It is difficult to do without a watchman on your own land. And a dog is perfect for this responsible position. However, before or after purchasing a pet, you need to take care of its place of residence. If you do not want the dog to live with you in the same house, you will need a warm kennel for the dog. It is easy to do it yourself.
What do you need
To make a warm kennel for a dog with your own hands, you will need:
- Styrofoam 50 mm thick;
- timber 10x5 cm, 5x5 cm;
- plywood;
- self-tapping screws;
- screwdriver;
- mounting foam;
- lining or siding;
- metal corners;
- roulette.
Determining the size of the future dog kennel
First of all, you need to decide on the dimensions of the future design. A kennel for a dog should not be too large or too small. In the first case, in cold weather, the dog can freeze in a large room, because the heat from his body alone is not enough. In the second case, the animal will be cramped inside.
For large dogs, the dimensions of the booth can be 140x100x95 cm, for medium - 12x75x80 cm, and for small dogs - 70x55x60 cm. In addition, you should not make a very small or too large entrance.
The stage of determining the parameters of the booth must be given special attention. Although it is not difficult to make a kennel, it is easy to make a mistake in its size.
How to make a warm dog kennel
You need to start work on making a kennel for a dog with your own hands by creating a frame. Prepare the bottom base first. To do this, you need 10x5 cm bars. Using metal corners from lumber and 35 self-tapping screws, make a rectangle. Its width and length must meet the criteria that were determined in the previous step.
Install 5x5 cm bars along the edges of the geometric figure. Their length should be equal to the height of the structure being made. To make a gable roof is quite long and difficult, and a pitched roof is much faster and easier. In the second case, make sure that the 2 vertical bars on one side are several centimeters higher than the opposite ones.
Then connect all the vertical posts with 5x5 cm bars. Use lumber to mark the entrance to the booth. So, the frame is ready.
Now you can move on to the next stage - interior decoration. Plywood the entire interior with plywood. This must be done in order to protect the thermal insulation material from various harmful effects of the animal.
Next, you need to do the thermal insulation of the booth. It is better to use polystyrene as a material, since it is easy to work with it and when using it, there is no need to install waterproofing. Lay thermal insulation everywhere - from the bottom, from the top, to the sides of the structure. Insert the correct size foam into each niche. After that, fill all the cracks with polyurethane foam. Thanks to the actions taken, the kennel for the dog will be able to protect the animal from the cold in winter, and, accordingly, from the heat in summer.
To protect the thermal insulation layer from various natural influences, sheathe the resulting structure with plywood. Only the roof remained uncovered. You can cover it with any kind of roofing material. The required width and length can be determined using a tape measure.
It is advisable to make the roof sheet slightly enlarged from the side of the entrance. This will help protect the inlet from rain. Fasten the material to the structure using self-tapping screws and a screwdriver.
Any object that is located on a land plot must harmoniously fit into the overall picture. The same rule applies to the dog booth.
A structure made of plywood will not look too beautiful on the site. You can sheathe it with a block house, siding, lining or other materials of your choice and discretion. Often, doghouses are sheathed with the same material as the dwelling of the owners of the animal. It looks pretty nice. In addition, decorative exterior trim is able to protect plywood from the negative effects of the external environment.
Now you know how to make a beautiful and warm dog kennel with your own hands.
