Hi all
I’m building some dog crates for the house out of wood.
I plan top and bottom of 3/4″ plywood, side of 1/4″ plywood with Oak framing.
All glued and screwed together.
I also plan to put FRP (fiberglass reinforced plastic) on the sides and bottom.
Will contact cement the plastic to the plyood before assembly.
The footprint will be 3X4 ft to get the best use of the plywood.
Windows and door will use aluminum angle and rod.
I have big German Shephards and need to keep some separated from the others.
Has anyone built anything like these?
Any suggestions before I start?
Thanks all
Jeff
Replies
Maybe run electrical cable to the doghouse for a small heater?
These will be inside, not out.
Besides, can't spoil the dogs too much.
Jeff
Jeff,
I get concerned about the weight and the cost. I'd suggest making up panels of 2xmaterial and 1/4" or 1/2" ply either fitted in a grove in the 2x or rabbit into the 2x. Then you could join the panels with bevel and spline, tongue and grove, etc. While there is a bit more work in the setup...making a bunch of these would be fairly easy...
BG
I was thinking somewhat along this line.
Now we're talking.
I hadn't planned to move these around once their set in the house, but I was worried about the weight.
Cost wasn't a problem, as I keep alot of material on hand and was planning to use what I have handy. Only needed to buy the material for the windows.
I've seen some nice window gates made from aluminum angle and rod.
Any other thoughts.
Jeff
If it's indoors, why use fiberglass at all? Or for that matter a door? Unless the door is purely aesthetic.
Jeff,
Not a whole lot of other thoughts.....except, if you want it to look down right nice...I've used straight grain fir (porch material) and 1/4 lauan (sp?) ...has a terriffic warm look...
I don't know what your options are for doors...I can only think of something inexpensive like stiff rabbit fensing(1/2" square openings)....maybe sandwiched between two pieces of 1/4" ply ...also let into the door frame....therefore no metal fastners to scratch...or wood to chew... Fancy would be metal rods (1/16" diameter) or something like the material from a supermarket basket....( as you can tell, I got no class...lol)
Edited 2/11/2004 10:20:41 AM ET by BG
I would use dog-wood.
Make sure you take the bark off!!
In all seriousness now, using as much sheet stock as you are, along with spindles(?), it seems you will have to put some effort into joining the carcass together. Normally a plywood cabinet frame is dadoed which affords good strength. In this case because you are not joining plywood to plywood, you will have to come up with some method to gain joint strength. You might consider adding some blocking along the perimiter of the plywood into which you can install/attach the spindles/slats.
MLB
Actually, I was thinking of building it alot like a packing crate, with sheet goods, but with better joints, all glued and screwed together.
Not a typical door frame and panel.
Also, hope the glued on laminate will help it even more.
Suspect this will have a bit of weight to it.
Jeff
Jeff
Why not just make a 2X frame for the sides and back, and use fencing material (rabbit fence, maybe) to make the sides and top? that would achieve the purpose of a crate without the weight, and you could see inside.
S
Stan
The crates will be in the living room of our house.
My wife wants this to look decent.
Jeff
Jeff,
Instead of using standard plywood and taking the trouble to attach FRP, why not just use Medium Density Overlay (MDO) plywood? It paints and stands up to moisture quite well.
When I an indoor doghouse for "the boys" several years ago, I hinged the top at the rear and made the front so I could slip it in and out of dados in the sides (with the top lifted), which made it very easy to clean and repaint; this proved very handy years later when our female Springer whelped a litter of puppies in the box.
BTW, our dogs have always been fond of looking out of windows. I inset the top in a groove in the sides, creating a raised lip, perhaps 2 or 3 inches high, in which we placed a carpet remnant. This way, the fur-persons could lie on the top and look out of the window, or go inside down below: doubled their pleasure and saved the window stools from claw marks.
Good luck,
Paul
Paul
What did you use for a door?
Jeff
Jeff,
We sized our unit around a crate door we already owned (made of welded steel rod). It functioned normally when in place, and could be easily removed when desired. I scavenged it from an old plastic travel crate. The ability to operate the door latch from the inside came in handy when little ones (human puppies, i.e., children)started exploring the doggie domicile.
If you build the box bottom with a shallow recess, it will elevate the door so it won't catch on your living room carpet when the door is opened; it will also help hold bedding in place and act as a dam if there's any kind of unfortunate mishap involving liquids.
BTW, sand and seal all wood surfaces thoroughly so they can't snag pet hairs. The sealing is important not only because it makes cleaning and maintenance easier, but because it helps limit formaldedyde outgassing, which can be problematic for a critter in an enclosed box built from today's manmade products.
Woof!Paul
Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right.
Paul
I may take a spare wire crate and use it (cut off pieces) for parts like windows.
I'll probably make the door with a wood frame and piano hinges.
I guess I'll be planning this for another week or 2, we just picked up a new 9 week old pup today.
House breaking will be on the agenda for the next week or so.
Will probably build in the panal system like we talked about.
Oh well, nice to take a break from real work for a good reason.
I know about the finishing problem, just been pondering what finish to use.
Thanks for the thoughts.
Jeff
Don't know what kind of pup we going to have here but I would be real concerned about puppy chewing - both from a damage aspect and from what the puppy's getting from the finish. We built a very nice doghouse for a previous pet (Molly and Sadie have never slept outside so they wouldn't know what to do with a doghouse!) and by the third day she had chewed both sides of the opening to the doghouse. We had some left over aluminum siding so we covered both sides with this until the chewing urges passed - truthfully, I'm sure she did it out of boredom waiting on us to come home from work! With a crate/door situation the temptation won't be as great, but puppies can manage to get their mouths and teeth around the dangdest things!
Robin, Molly and Sadie "Gee mom, the whole house is a doghouse - why would you build that little thing?""Well-behaved women rarely make history." from the Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love
TN
Hi, I know what you mean.
You should see what a dog did to one of my folding crates.
I raise and train German Shephards (all working dogs) who usually will learn to see the crate as home.
When I couldn't find one of my females years ago, she turned out to be sound asleep in her Varikennel in the bedroom.
She'll still go in there, even tho the crate is now home to a different pup.
Jeff
"I know about the finishing problem, just been pondering what finish to use."
Jeff,
Shellac may not be the most durable, but once it's cured it's perfectly safe for teething puppies - they coat pills and M&Ms with shellac.
PaulWhether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right.
Paul
Shellac was my first thought also.
Considering what these guys will put in there mouth and chew on (and eat), I tend to find them somewhat indetructable from normal items.
I try to keep them away from anything dangerous.
Since they must learn so much during their training, a little freedom to chew different things (as long as it won't hurt them) is allowed.
Tho I must admit, I have wondered sometimes about one of them, considering what she used to get into. She's now 7, without getting sick.
Jeff
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