I had asked in a recent Furbutts and Featherbutts diary if there was any interest in me writing a diary about building the dog house I made for our Chocolate Lab, Ally. There was so here we go.
So first off, here are my plans. Yes I know, they are highly technical and some may not have the expertise needed to translate them and build their own house so let me guide you through the process.
You can click through to view a larger version here.
I was going for a Craftsman theme mountain lodge look. While it is true that we have great weather year round here in San Diego I live inland and it does get hot durning the summer and cold during the winter. Ally is an outdoor dog so I wanted a house she'd be comfortable in year round.
I started by building the base. I didn't think to start taking pictures until I had the base built and had started on walls etc... The base is made of 2' x 4's and I cut a rabbit in the top of the frame so that I could set the plywood floor into the frame as apposed to on top of the frame (think picture frame). Under the base I installed heavy castors so that the house could be moved around. The portion of the floor that is directly under the actual house is also insulated. I used solid core insulation throughout the project.
In this picture the wall panels are just sitting there. If you look closely you'll see the insulation in the rear panel. The wall panels are made up of two 3/8" sheets of plywood sandwiching hard core insulation. In that rear panel I haven't added the interior panel yet.
The logs are just common garden posts you can buy at Lowes.
When I inset the plywood floor I made sure to leave enough space to include some stick-on tiles that look like rock. This is my son Nathan (he was 5 in this pic), had him sit there so people could get a feel for size.
This next shot shows the first roof panel on. Again it too is insulated. The panel that is going into the opening you see here will be hinged so I can get to the bedding and clean it out. I used a standard dog door I bought at HomeDepot.
Here the other roof panel is on and I've wrapped the house in roofing paper. I wanted to wrap it with Tyvek for a vapor barrier but had to remind myself that this was in fact a dog house, roofing paper is a heck of a lot cheaper. LOL
For siding I went with inexpensive redwood bender board.
I ripped the posts in half, except on the very end, to keep the log craftsman look going. They don't have any function other than aesthetics.
I next built a couple of 1" x 2" frames to hold the metal roof. In this picture the roof sticks out too far, I wasn't happy with that and later trimmed it back. You can also see that I have trimmed out the door and corners.
The roof has been trimmed back and rest of the redwood trim has been added. I've also got the ridge cap installed. It's ready for roof and trim paint.
Painted
A look inside.
Rear. I have a thermostat installed to let me know the temp inside. I tried to go with wireless unit but it didn't work, ended up having to use a wired sensor and just mounting the display unit under the eves on the back.
The ridge cap is on hinges, so to open the roof up you first have to open the ridge cap, it swings over to the left. Then you can lift up the right side of the roof. I just use a wood dowel to hold it up while cleaning. I did originally think of using hydraulic lifts like the ones on the hatch of a car, but then again reminded myself this was just a dog house and that I had already gone way over board (just a bit).
So there you have it. After it was finished it was moved off the patio and out into the yard. I don't have any pictures since the move. The wheels are sitting on some concrete blocks so as to not sink into the ground.
There are more pictures in my PhotoBucket album. Feel free to check them out here. I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have, fire away.