Hi everyone,
Finally after a year of housing my pigeons in the barn and many problems with commencing the 'loft' project, they can now both warmly invite you all to their new house warming party!!
Some of you may remember my previous thread regarding the delivery of my aviary and the problems associated with finding a suitable location to site this on. If not...here is the thread: http://pigeonchat.forumakers.com/loft-designs-discussions-f26/aviary-still-not-arrived-t411.htm#top
I didn't receive this aviary till the middle of November!! I also discovered shortly afterwards that the firm that supplied it went into liquidation towards the end of last year. Non-delivery of goods and false promises, I discovered, was a frequent problem that left many customers angry and disappointed. I also found out that the aviary panels for the aviary I ordered were not the ones I had received. I was grateful however that I had at least received my goods as many others were left without goods ordered and paid for.
Earlier this year, the proposed site was kindly cleared by the husband of one of Jude's colleagues. There was an old derelict animal shelter of sorts that needed to be demolished and this was quickly brought to the ground with the help of a cute little digger.
The next step was to prepare the ground for siting the aviary. This was more difficult than I thought and as much as I thought it was beginning to level out, it still didn't look as though it was ever going to be finished. I had also been kindly given some old hexagonal concrete slabs to use for the foundation. Not my intended shape of slabs to use, but I was grateful for them anyway as I had none of my own. Unfortunately there were not enough of them for the job intended so I had to rethink some of my plans. The weather was also very uncooperative for the next couple of months, amongst other things, so work grinded to a halt.
Thinking I could use the hexagonal slabs to use underneath the 'house' part of the aviary for support since this came with a floor, I purchased other slabs to put in the unfloored aviary section. Even with buying the cheapest slabs I could find for the job, this still worked out to be quite expensive. Imagine how horrified I was when I discovered that they were not the same depth as the hexagonal slabs!
This would mean I would have to raise this part of the ground slightly to have a uniform base to build on. Since I had already spent a considerable amount of time trying to level out the ground, I decided in the end to use the hexagonal slabs round the perimeter of the proposed structure in addition to keeping the floored part covered. I only just had enough slabs to go around..phew!!
After laying the base, I then had a few problems with erecting the aviary despite help from my dad. Just when I was beginning to think that the summer would be over by the time this thing was up, a good friend surprised me by kindly arranging for a local joinery firm to to the job. They finally got Jax & Paddy's new home up on June 3rd!
I spent the whole of my vacation that week trying to get it just right for the birds. I could write another post on that alone!!! 
A week after the birds were introduced to their new loft, I still have to make a new nest box and re-varnish the floor and 'lounging shelves' if they are to survive constant cleaning of poops!
There are so many pics to show you so I will have to make two posts. Next post of the new aviary to follow very shortly.....just my luck that the picture hosting site isn't working just now...
Finally after a year of housing my pigeons in the barn and many problems with commencing the 'loft' project, they can now both warmly invite you all to their new house warming party!!
Some of you may remember my previous thread regarding the delivery of my aviary and the problems associated with finding a suitable location to site this on. If not...here is the thread: http://pigeonchat.forumakers.com/loft-designs-discussions-f26/aviary-still-not-arrived-t411.htm#top
I didn't receive this aviary till the middle of November!! I also discovered shortly afterwards that the firm that supplied it went into liquidation towards the end of last year. Non-delivery of goods and false promises, I discovered, was a frequent problem that left many customers angry and disappointed. I also found out that the aviary panels for the aviary I ordered were not the ones I had received. I was grateful however that I had at least received my goods as many others were left without goods ordered and paid for.
Earlier this year, the proposed site was kindly cleared by the husband of one of Jude's colleagues. There was an old derelict animal shelter of sorts that needed to be demolished and this was quickly brought to the ground with the help of a cute little digger.
The next step was to prepare the ground for siting the aviary. This was more difficult than I thought and as much as I thought it was beginning to level out, it still didn't look as though it was ever going to be finished. I had also been kindly given some old hexagonal concrete slabs to use for the foundation. Not my intended shape of slabs to use, but I was grateful for them anyway as I had none of my own. Unfortunately there were not enough of them for the job intended so I had to rethink some of my plans. The weather was also very uncooperative for the next couple of months, amongst other things, so work grinded to a halt.
Thinking I could use the hexagonal slabs to use underneath the 'house' part of the aviary for support since this came with a floor, I purchased other slabs to put in the unfloored aviary section. Even with buying the cheapest slabs I could find for the job, this still worked out to be quite expensive. Imagine how horrified I was when I discovered that they were not the same depth as the hexagonal slabs!
This would mean I would have to raise this part of the ground slightly to have a uniform base to build on. Since I had already spent a considerable amount of time trying to level out the ground, I decided in the end to use the hexagonal slabs round the perimeter of the proposed structure in addition to keeping the floored part covered. I only just had enough slabs to go around..phew!!After laying the base, I then had a few problems with erecting the aviary despite help from my dad. Just when I was beginning to think that the summer would be over by the time this thing was up, a good friend surprised me by kindly arranging for a local joinery firm to to the job. They finally got Jax & Paddy's new home up on June 3rd!
I spent the whole of my vacation that week trying to get it just right for the birds. I could write another post on that alone!!! A week after the birds were introduced to their new loft, I still have to make a new nest box and re-varnish the floor and 'lounging shelves' if they are to survive constant cleaning of poops!There are so many pics to show you so I will have to make two posts. Next post of the new aviary to follow very shortly.....just my luck that the picture hosting site isn't working just now...
Last edited by Jax&Paddy on Thu Jun 18, 2009 4:25 pm; edited 4 times in total (Reason for editing : Trying to get pics to show..again)
Now you can put your feet up and watch your two pijjies enjoy their new digs. 
How do Jax & Paddy like their now home?
I might have to spend another few hours uploading them to another hosting site. 
I've got too much to do just now, but will try this later.
I had 
Lindi, I'm so glad your loft is up at last and that you have succeeded in overcoming so many problems to get it finished. It is a beautiful loft. Thanks for the photos. 
Gladys
