Every dog deserves a good home.
Dog is man's best friend, and it is only right that the dog has a good home. A dog kennel built upon a concrete slab will provide your friend a safe, comfortable, and clean place to lay its head. After deciding where the best location is and how big you want the kennel to be, pour a simple concrete slab to enclose with a fence and complete with a dog house. You can pour the slab in an afternoon.
Instructions
1. Mark the site of the kennel slab by driving a stake into the ground at each corner. Your dog's size determines the kennel size, but for reference, two common sizes are 4 feet by 12 feet and 8 feet by 16 feet. Connect the stakes with string. Measure the two diagonals of the completed site and compare the two measurements. If the numbers are the same, the kennel will be square.
2. Dig out the slab area, creating a bed about an inch deep. Smooth the dirt bed, but do not worry about it being perfectly level; your concrete bed will vary in depth anyway. Extend your excavation just beyond the stakes and string to allow room for the concrete form you will construct.
3. Adjust one corner stake to measure 3 inches above the dirt excavation. Distribute additional stakes every 2 or 3 feet from the corner, setting each additional stake to rise about 1 inch higher than the one before, ending at the opposite corner stake, which must rise highest of all the stakes. Repeat this process on the opposite side. Place stakes on the two remaining sides last, sinking them to the same level as their corner stakes. This method of staking creates a guide for the slope of the kennel floor.
4. Cut a 2-by-4 inch board to fit each side of the kennel form created. If a side is longer than 8 feet, cut an additional piece to combine with the 8-foot board. Nail the boards to the stakes, making sure each board is flush with the tops of the stakes as you work. Fill the dirt back in around the slab area to reinforce the form and to cover small gaps near the ground.
5. Slope the kennel floor to provide easy clean-up and waste run-off .
Spread a section of wire mesh concrete reinforcement across the formed area. Cut to fit with bolt cutters. Wedge it into place so that it is slightly off the ground, or place bricks or rocks under the mesh to lift it off the ground. The mesh will provide structural strength and help prevent cracking of the slab.
6. Shovel and pour fresh concrete into the form you've created. Working quickly, smooth it out until fairly level. Drag a 2-by-4 board across the top to finish leveling. Rest the board on the tops of the forms and push it along the concrete to create a level yet sloped surface . Finish by "sweeping" the surface with a broom to provide a slightly rough texture for traction.
7. Mist the concrete with water every few hours if the weather is hot, to keep it from cracking. Float the surface, using a trowel and making swirling motions across the concrete surface, after three or four hours. Repeat every hour until water stops rising to the surface. Floating processes the concrete, raising the water to the surface and sinking the concrete portions. Allow the concrete to rest, or cure, for a day before carefully prying the forms away from the slab. Avoid using the concrete or walking on it for several days.
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