Category: Projects

I got the wall for Kennel 2 (Blades room) done this morning.  It’s not as pristine as my first wall, but the issues are probably not anything visitors will notice.  I notice because I’m a self-flagellating perfectionist.  But I know that, so I’ll move on anyway.  But first I need a rest, some Ibuprophen, and a meal to rebuild my energy reserves.

After lunch I moved my work station and tools out of K2, swept the floor in there, and set up my work table and tools in K1.

I had to rearrange my stack of blocks because (dummy me) the next wall goes right through that stack.  I remember thinking that I’d use enough blocks to shorten the stack enough to not impede the wall.  But I didn’t bother to count them.  I should have counted.  Not even close.

The pass-through door in K2 remains blocked with crate board and a couple of propane cylinders because I don’t want Blade roaming around in here- or slipping out and running off while I have the roll-up door open.  Once I have a door across the front of that area, he will be allowed, if he chooses, to enter and utilize his inner sanctum.  I doubt he’ll make much use of it.  He prefers to be out on the front lines of the outer run to see as much as possible.

Once K2 was all squared away I laid in the first row of block for the kennel 1 north wall, making sure it is square and level.  I’ll let that set up good and hard to form a solid foundation for building the rest of the wall.

I’ve almost got my “mud slinging” technique down.  Almost.  The trick seems to be in getting the consistency of the mortar just right: wet enough it will cling to the trowel a little, but not so wet it sloughs off of the block after I scrape it onto the edge.  It needs to be the consistency of cake frosting.  Very gritty, dark gray cake frosting.  And there is a trick to moving the mortar from mortar bin to block without making it fall off on the floor or fly down the holes in the center of the blocks.  This is my first attempt at block laying and I’m working with knowledge I learned from watching YouTube videos.  I may be slow, but the end result seems to be good.  I’m happy with that.

If I don’t get this last wall done before it turns cold I can move Blade into K1 (Josie’s room) and Josie into K2.  I’ll go get a 5′ welded wire kennel panel out of Tim’s barn tomorrow (where I have stashed a bunch of them that were donated to us).  I can use that as a temporary interior door to K2 until I get the chain link frame installed and sheathed with mesh.  I’ll go into chain link mode once the blocks are laid and I can clear all those tools out of the way.  It’s getting tight in here!  Need to sell the rest of this lumber.

Blade doesn’t mind the cold.  He seems to prefer it.  With the full-body Parka he has for fur, I can understand why.  Josie is not so well insulated.  She needs the shelter.

I have found the vertically sliding doors I need to close off the small doorway between inside and outside runs.  They’re expensive: right at $200.00 each for the Standard version, over $300 for the insulated doors (I’ll skip those).  But they’re good quality: made by Kennel Clad for professional kennels and shelters and should last a long time.

There is another brand: Ecco(something) that makes doors for zoos, and are heavy duty enough to stand up to lions, and tigers, and bears (oh my!).  They come fully assembled using roller bearing tracks.  But they run in the $600 price range!  Although Blade thinks he’s a lion, we don’t need anything THAT heavy-duty.

There are cheaper ones, too.  Other brands can be had for as little as $60.00 per door.  But these are light plastic panels in sheet metal rails and do not come with hardware and cables.  My time working in a shelter proves to me that plastic doors get chewed up post haste and need to be replaced often.  The Kennel Clad doors are plate aluminum with aluminum frames, stainless steel fasteners, that ride in extruded aluminum rails that are heavy duty to resist dogs trying to bash through the door.  They will also stand up to frequent cleanings with disinfectants without rusting.

I need to get Board of Director approval to spend the money on them, but I want to get them ordered ASAP because heating a building with holes in the side is … problematic.

But for the moment, I’m building block walls.  I’ll focus on that until our Board meeting.

It’s Saturday.  Marie is home.  She can help keep an eye on the inside dogs, so I can work outside more than I can during the week.  I’ve accomplished several things, but the big task for today was to cart all the lumber on this lumber rack: (and if you can’t tell, that pile goes all the way up to the rafters),

and move it to some place other than where it is: out of that building.  That means putting it in some other building where it will still be in my way, but in a different place.

I accomplished that:

Once I remove a few screws the racks will come down and the whole wall will be clear.

I also went ahead and laid out my divider walls, which is not as simple as one would think.

Originally I planned to make three inside kennels; each 8 feet wide to match the three outside kennels.  Simple.  We even cut the doorways in, on that thought.  But then I decided I didn’t need that much space in the inside kennels.  Too much room encourages dogs to poop in a far corner and live with it.  Less space means less temptation to do that.

I would like to have an inside space as an ICU room for recent surgery patients and dogs going through heart worm treatment.  That means a smaller space: 4′ x 4′ is enough.  I’ll take that dog outside on a leash.

That window you see messes up the idea of just dividing the remaining space into three equal rooms.  And I need to keep the doors in mind, leaving room on either side of the doors to mount slide hardware for vertically sliding doors to shut the dog in or out (and keep the cold out at night).

With the wall clear I did some laying out on the wall with an orange lumber marking crayon.  What works best is on the left, the 4 x 4 ICU, with the wall just to the left of the first doorway (currently being blocked with a piece of plywood to keep Siri where she belongs since the roll-up door is open).  Kennel #1 and Kennel #2 are 5 feet long (by 4 feet deep)  and kennel #3 is 6 feet 8 inches long.  This one could be used as a double should I have two dogs who cohabitate well.  Or one really big dog.

The walls between kennels will be 4″ wide concrete block, 6 feet high and I will cover the tops of the kennels with fencing like I did outside so dogs can’t climb out.  But not until I get the insulation in and drywall ceiling up and painted.  Each kennel will have a chain link front panel with a door (gate) in it so I can access the space from inside the kennel building.  Once the building is emptied of lumber I can use that big empty space for training and storage.

I’ll remove the roll-up garage door and fill in the opening with a combination of block wall (where the ICU  kennel is) and wood-frame wall (out in the main room where dogs won’t be likely to be digging at it or chewing on it).  Know anyone who wants a garage door with electric opener?  No remote, though.

I will seal the block walls and paint them some bright color.  I would like to use epoxy garage floor sealer to ease keeping the floors clean.  Since I don’t have a floor drain, interior clean-up will be done with a mop and bucket.

Last night I ordered all the chain link connectors, corners, clips, clamps, bolts, ties, and such from an on-line wholesaler I’ve used twice before and been happy with.  Next week I will go to Home Depot to get the top rails, tension bars, fence fabric, and the 36 cement blocks I need for the first divider wall.  None of that stuff can be economically shipped to me.  I hope it all fits in my truck!

Then I will try my hand as a block-layer.  A first for me, but … how hard can it be, right?