Do It Yourself by LowchensAustralia.com

Doghouse Construction Guide

Introduction | Planning | Materials & Tools | Construction Phases | FAQ

Materials & Tools

Materials

Materials needed for the project can be directly assessed from the plan you drew. Buy more materials than you absolutely need because, you are destined to at some point, make a brain numbing miscalc. If you live forty miles from a building supply place or only have that pickup truck for one afternoon, be smart and overbuy on materials. You will use the stuff eventually for something anyway.

In general the materials I used are outlined specifically in the text of the picture captions but are listed here generallly as:

1. treated lumber 2x4 or 2x6
2. plywood
   
3. 2x2 lumber
4. 2x4 lumber
5. shingles or other roof material
6. assorted trim boards
7. "L" brackets, nails, and screws
8. paint, caulk and roof cement
9. bricks or cap blocks

Cost of Materials

My employer generously donated the plywood, which probably would have set me back forty to fifty bucks (there's my raise). I also had the paint and a few nails and what-not. Otherwise the cost of materials was about seventy dollars. Most of this came from a large building materials superstore in the metro Atlanta area. Your actual cost may vary because your actual dog may vary. Don't let my cost factors scare you off this project, I have two, big dogs.

Tools

Tools I used were:

1. tape measure
2. saws (circular and jig)
3. hammers (claw and finishing)
4. crowbar
5. level
6. 30-60-90 metal triangle
7. caulk gun
8. screwdrivers ( a powerdriver is great), but a big old flathead driver comes in handy, so have one available as well as at least one philips head hand driver.
9. paint brush or roller, paint trays, etc.

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