How To Build A Dog House?

How much would you charge to build a dog house ... materials provided?

• How long do you suppose it would take you, would you charge me by the hour or by the house? house is 2'wide by 3 ' deep

• Answer:

  If you only knew how many people have said, "I want something simple, it doesn't have to be perfect as long as it's functional." Only to find out they want that thing built with all kids of little extras on it. The price is relevant to the type of project you want built, and if you want quality or not. I can make a quick frame with a flat roof, slap some exterior paint on it and be out in 90 minutes. But if I find out that what you really wanted is a lot more. Or you could've met me in a Home Depot or Menards and what you didn't tell them is that your home is on the outskirts of town, and the I would have to drive 20-30 minutes to get to the job, and or buy materials. It would be hard for me to tell you $2 or $122 without some detailed plan, and location. If I had to drive 40 miles to get to the job and for some reason you don't have the correct amount or type of materials for the job, and I have to go get them or come back another day, it isn't worth $50. So I guess it's in the details. You say it's 2' by 3' but you want a doggie door to protect the dog from the elements, and a light on the outside so you can look into the yard at night and see the dog. You might want a sheet metal roof, or ice and water shield to protect the inside from the elements, So I guess you could say that I would pay that much under certain circumstances. Maybe $50 tops if it's just a small box. I'm worth $35 an hour, and my tools, vehicle, liability insurance, workers compensation insurance, fuel, and driving time all factor into my costs. If you're just building a wood frame with plywood walls, and 3 tab shingles on the roof $50 is really fair. If you want it on a cement slab, with with exterior wall and roofing material to match your home, painted in one or more colors, and add a vent on the wall opposite of the dog's entrance then $100-$150 is reasonable. Maybe you want really want to trick it out and build it on a pad that is 3 feet deeper than the house itself, and you cantilever hang the roof 2 feet so it's over the pad with a couple of nice wooden posts on the edge of the roof and concrete slab, to give the dog a little shaded porch to sit under. It all depends what you want. I was told by a guy he wanted a simple 10' x 8 ' deck. But he wanted bench seats, flower boxes, metal spingles, and composite decking and posts. Composite decking requires predrilled holes, so it could be screwed to the joists. He also wanted routed edges, and clipped corners, and he needed six 42" post holes dug, and forty 80lb bags of ready mix carried from his driveway to back yard to fill the post holes with. He might be putting a hot tub on it, and the joist have to be double, or double every other one, or have joist moved to 12' apart instead of 16" apart. So you can see how a 10x8 simple deck isn't so simple.