Home carpentry/project advice

In My Humble Opinion
1

Home carpentry/project advice

[short version]
I want to build a covered (snow and rain proof) dog-run from the back door, across the end of the driveway, and out to the woods (about fifty feet). The main problem is that doing so will cut off access to the back yard from the driveway (it will otherwise run along the back of the house and outbuildings). What can I build that will have an easily opening section? Bonus: Are there any carpentry-specific forums/sites on the net that one can find similar project ideas/help?
[/short version]

[long version]

Hi folks,

So I have this project. (Well, lots of projects, but I’m focusing on just one for the moment.) We’re moving from a Staten Island townhouse to a country home in downstate New York. One of the great things about the new house is that the pooches will go from a postage stamp yard and lots of walks to five acres of fenced in property. Walkies will soon be a thing of the past… let freedom reign! But not reign too much. Putting aside their newfound freedom to run around, there is still the concept of letting them out at night/morning etc. when all they need to do is their business. Which is the beginning of my question.

We don’t want to let them crap willy-nilly all over the yard. Off to one side, we are going to put up some more deer fence at the border of the wood to set up a largish bathroom area, and it should be relatively easy to train them to head thataway when the time is right. Good so far.

Until it rains. Or snows. Malish is no problem. He is a ‘real’ dog (as my own personal definitions go) and can take the rain and trudge through the snow. No problem. But Worf, oh, Worf… he, (again according to my own personal worldview) is not a real dog. He is a little dog. A great little dog, but a little dog nonetheless. He’s a miniature pincher. Which means if it’s raining out or there is a bit of snow on the ground, the little pantywaist won’t go more than two feet before dropping his load and heading back inside. Which in turn means that during the winter, we’ll end up with a dirty, ugly mess right outside the kitchen door. Ugh. Regular cleaning might be an option, but we’ll invariably miss something, and, well, there’s certain things one doesn’t want to look at over one’s morning coffee. Besides, with five freakin’ acres, we should have room to avoid this!

So… off to one side of the house it is a fairly short distance to the wood. It seems easy enough to build a freestanding structure about two feet wide and three feet tall. No problem. It will run along the back of the house, across the driveway, behind the shed, and let out in the wood. A dark-colored tarp tied between trees should provide some rain and snow protection. Great. It’s out of site from most of the yard, and with some well-placed shrubbery and finishing elements, it will not make us stand out as crazy animal people. Everyone’s happy.

Until I want to mow the lawn. It’s the crossing of the end of the driveway that has been vexing us and our creative abilities. Put a section on hinges? On wheels? Dig a trench and sink most of it below ground level and build a ramp? Start the whole thing from an upstairs window and let it run above the driveway? Install a catapult? Egad, what to do, what to do…?

Any ideas from the TM? Any site recommendations that routinely provide project ideas/advice to amateur carpenters? Anyone want a miniature pincher?

[/long version]
Thanks!

Rhythm

2

Put an arch or raised section over the driveway?

3

We thought about this, but if we span just the width of the driveway, that’s a heck of a slope for the pooches to walk up (Malish is 13), and it would have to be very, very strong to withstand winter storms without collapsing/falling over, especially since it would have to be an above-ground tunnel of sorts.

We could, of course, build it with less of a height, but that would mean we’d have to limbo every time we go from the front to the back yard. Actually, that might be somewhat fun…

4

50 feet?

At those lengths, wood becomes impractical for the purpose you outline. Are you looking for just a roof/awning or a tunnel??

For roofing, you could use those corrugated roofing panels. They seem like they’s serve a good utilitarian purpose.

Beyond that, you have to have something to hold it all up, and that is a structural mess.

I envision some non-carpentry related product/project, where strong wire supports are placed/arched in the ground and fabric is stretch across them. Sort of a sophisticated half-round tunnel.

5

If it weren’t for the driveway, I don’t think this would be too much of a problem. Here’s our basic idea for along the house/shed/etc: We’ll take plywood and cut it along the length so that one half is a little taller than the other (so there will be some pitch to the roof). We’ll then drive metal stakes into the ground and attach the plywood with u-bolts to make two sides. A third section of plywood will form the roof, hinged to the taller side. We’ll then attach a thin strip of wood to the end of the roof so that when it closes, it overlaps the adjoining section (the flaps will be hinged as well to allow just one section to open at a time). We’ll also put shingles on the roof and other assorted aesthetic accoutrements, but first we have to figure the rest out.

We’re thinking of building it in sections like this to avoid problems with slight slopes and irregularities in the ground. The interior itself needn’t be perfect, as long as it keeps the snow and rain out. (We’ll also be digging a small trench along the path and filling it with gravel to help with drainage). It will only be a few feet tall and a foot or so wide (we can’t go wider than that or the little dog will have room to crap inside the tunnel) so we are assuming (!) the strength of the above idea will be sufficient, provided our nails/bolts/stakes/etc are done well.

Does the above idea make sense? Does it sound workable? But… but… but what about the driveway?! Hinges? Wheels? Rockets?

6

You’ve got cats too? :smiley:

I would seriously consider looking into cutting a doggie door into another part of the house. It can go right through the wall.

Hopefully, if you put it in the right place, you can avoid having to put a moveable tunnel across your driveway. I’m as much of a dog lover as anyone. Our two 60lb girls sleep with us. But this project seems to be a bit over the top. There has got to be a better way.

Doggie doors are great. I would think that you could place one somewhere so that they could access the yard without having to cut off your driveway. Maybe then you could build some sort of run/tunnel without cutting off your driveway. Consider though, that there is a chance that they might poop right in the tunnel.

7

Yep, two. We’ll be building an indoor catapult for other reasons. :smiley:

The door itself isn’t the problem. We’re fine letting them in and out whenever they need it (one of the benefits to working out of the home). The problem is with the small (so-called) dog. It’s not a problem two hundred odd days of the year, when there is no snow on the ground or it’s not raining. The problem is that if there is an inch of snow or a few drops of rain, the little milksop won’t travel more than a few feet before unloading. So without some sort of covered pathway to the wood’s edge, we’ll end up with an ugly back/side/front/wherever the door is. We figure that the labor and effort it takes to set something like this up at the beginning will be far less than years of going out and cleaning up after him each time—something that will add up to quite a lot of effort during the winter. Not that we won’t resort to that if we can’t figure something out, but on balance a few days of hard labor and forgetting about it for the years to come seems much more palatable.

If this is to be done, there’ll have to be a gate somewhere. The front is out, since that is about an acre of perennial gardens with meandering gravel pathways. Going directly behind or off to one side all bring up the problem of getting from one side of the lawn to the other. So even if we go out in another direction, we’ll still have to put in some sort of gate or other. The reason for going along the driveway is that it’s the least intrusive visually—most of the run will abut the house and shed.

So… over the top? Maybe. But if a couple hundred dollars worth of materials and a few days working outside will keep us warm and toasty while our doubles in a parallel universe are out there cleaning shit for the next twenty years, I’ll take the reputation of crazy animal person. Just smile when you say that, and maybe offer to dog-sit once in a while :slight_smile:

8

Just a thought.

If you had a doggie door, the little guy might be more prone to explore a bit and do his business away from the house. If he/she can come and go as they please they will probably choose to go away from the house.

Even in the rain and snow.

You let them out when they ask. But the little guy might be holding it. He’s probably tougher than you think re rain and snow. Especially if he’s got a big brother to teach him the ropes.

Two cats and two dogs in this house. My Wife and I live here too.

And no. It’s not over the top. I’ve cut doggie doors through walls and made a small deck and steps for our pooches. And a fenced yard to keep them safe.