Barn setup - Which type of plastic to protect walls?

[Harbisgirl]

I'm new to rabbits and will bet setting up my rabbitry in a section of my bar. I know I'll need to put something up on the walls to protect the wood - is any type of plastic better than another? Clear painters tarp ok? Is there a better quality out there that will hold up to prolonged urine abuse?

 

[Alaska Satin]

I'm new to rabbits and will bet setting up my rabbitry in a section of my bar. I know I'll need to put something up on the walls to protect the wood - is any type of plastic better than another? Clear painters tarp ok? Is there a better quality out there that will hold up to prolonged urine abuse?

It's a little spendy, but we used metal roofing to line the walls of our new barn. We built it in 2021, and so far it's seen a lot of rabbit urine, but there's no degradation of the metal. An unexpected but nice feature is that it really brightens up the barn because it's slightly reflective. And, I don't have to worry about tearing or disturbing it when I'm shoveling out the manure (also, the rabbits can't reach through and pull it into the cage to chew it up!).

Here's what it looked like when it was new:

And here it is after four years:

The urine proteins build up and look unsightly, but actually I just knock it off in flakes with a shovel when I'm cleaning out under the cages. When it's power-washed, it looks almost like new (obviously everything needs power-washing in the photo above! ). Even the bottom edge of the metal, which is submerged in manure for some parts of the year, is holding up so far. So if you can afford it, I'd say it's a lot nicer than having to replace plastic sheeting every year or two.

 

[Harbisgirl]

That's really nice. I am a fan of doing the job well the first time. I can't afford it right now but maybe I can find some used, or start doing a little at a time..

 

[Naelin]

Maybe plastic roofing sheets do similarly well while being cheaper? It's probably a bit less resistant to being hit by a shovel but also less noisy in that situation

 

[Alaska Satin]

It's probably a bit less resistant to being hit by a shovel but also less noisy in that situation

There's no noise at all. The panels are screwed to the wall and don't move a bit. We have winds that shake the insulation (foam boards) out of the roof, but the metal roofing never budges. They don't make any noise when I'm flaking the crusts off, I imagine because they're not free-hanging like a gong.

I'm pretty sure you couldn't do that - flake the crusts off - on plastic panels without them cracking, though they have come a long way with the plastics. In our old place we had clear corrugated plastic panels as walls on the rabbit shed, and they were all splintered at the bottom, in spite of my care. Those were exposed to the sunlight, though, so that may have had something to do with their wear.

When we were building, we found that polycarbonate plastic panels are more expensive than basic metal roofing, but maybe that's just our area.

 

[jaxmarblebuns]

Metal would be ideal as it last longer and is stronger, obviously. I would look at craigslist and marketplace, I often find metal roofing on there, sometimes a bit rusty, but just on the surface.

Plastic can also work, I have a friend that uses plastic in the same manner as above. I think they have had it up for about 3 years and its still in good shape, other then some staining.

looking at home depot, if buying new then its about the same price for metal VS PVC roofing (which is what my friend uses), with the pvc being about $2 cheaper for the same size. Not sure of the size of setup you have but even if buying new you may be able to keep it under $100-$150 which isn't too bad.

 

[Phrick]

I lined most of my walls with heavy duty tarps from harbor freight, silver side out. I screwed 2x4s screwed into the walls on top of the tarps, which keeps the tarps snug, then used screws in the 2x4s to hang the cages. The long wall has coroplast as I’ve shown in other pics bc it makes the waste boards but the other walls are covered with tarp. It rinses fine with the hose and patches easily with duct tape and was CHEAP, I bet I paid under $30 for all the tarps I needed and it was only 18mo ago