turned out the sueface wasnt pourouse enough to absorb any moisture,and as a result the floor was very messy,and wet poop stayed wet for along time.I put regulat 3/4 ply and it was much better.You have an option to scrape dried poo or use a creen wire flor.I use a cat litter trough ,placede under my perches,covered with a wire shelving,so the birds cant get into the litter.I catch prob about 65 70 % of the poop in the litter,and the rest I scrape.I think if you use a non pourouse smooth surface,or paint you will be dissapointed,it really is messy.Pigeons equals poop,a lot of it,just keep as clean as possible,and keep it out of the food and it will be just fine.


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

I tried the linoleum thing for about 3 mo. the poo never dried and the smell was awfull. In the end I pulled up the linoleum and the plywood work just great, no wet poo, no smell. It doesn't look the best but I am 100 % happy.
Dave


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## rfboyer (Jun 18, 2009)

At the moment my pigeons live in an old loft building that has a plywood floor, and I think it was once finished with something, but can't tell what, since there's about 60 years' worth of poop-patina on it, though corncob litter was used in it for most of that time and periodically forked out and/or scraped. Between recent inadequate maintenance (the owner became ill several years ago and the birds got minimal service until I started helping out there last year) and roof leaks, spills, etc, that floor is warped enough that it's next to impossible to get clean, even though I scrape it every day (6x12 floor, the aviary windowsill, & 20 nest boxes takes me ~1.5-2 hours, depending on the weather ). The poop is generally pretty dry unless it's pretty fresh, but sticks to that floor like cement.

I don't think the litter under a grid option can work in the space I will have, since it's relatively long and narrow (loft space is 5x10, but nest boxes take the 5' back to 3'8"). If I'd been able to build a different kind of loft (the rest of this building will be used for general storage; the borough only lets us have one), I might have considered a grid floor, since I've recently learned that other folks in this region use them (I'd been under the impression that the climate here made that a poor choice, but apparently it's been successful for some folks).

I don't really care what it looks like, but I'm thinking that unfinished wood will get "washboardy" if it's absorbing moisture etc. from the droppings, and that would be both a cleanup nuisance and, IMO, a health hazard to the birds, and maybe also to me. Anyone who has information otherwise, please bring it on!


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## bcr1 (Jun 9, 2009)

I had luaun on the floor of my loft and it was great. It cleaned up pretty easy and stood up to scraping quite well. Bare wood floor does soak up moisture but if you have good ventilation it is not a problem as it dries up pretty quick as long as poo does not sit on it for too long.


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## rfboyer (Jun 18, 2009)

Guess I should have asked as a separate question, but what should we use to fill the dents where the screws in the floor are countersunk? 

Is common wood filler safe, and will it stay put and not pop out?


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## TN_PIGEON (Aug 20, 2010)

rfboyer said:


> Guess I should have asked as a separate question, but what should we use to fill the dents where the screws in the floor are countersunk?
> 
> Is common wood filler safe, and will it stay put and not pop out?


Might try sawdust+glue. 

I've also heard of folks putting sand on the floor to keep the poop from sticking (also provides grit for the birds).


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## rfboyer (Jun 18, 2009)

*Paint Question*



rfboyer said:


> We have luaun for the interior walls, and we plan to paint them, the box perches (of regular shelf-boardstock), and the uprights of the nest boxes (of furniture-grade plywood; the horizontals will be matte-finished formica finished particle board that we RPA'd, so won't need finishing).
> What's the best kind of (hopefully scrub-able and possibly scrape-able) paint to use?
> The horizontal shelves of the nest boxes are planned to be able to remove for cleaning when necessary.


I'm quoting myself for a bump and hopefully some suggestions... it's time to paint the interior walls & boxes. 

Current plans are using latex paint for quicker curing & easier on our breathing while we work in the space (we have portable heat to help it dry in this frigid weather)... but now my questions are:

Do we need "gloss" paint, or is "semigloss" is scrubbable enough?

Is there any particular primer recommended or required? 
(recalling someone recommended "Killz" for something, but not how it was used; we have used Zinsser's "Bullseye 1-2-3" for other projects)

If we use primer, will we need more than 1 coat of "finish paint?"

Should we paint the ceiling? 
It's 2x4 joists covered with plywood, and is not the roof of the building (it's the underside of a "loft" deck in the other section of the shed).

Sorry if these are tiresome questions; I'm severely "paint-impaired" -- my medium is fiber/fabric.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Well the best paint to use for scraping would be the epoxy paint, which is more expensive, but supposed to be very strong and durable for scraping. I used a latex, exterior semi gloss, for the boxes, and it works fine. Fairly easy to clean. 
I used the Kilz primer, but any good primer would do the same thing. If you have the primer tinted the same color as the paint, which some places will do for you, then you can get away with one coat of paint maybe. But the 2 coats might wear better, especially where you scrape. Give those places 2 coats. Painting the ceiling just depends on what you like the look of.


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