In the doghouse...

[John Loftis]

Our local woodworking club (North Texas Woodworkers) was contacted by a large company here that wants to do a 1-day charity event (9AM-5PM) building 50 doghouses for local shelters. They've asked us to help them come up with a design, and then have our members lead/coach/teach various teams as they build/paint the houses.

I've been in the doghouse any number of times. Just ask my wife. But I've never made one.

My thought is to have skilled people cut all the parts, then allow the corporate teams to nail/screw/glue/paint.

Would appreciate your thoughts.

1) Is that fabrication strategy a good one?
2) Anyone got a good, easily reproducible design for a doghouse? It probably needs to be Saturday-morning-Home-Depot-craft-project simple. These people are software engineers.
3) What materials should be used? The company is paying for all materials, and they make the processors for your computer, so cost shouldn't be an issue.

Thanks much!

[Jerome Stanek]

I'm in the dog house right now and don't even know why

[Art Mann]

Based on my experience with Habitat for Humanity, the rate of progress you will achieve is inversely proportional to the number of inexperienced volunteers you will have. You will have to work with them anyway and that isn't necessarily a bad thing but you must count on much slower progress than if the club just did all the work.

For safety sake, you should probably not let the volunteers do any material cutting because of the risks and liability involved.

[Art Mann]

As for plans, I just googled "free dog house plans" and got the link below. I didn't review the designs carefully but it looks like there are a few pretty good possibilities. There were many other hits that I didn't follow.

http://freebies.about.com/od/free-plans/tp/free-dog-house-plans.htm

Since the units will be put in use at dog shelters, they are likely to be used harder than in a home environment and therefore, you need to pick the most sturdy plan you can that is also easy to build.

Let us know what happened. This sounds like an interesting and possibly inspirational story.

[Kent A Bathurst]

One item of advice:

Create a couple sample sets, and conduct a trial run with inexpierenced friends/neighbors.

Run through it one time, see where the hang-ups are in terms of assembly sequence/methods, perhaps need for pre-drilling or some sub-assembly, run it again with a different set of guinea pigs.

Don't know what your "labor budget" is in terms of # people per build team, and time allowed for build [to get it assembled before it is painted].

Gotta do some dry runs to learn what to do. Ideally, your 2 dry-run teams would come from volunteers for the actual event, so you have a small group of trained coaches available to give instructions.

You want to get the product done, but at the same time you want it to be an enjoyable experience for the participants - they need to walk away feeling proud of what they did.........

Not the point, but..........you could end up with a "saleable" product, complete with ass'y instructions.............

[Erik Loza]

No opinion on the design but PT lumber pops into my head as a possible material choice and if they plan to paint the houses, it will probably be super-wet as delivered. Cedar would be my other thought but they would probably want it with a planed surface.

Curious to hear what develops.

Erik

[Perry Holbrook]

Maybe do a video of one being assembled as a reference.

Perry

[Rod Sheridan]

No opinion on the design but PT lumber pops into my head as a possible material choice and if they plan to paint the houses, it will probably be super-wet as delivered. Cedar would be my other thought but they would probably want it with a planed surface.

Curious to hear what develops.

Erik

I would avoid PT lumber as the dog will be in contact with it and may chew it...................Rod.

[Doug Ladendorf]

If you design around ready materials it may be faster. 50 seems like a lot for a day. You could use cedar deck boards and shiplap them for the sides. Cedar shakes for the roof? Not sure about dog and weather friendly finish but maybe an oil of some sort. It would need to be fast and easy.

Doug

[Michael Peet]

[...] These people are software engineers.

So they'll analyze the project until 4:45, then bang out the 50 doghouses in the last 15 minutes.

(Disclaimer: I am a software engineer :))

[Matt Day]

Regarding design, I'd contact some of the shelters and see what they have/want/need and get an idea of what size will work. Would be a shame to have 50 doghouses that dont work well for the shelter.

[John Loftis]

They might have 100 or more volunteers, so as long as there aren't huge bottlenecks waiting on materials, it could be doable.

Good thought on avoiding PT lumber, Rod. I wouldn't have thought about that.

I think the biggest challenge will be the roof. Shingles? Maybe a dedicated shingler who knows what he is doing...

John

[Art Mann]

Pressure treated would still be good for the substructure that sits on or near the ground.

[Dave Zellers]

So they'll analyze the project until 4:45, then bang out the 50 doghouses in the last 15 minutes.

(Disclaimer: I am a software engineer :))

EXACTLY. I would substitute 'goof off' for 'analyze the project' but we're just talking semantics.

(Disclaimer: I am the father of a software engineer :))

All that aside, put together an iron clad plan and procedure. Leave NO room for discussion. NONE!

[Dave Zellers]

Shingles? Maybe a dedicated shingler who knows what he is doing...

John
Shingles will definitely make a dog house last longer. Everyone should have a dedicated job. After a few dog houses, they will get good at their job and enjoy it more. The goal is to bang these out and after a few, the volunteers will take pride in their job and new found skill. An assembly line would be cool if you could pull it off. Each team of 4-5 people builds a component- a front, a back, side walls, 2 roof pieces, an assembly team, and a roofing team. They don't have to be beautiful, the dog won't notice. It's focus will be on shelter from wind and rain.

At the least, attach a perimeter of PT 2x4's to the bottom as a sill to protect against rot. A dog house with a PT sill and asphalt shingles will last a very long time. Everything else can be pine. Or T-111 which would be more expensive but way easier. For the shingles just cut a 5" wide board the length of the roof and line up the bottom with the last row of shingles and use it as a stop for the next row. Assign the least skilled person the job of holding that board in place.

So are these software engineers going to be using power tools??? :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

[Mort Stevens]

http://i61.tinypic.com/24uvtix.jpg

Not as difficult or time consuming as you may think -- it's all repetitive cuts, rafters, walls, etc. both sides are the same as are the ends with the exception of the opening.

If you want it to last, you really need to build a 'wall' 2x3's work good -- 100 people, let's say you get 5 good work hours of of them, that's 500 man hours, divided by 50 dog house, gives you 10 man hours build time for each dog house -- I think you can do much more than a plywood box screwed together with that amount of manpower.

[John Sanford]

You should aim for building two designs. One large, one smaller. Shoot for as much commonality as possible.

IF you can swing it, try to use Insulated Structural Panels for the roof. Doing so will make it easy to do a build that doesn't result in the pooches baking in their houses. You may be able to convince a builder and/or lumber supplier to provide the panels. It may not take very many.

[Keith Pleas]

Maybe do more research on wood. I recall cedar being toxic to dogs if chewed. A quick google search found this - not germane perhaps but something to consider.

http://m.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/common_household_dangers_pets.html

Cedar and other soft wood shavings, including pine, emit fumes that may be dangerous to small mammals like hamsters and gerbils.

[Jim Matthews]

I like this design, it has a lifted floor to get the dog up off the ground.
That will make it tolerable in colder climates.

I recommend prefabricated plywood sides.
Shiplap and tacked on panels are nice,
but plywood will make the skin stiff.

It will also be easier for complete
Newbies to handle.

[cody michael]

http://i61.tinypic.com/24uvtix.jpg

Not as difficult or time consuming as you may think -- it's all repetitive cuts, rafters, walls, etc. both sides are the same as are the ends with the exception of the opening.

If you want it to last, you really need to build a 'wall' 2x3's work good -- 100 people, let's say you get 5 good work hours of of them, that's 500 man hours, divided by 50 dog house, gives you 10 man hours build time for each dog house -- I think you can do much more than a plywood box screwed together with that amount of manpower.

that's a dog mansion, I might want to stay in there.

[Andrew Gold]

I like this design, it has a lifted floor to get the dog up off the ground.
That will make it tolerable in colder climates.

I recommend prefabricated plywood sides.
Shiplap and tacked on panels are nice,
but plywood will make the skin stiff.

It will also be easier for complete
Newbies to handle.

I agree with all the above. I would also push towards thinking of a more modern design, as I think going that route could allow for a more simple structure that looks good. Simple changes like a shed roof save considerable time, and can look great when compared to the tried and true gable dog house.

Even T1-11 might be a nice design if run horizontally, and save considerable time over shingles of basically any type.

As an aside, I know of boat building groups that do something like this making quick plywood based boats with volunteers over a weekend. It might be worth looking at their approach to see if there are any lessons to be gleaned.

[Ellen Benkin]

Erik,
Why subject a dog to PT material?

[Erik Loza]

Erik,
Why subject a dog to PT material?

Ellen, why not?

Erik

[Keith Outten]

that's a dog mansion, I might want to stay in there.

Cody,

This is a dog mansion :)

309937

[Pat Barry]

Erik,
Why subject a dog to PT material?
I agree with this. Poor little pooch doesn't need all those PT chemicals. Save the PT for the undercarriage / ground contact only.

[Pat Barry]

Cody,

This is a dog mansion :)

309937
Nice. HUD would want to see a railing on that stairway though, and a much higher railing around the rooftop balcony

[Greg Hines, MD]

I would use plywood paneling for the sides, as it would make it look like individual boards and yet be simple and structural. For the roofs, I would use sheet roofing, as without seams, it is likely to last forever.

Doc

[Bob Chapman]

I think that this question should first be posed to the intended recipients. Most rescues that I have encountered don't use individual dog houses, they have larger buildings with kennel spaces. Some rescues are breed specific and even if they aren't, you need to know whether you are building for Dachshunds or Great Danes. Get the basic requirements and then develop expandable designs.

[Art Mann]

http://i61.tinypic.com/24uvtix.jpg

Not as difficult or time consuming as you may think -- it's all repetitive cuts, rafters, walls, etc. both sides are the same as are the ends with the exception of the opening.

If you want it to last, you really need to build a 'wall' 2x3's work good -- 100 people, let's say you get 5 good work hours of of them, that's 500 man hours, divided by 50 dog house, gives you 10 man hours build time for each dog house -- I think you can do much more than a plywood box screwed together with that amount of manpower.

That is one cool looking dog house but I expect that both the volunteers and the dogs would prefer a shelter without windows.

[Jim Dwight]

All good comments. I would probably use 3/4 CDX plywood for the structure. It will make the doghouses heavy but with free materials and labor that isn't as important. The 3/4 (usually 23/32) material will be easier to screw into. Pneumatic nails are more consistent with 50 in a day but screws - outdoor deck screws - with glue would be more foolproof for unskilled and make for stronger doghouses. You'd need a bunch of cordless drills or impact drivers, however, to get them done. I'd add runners of PT 2x4s to the bottom in case they will set on concrete or the ground. Finish would be paint. Top would be shingled (but you would have to use short nails so they don't project in and nick the doggies.

You could also use 1/2 plywood if you added 3/4 blocking at the corners - but that is more work. I'm worried about too much splitting and misses if you try to directly screw into 1/2 material. Pocket screws would be another way to make assembly easier for unskilled if you have a good setup to drill all the recesses (or enough jigs to turn the unskilled loose on it).