Building a Dog House - My Experience
"Jack!!!" I cringed as I heard my wife shouting at the dog and wondered what he had messed up now.
Big dogs might make great pets but with the best will in the world, they take up a lot of space and tend to wreck stuff without really trying.
Perhaps my wife was right and it really was time to build that dog house.
I had a load of plans for building various things out of wood that had been gathering dust for a while, so I bit the bullet and had a go.
I had visions of an expensive mess that would collapse in the first storm, but to my surprise the plans seemed pretty straightforward and even gave me a list of material that I would need to get it done.
This saved me a fair bit when at the lumber yard because I knew exactly what i needed.
Once I had got all the material I needed (only one trip to the store fortunately, thanks to the plans), I did have a bit of a panic moment.
I had visions of trying to put together flat-packed furniture at Christmas.
A quick look at the design calmed me down and actually by the end of my weekend it had all come together nicely.
I had a pretty good tool-rack already and sawing and screwing the boards together was a breeze once I got going.
So what sort of material are you looking at? It is worth remembering that you are building a doghouse rather than something that you will be living in yourself.
Although a solid oak version might be nice, it is also pricey! I had a chat to the man at the lumber yard and took a lot of wood that had been returned.
It has actually a mix of various bits and pieces, but given that I would be painting it after, it wasn't so important.
Painting with at least 2 good coats, preferably three is wise.
I don't know about your dog, but mine loves scratching and this will go through one coat pretty quickly and let the weather get to the wood.
It also hides a mix of different grains and cuts of timber.
By Sunday evening, even my wife was smiling.
The dog took a bit more convincing but he is a sucker for a bit of bribery with steak! This project was one of the first things I turned my hand to a few years ago now, and getting this one under my belt set me up for all sorts of DIY projects later on.
Big dogs might make great pets but with the best will in the world, they take up a lot of space and tend to wreck stuff without really trying.
Perhaps my wife was right and it really was time to build that dog house.
I had a load of plans for building various things out of wood that had been gathering dust for a while, so I bit the bullet and had a go.
I had visions of an expensive mess that would collapse in the first storm, but to my surprise the plans seemed pretty straightforward and even gave me a list of material that I would need to get it done.
This saved me a fair bit when at the lumber yard because I knew exactly what i needed.
Once I had got all the material I needed (only one trip to the store fortunately, thanks to the plans), I did have a bit of a panic moment.
I had visions of trying to put together flat-packed furniture at Christmas.
A quick look at the design calmed me down and actually by the end of my weekend it had all come together nicely.
I had a pretty good tool-rack already and sawing and screwing the boards together was a breeze once I got going.
So what sort of material are you looking at? It is worth remembering that you are building a doghouse rather than something that you will be living in yourself.
Although a solid oak version might be nice, it is also pricey! I had a chat to the man at the lumber yard and took a lot of wood that had been returned.
It has actually a mix of various bits and pieces, but given that I would be painting it after, it wasn't so important.
Painting with at least 2 good coats, preferably three is wise.
I don't know about your dog, but mine loves scratching and this will go through one coat pretty quickly and let the weather get to the wood.
It also hides a mix of different grains and cuts of timber.
By Sunday evening, even my wife was smiling.
The dog took a bit more convincing but he is a sucker for a bit of bribery with steak! This project was one of the first things I turned my hand to a few years ago now, and getting this one under my belt set me up for all sorts of DIY projects later on.
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