At the downslope end of the pad, I'd dig a small pit for the water and such to drain, it'll need to be cleaned out periodically...the rougher texture the finish is, the harder it'll be to remove any dried material...seeings how it'll be next to the house(I'd put it far away as I could), it'll need to be sanitized weekly to keep the offensive odors down.

 

PM Brad UglyGreen as he is a concrete guy. I would think you would want at least 2" of gravel down and then place 2X4's done on edge stake about every 3 feet so you don't get the 2x flexing. When you fill with concrete you can slide a board down the edges of the form and it levels it out. I would not think you would need a expansion joint but would recommend dome wire mesh placed on little spacer blocks so it is up off the gravel and the concrete will flow through. I figure you will need just a hair under 1.5 yards so you might think about a walk way or something as you will have to pay for the travel time. Or you can get a trailer of ready mix there is a place on Johnson Creek BLVD. and about 65th or there abouts. I am not sure that there trailers haul 1.5 yards but you can call and find out. I have heard its a good Idea to get a little extra as if there is not enough then that's a bummer.

UglyGreen can tell you if I am right or wrong and is the pro at concrete.

 

Jim you can do it yourself way cheaper than having it done. Just reading your post your on the right track with what you need to do. Trying searching the net for info, its all there, you can also pick up a book from Home depot. Its easy to do, I have done 3 so far and they are still together. I would not go anythicker than a 2 x 4, which is actualy 1.5 x 3.5. If your not ever going to drive or park on it thats engough. And your right just angle your form away from your house. Depending on its length you may want to do a couple of seperate pours. You can do it. J

 

For a kennel I wouldnt worry about the mesh either.Its not going to bear much weight.

 

Heres a good thread about kennels with lots of great info. http://www.gundogforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6103

 

Too big for one dog. If it's smaller they seem to pace more and get exercise if too big they just lay around. Dont' put it close to your house if you don't need to farther away is better. :twocents:

 

Set up your forms... Stake every 2ft ... use a level to determine slope , a quarter of the bubble off from dead level will give you a 1/4" per foot slope...use rebar in a grid pattern and put dobies ( square concrete blocks W/wires attatched ) under grid to suspend in form... My professional suggestion is to make sockets in the concrete for your fencing pipes they will eventually rust out and have to be replaced ... Fell free to PM me ... Good luck Barney

 

Set up your forms... Stake every 2ft ... use a level to determine slope , a quarter of the bubble off from dead level will give you a 1/4" per foot slope...use rebar in a grid pattern and put dobies ( square concrete blocks W/wires attatched ) under grid to suspend in form... My professional suggestion is to make sockets in the concrete for your fencing pipes they will eventually rust out and have to be replaced ... Fell free to PM me ... Good luck Barney

The sockets are an excellent idea!

 

I poured a slab for my first Lab at my first house a long time ago. I had a detached oversize single-car garage and the slab was directly behind it, spanning the full width. Half the slab was for the dog run, the other half was the floor for a shed that I built on it.
I dug the area for the slab out about 3" deep, and I didn't bother with gravel. I did use a contractor to set the forms, pour the concrete and finish it. He was just a guy out of the Nickel Ads, he did good work, and it didn't cost much. He used the U-cart concrete from NW down on Johnson Creek. I didn't want to do it myself- I'm picky about finish, and I didn't want any high or low spots to collect water, or cracks from a bad mix. Once you pour concrete and it sets, you're stuck with it, whether it's a good or bad job. Breaking it up and starting over might be a good lesson, but I'd rather avoid it.
I built the rest of the run myself, using 4x4s set in galvanized brackets for roof supports and to bolt the chain link to. It was about the same size as yours. My dog was only in it when we weren't home, so she never had to use it as a bathroom. The only cleaning I had to do was sweeping up the hair she shed.

 

I am building a dog kennel that is L-16 X W-8 X H-6 in preparation of getting a new lab. I have never made a concrete pad and need some pointers.

• I want to make this pad slope away form my house for rain runoff and wash down reasons and am not quite sure how to do this. My guess is that you just need to grade the ground and make sure the mold is sloped too and the concrete will do the rest?

• What kind of prep do you need to do to the ground surface? The kennel is going to be next to our house. The area was covered in 3 inches of marble sized stones. I scraped away the stones to bare earth (covered by black material to keep the weeds in check in the stone). Do you pour the concrete on bare earth or do I need to put some type of material down first? (I hope not, but will do if I need to)

• For a dog kennel, how thick should the pad be? Seems like the standard 4 inches thick is overkill? Should I go 3 inches or perhaps 2 inches?

• Lets say I am building a 4 inch pad and I use 2x4 for the mold. Do I just fill up the mold with concrete, let stand, brush to texture ? (I will also use spacers for expansion too). Now lets say I am making a 3 inch pad, do I still use 2x4 and not fill all the way, or do I get wood that is 3 inches high? (still using spacers).

• Anybody pour concrete for a living? Perhaps I should just have it done professionally?

• More questions to follow...

Thanks for the help! Jim

If the kennel dimensions are going to be 16' X 8' I would suggest pouring the slab slightly larger (17' X 8.5' minimum, 18' X 9' is what I would do) so you can bolt the kennnel down using expansion bolts without blowing out the edges of the concrete. I would use expansion bolts rather than sleeves because if the sleeves are even slightly in the wrong place or get moved or get tilted when you are pouring or finishing the concrete you are going to be very unhappy and frusterated later when you go to set up the kennel, plus if you (or a future owner) ever decide you want to use the slab for something other than a kennel, it is a lot easer to take out an patch a few bolt holes than it is get rid of the sleeves.

If you are going to hose it off I would slope the pad at 1/4 inch per foot away from the house... 9' X .25" = approximatly 2" lower on the side away from the house.

For subgrade I would suggest placing a minimum 4" of compacted crushed rock under the slab. If you are in central oregon where the ground freezes deeper I would increase that to 1' of crushed rock. This is for frost protection so when the ground freezes inthe winter it doesnt lift or tilt the slab which will happen sooner or later if you pour the concrete directly on the dirt. I would also place a section of 3" ABS conduit in the subgrade under the slab alongside the house for future use if you or a future owner ever needs to run a new phone line or cable line or low voltage wire or whatever under the slab at some point. If you dont ever use it, no big deal... but if you need it you will be glad its there.

Overall a standard 4" thick slab is really 3.5" thick (the width of a 2X4) and that would be appropriate for this application. That is the minimum thickness where the concrete can generally support itself without cracking. For this application I would increase the thickness to 6" wherever you are going to drill bolts into the slab. I would forgo the rebar mat or wire mesh because they really dont do anything for you in this application, but i would use microfiber (poured in place) reinforcement because you will have a lot of exposed edges that will hold up better and be less subject to spall or chip when you hit them with the lawnmower or whatever. I would also dowel the slab to your foundation using 24" #4 dowels at 2' on center. You can get these at Home Depoe or just get a stick of #4 bar and cut your own. If any dimension of the slab exceeds 12' you do need a control joint. For a 18' X 9' slab you would want one control joint down the middle, dividing the overall area into 2 slabs that are 9' X 9' each. I would probably use zip strip in this application because there will only be a very small hairline crack visible on the surface and it will be easier to hose off without collecting nasties in the crack like I imagine a trowel cut radiused edge joint would.

Setup is easy, just use a 2X4 for the formwork. Stake every 2' and put a couple extra stakes at the edges of the form and the corners. Go drive a couple new local subdivisions that are currently under construction and look for some flatwork that is setup but not poured for examples of how to do this. Remember to build the proper slope into your forms.

Finishing is the hardest part of the job, to do it right you need a jitterbug, a float, a trowel and a edger. All are tools you can rent. After screeding (leveling) the concrete, you need to use the jitterbug to (a tool with an expansion mesh plate that you use to push the aggragate down) bring up the cream in the concrete. (The cream is what you finish and what gives an extra hard wearing surface) After bringing up the cream you need to float the concrete to get an even surface, trowel it and edge it to get a smooth surface and rounded edges, and then run a light broom over it to get the texture you want. Remember that how fast you need to do all this depends on the specific concrete mix you use (I would recomend a 3000 PSI, 3/4" aggragate, air entrained mix) the temprature of the day you pour, the amount of time the concrete has been in the ready mix truck, and if you have to wheelbarrow it or pump it to where you want it. The longer the concrete sits in the truck or the warmer the day the faster you have to finish it and the harder it will be to work it.

I might sugggest finding a finisher on a job somewhere and asking them if they or someone they know might want to make some cash for helping you finish concrete on a Saturday... for $100 bucks you can probably get a guy to come out to your house for a half day and help you finish the concrete. Hispanic finishers generally love doing cash jobs on weekends.

A 9' X 18' slab figures 2.025 cubic yards of concrete, most suppliers have a 3 cubic yard minimum, but its better to have a little extra than run short and have to order a cleanup and have a cold joint in your slab. Figure paying around $100 bucks a yard retail in the Portland area right now, plus about $50 bucks for a short load charge, plus another $50 bucks if the supply truck can not wash out on your property and has to do an 'offsite cleanup'... as in wash out the truck back at their batch plant.

Hope that is helpful!!

- Brad

 

Find a guy who likes beer and can do concrete. It will be easily worth a C note to have some around who know what he's doing,(don't ask me how I know this) If you keep it simple it's pretty easy.

Can the truck get close enough to pour directly in the form? 4 inches is the absolute minimum if you don't want cracks very soon. I use 6x6 #10 mesh in flat work but UG says you won't need it.

Ask around if the different concrete Companies in you area have good products, in my neighborhood one outfit has much better mud than the other. I won't mention names, but ask in your area.



You might want to use that rock you have and cover it with more crushed rock. Uglygreen didn't mention compacting the crushed rock, your local rental place has plate compactors, a compactor with a spitz of water will put the rock down to stay.

An extra sack of cement per yard makes the mud a little easier to work too.

Brackets or j bolts work good if you know exactly where to put them, use heavy ones so they last a long time before they rust out.

 

Wow thank you to all! UglyGreen...that is awsome! The Kennel is actually going to be 12x8 but the pad will be 16X9 to leave room for bolting and perhaps a doghouse on the outside of the kennel with access via a door.

Anybody work in concrete and live in the portland metro? I am in Oregon City and am more than willing to pay someone who wants to make a few extra $$ on the side to help me out. Send me a PM or post up.

Jim

 

Built one years ago, and it intentionally blocked outside access to the back yard of my house. (Fenced) I cut ABS pipe about a foot long and buried them with the tops being level with the slab...I put two at the corners and one at equal spaces around the perimeter. Used them as fence post "inserts"
The ABS inside diameter is slightly bigger than the outside diameter of the fence posts. Built my panels and stuck the posts in the inserts. When I needed to drive the mower to the back yard, or get back there for any reason from outside... simply lift the panels out of the ABS inserts. Fence panels had posts, and a top and bottom pipe to make a frame and were inset from the edge of the slab about 3 inches. Sold the house, took the panels with me.
Suggestion, if you build it against the house, dont use the outside of your house as a wall. It will get filthy. Put a fence panel between the kennel and the house. If its removable, its easier to paint the house when its that time.

 

Make sure you have a smooth finish. Dont brush texture. It is easier on the dogs paws, and no room for fungus to grow.

KA II

 

Make sure you have a smooth finish. Dont brush texture. It is easier on the dogs paws, and no room for fungus to grow.

:agree: :yeahthat: Also disinfection is much more reliable with a burnished surface

 

United Rentals has tow behind drum mixers. They run $110 for a yard for six sack mud. Everything is ready mixed there and then you drive it home and pour. You will have to do two trips so split your pour. If you order from a company such as Glacier they have a minium of four yards and it is delivered in a LARGE mixer truck. Some of the other post are right on with their suggestions. I poured a kennel slab 1 1/2 years ago. Use compacted rock under your pour. Use 2x4 forms and wire mesh. Slope @ 2% away from the house. Use the expansion bolts.

E

 

Something other than smooth is necessary unless you want your dog to splay his feet. Your dog needs some traction, or he will for sure have to spread his feet when it is wet, and will make it much easier for you to fall when you are cleaning it.

I'd put a top on the run in case your dog decides to climb, and that would allow you to have the house inside. 9' would make it hard to put a top on it. I'd consider 6 or 7, or at least determine how you'd put a top on it if necessary. If the house is on the inside of the run and has a relatively flat top, the dog can get some exercise jumping on top of it. The disadvantage is that the dog can chew it!

You can also build the kennel with 1' square blocks that are 2" thick.. This is an advantage for a DIY'er and come in either red or gray. Team it with modular fence panels, and you can build something that looks really professional quickly. This also can be moved if you determine that is necessary. If you go this route, you can put 1" thick blocks as an edge. The panels will sit outside of the "kennel". The 1" difference in height will make it where you don't have to anchor the panels.

 

Re: dog kennel update with photos.

After planning on building a kennel for over a year, I finally got it done. Thanks to BrotherWolf, The_Duck_Master, Teton & Devlin Crackler for all the advice, Cityfisher for helping me pick up the doghouse last week, and everyone else that chimed in the couple of threads I posted up over the last year. Jay I really owe you more than the two beers bro!

It is 12x8x6 cyclone fence with a shade screen covering the entire top. For the floor I put down 4 inches of 3/4 inch minus, packed it well, and laid KennelDeck on top. I bought the KennelDeck direct from the manufacturer online and saved $60.00 rather than order it from "The World's Foremost Outfitter". I decided to use KennelDeck because we will more than likely be moving to a different house within 2-3 years.

I bought the doghouse online off of craigslist.

Overall I am pretty happy with it!

I also finished a 15 foot section of my cedar fence to fully enclose the back year, and brought in some topsoil to fill in some low spot gaps along the fence.

Now we just need to find a started dog! I am sure with the help of a few fellow ifisher friends, we will end up with a great new gamily member who is a way better duck hunter than I am!

Jimbo