i have been offered a heap of bricks for free so i thought that i could used them for the base of my aviary and put a wood frame around the outside so they stay together but i do not want lots of cracks for the seed to fall through so what would be a good material for a board to put on top of them.

You could just put a wash of cement & bricklayers sand over the top to seal the cracks, it still may crack again, but the cracks would be so thin then that they shouldn’t bother you & certainly cheaper than full cement floor.

I agree with Norm. Put the bricks down, put wood around them to keep them grouped together, then throw a bag or two of cement over the top of them. it will be easier to clean, it will mean nothing can chew through it to get into the aviary, and it will prevent moisture rising up through it. I think maesie was doing something like that on here once, there is a thread. See if you can find it, that is what she did.

I agree with Norm. Put the bricks down, put wood around them to keep them grouped together, then throw a bag or two of cement over the top of them. it will be easier to clean, it will mean nothing can chew through it to get into the aviary, and it will prevent moisture rising up through it. I think maesie was doing something like that on here once, there is a thread. See if you can find it, that is what she did.

 

 

thanks dave, i found maesie's thread and read what she did and sounds like a good idea.

Is someone talking about ME? :hap:

 

Yeah Deb and Dave. That's what I did, and with Dave's excellent advice and guidance, it worked a treat. My issues were with seed and poo going down the cracks and the time it took to clean it all and ants and mice getting it through them also. Since concreteing over it, I have had no mice and no sign of ants at all!!!!!!!! And it's sooooooo easy to clean! Unfortunatly I'm about to start renting so will need a temporary idea for a floor, so back to the drawing board, but the concrete has been the best flooring idea so far. I wish I had done it sooner. Good luck and if I was closer I'd offer to help you :hap:

Is someone talking about ME? :hap:

 

Yeah Deb and Dave. That's what I did, and with Dave's excellent advice and guidance, it worked a treat. My issues were with seed and poo going down the cracks and the time it took to clean it all and ants and mice getting it through them also. Since concreteing over it, I have had no mice and no sign of ants at all!!!!!!!! And it's sooooooo easy to clean! Unfortunatly I'm about to start renting so will need a temporary idea for a floor, so back to the drawing board, but the concrete has been the best flooring idea so far. I wish I had done it sooner. Good luck and if I was closer I'd offer to help you

 

 

hey maesie, i have already offered a holiday in nsw maybe i should make it a working holiday for you. :hap:

Is someone talking about ME?

 

Yeah Deb and Dave. That's what I did, and with Dave's excellent advice and guidance, it worked a treat. My issues were with seed and poo going down the cracks and the time it took to clean it all and ants and mice getting it through them also. Since concreteing over it, I have had no mice and no sign of ants at all!!!!!!!! And it's sooooooo easy to clean! Unfortunatly I'm about to start renting so will need a temporary idea for a floor, so back to the drawing board, but the concrete has been the best flooring idea so far. I wish I had done it sooner. Good luck and if I was closer I'd offer to help you

 

 

hey maesie, i have already offered a holiday in nsw maybe i should make it a working holiday for you. :hap:

 

 

:hap: ... with my pay being an all expenses paid holiday?!?! I like it...

I am in the process of building a new aviary. For the base we had a huge amount of slabs from where we will be putting the new pergola and brick paving. Was going to lay a concrete slab for it when we got one for the garage but it was a tad cheaper like this!!

As the aviary base is going to be 10m by 2m we layed a base of yellow brickies sand before laying the slabs, after the slabs were down we proceeded to use bags of cement and fine gravel/dust mix (like cracker dust) swept into gaps between slabs and gaps between fence (corrugated) and edge of slabs. Hosed in and left for a few weeks I'd like to see any mouse or ant get through it.

I'll get some pics of a couple of stages and post shortly- frames are made waiting on delivery of wire which didnt arrive this week

Sounds like you have had some great ideas so far Deb. I have a paved base and it works fine for me. I use a fresh layer of sand each week and cleaning is a breeze

 

Maesie. Blue board could be a good temporary base. It is basically a concrete sheet, it's cheep and you can cut it to size etc

there are some great ideas here i can work with. thanks for everyone suggestions. now i have to get my husband to make time to go and collect the bricks for me so i can start working on my new aviary.

I am puttig up a new avairy I was working on all weekend. I used pavers which cost me $200 for 6.5 square meters. I leveled out the area and laid some mouse and snake mesh down before pouring the sand and laying the pavers. I am using the sand to fill in the cracks and if I still have mouse problems then I will concreted the cracks. This weeked the avairy goes up. Cant wait.