How to Build an Indoor Double Dog Kennel

Dog kennels might not always be the nicest looking things to keep in your house, but if you have a piece of furniture that can replace it, it will look so much better. Thats where I come in. Im going to show you how you can build your own dog kennel. I also have a youtube video covering how I built this: https://youtu.be/ZZ_fq_7tW7Q

Indoor Double Dog Kennel “Instructions”

(Materials depend on dimensions..I’m giving a rough estimate of what I used)

(My dimensions are in the pictures on the next page)

Step 1: Gather Materials-

• 1- sheet of ¾” Plywood (my base was 8’ x 30.25”)
• 5 or 6- 1”x4”x10’ boards
• 3- 1”x11”x10’ board (for back)
• 3- 1”x11”x11’ board (for top)
• 1- 1”x11”x8’ board (for center divider)
• ⅜” Rebar- 6 of them @ 22¼” (for doors) and 28 of them @ 29¾” (for the sides and front)
• 2- Tray Inserts- 47”x29”
• 2- Barrel Locks
• 4- T-shaped hinges

Step 2: Assembly-

The Base: As I said before, I gave some rough (but pretty close) estimates about my dimensions and boards used. I started off by cutting my plywood base to size (8’ x 30 ¼”) and then I added a riser to the bottom of that that was about ½” thick to raise it off the ground ½”. You can see me do this in the video.

The End Panels: Next, I cut my 1x4s to size for the end panels and then proceeded to mark the center point of the empty space and then marked 3” apart until I met the sides.

Once I had my spots marked, I drilled ⅜” holes at about ⅞” deep on the marks I made for the rebar to fit into. I then used my Kreg pocket hole jig to make pocket holes in the vertical boards of the end panels, added my rebar in the holes, and then used the pocket holes to assemble the panels. Once my end panels were assembled, I cut about 2 ¾” off of the bottom end so that we can later use that space to slide the trays out.

The Back: For the back I used three 1”x11”x8’ and I had some extra space to fill so I had to add a 1”x3 ½”x8’ on top to make it tall enough. I added pocket holes to those boards and then joined the boards using them.

The Front: I used my 2- 1”x4”x10’ boards for the main two beams of the front. I Cut them to 97.5” (1.5” over 8’) to account for the overhang that they will need. I then measured 28¼” from the end of each side and made a mark to show that that is where the edge of the door frame needs to be. Once I did that, I then again measured the center of the space, marked my center and measured 3” from there until I met the sides.

Then I drilled my ⅜” holes on my marks. I drilled pocket holes in the 5 vertical 1x4s, then added my rebar in the holes and then used them to join the top and bottom beams. Now it should look- like this:

Next, I sanded everything that I had built.

The Center Divider: The divider is built exactly like we did the back except it only needs to be 30.25” long and the smaller piece we added only needs to be 1”x 2 ¼”x30 ¼” since it will be sitting on the base and not overlapping the side. Once we have that assembled, we can then screw the back to the base by raising it up with something the same size of the raisers we added to the bottom of the base. Now that the back is evenly overlapping the back of the plywood base, we can screw it in. Once the back is screwed in we will mark the center point of- the back and base so that we can secure our divider in that position.

Attaching the Front: Now that we have our divider in we can attach the front. Just like the back, we need to put something underneath the front panel so that it will be flush with the base. Once we have it raised up we can then screw the front panel onto the base and the middle divider.

Attaching the End Panels: Since we have the front and back of the kennel attached to the base we can now put the end panels in between them. Make sure that the tops of each side are even (we have the gap underneath for the trays to slide out) Once each panel is screwed on you- can cut a piece to fill the gap underneath. (I did this earlier)

Add Pocket Holes for the Top: After my sides were screwed on I got my smaller/portable pocket hole jig and drilled pocket holes in the top of each side and the top of the divider so that whenever we add our top we can use pocket holes to secure it.

Assembling the Doors: The doors are assembled just like the end and front panels. I had my 1”x4”x21” vertical boards and my 1”x4”x17 ¾” Horizontal boards and I measured and marked my center spot. From the center spot I measured 3” until I met the edge and then drilled my holes in the marked places. I drilled pocket holes in the vertical boards so that I could- assemble the door using them. Next I put my rebar in the holes and then assembled the doors.

Filling the Screw Holes: Since we used screws to attach the front and end panels I decided to fill the holes using wood filler. Once I had filled all the holes and let the filler dry I sanded everything down again.

Staining and Attaching the Doors: Now that we have everything sanded, I decided to stain the entire thing (besides the back since nobody will see it, but that’s optional) and once I had my body and doors stained I got my triangle hinges and measured from the top and bottom about where I thought they looked good on the door frames (about 6” or so) and attached them to the middle board and then proceeded to attach the hinges to the doors. I also attached the barrel locks to the center of the doors.

Making and Attaching the Top: The top was assembled exactly like the back and divider were. I used 3- 1”x11”x99” boards (they have a ¾” overhang on the edges). I drilled and screwed them together using pocket holes and once they were joined I sanded and stained the top. Once the stain had dried I aligned the top on the base and then used the pocket holes that we drilled earlier to attach the top to the base.

Poly Coat and Sanding: Now that we have all the pieces put together, the kennel is almost done. I used a satin poly-crylic coat to give the kennel a bit of a sheen and once the poly dried I got a high grit sandpaper to lightly sand the poly and get rid of any bubbles or imperfections in the poly coat.

That’s It! Thanks for reading my “Step-by-Step” process of the build. I’m not always the best at explaining things, but I hope I did a good enough job for you to take on your own project inspired by this build! PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO MY CHANNEL..I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IT!