Build your pet a stylish home from a half sheet of plywood. Download my plans for an easy cut layout, and let the sawdust fly! In just a few hours, you cat or dog will thank you for the stylish new digs.
Note: This DIY pet house is sized for a small cat or dog at under two feet wide.
Steps for Building a Dog or Cat House:
Step 1: Layout the cuts
- To begin, mark the plywood using my diagram in the downloadable plans above.
- Apply painter’s tape to the plywood, and mark the cut lines with a marker.
- Covering the cut lines with painter’s tape will reduce chipping during the cuts.
For a project like this, Baltic birch plywood is a great choice. As Tom Silva points out, Baltic birch has 14 or 15 veneers layered together, which not only makes the sheet nice and straight but also creates an attractive edge detail that can accent the finished piece.
Step 2: Set the saw
Set the bevel on the circular saw to 50-degrees for the first two cuts.
Step 3: Make the cuts
Section the plywood into four pieces using two beveled cuts and one cut at zero-degrees, as noted on the diagram in the downloadable plans above.
Step 4: Cutout the door
- Using a drill/driver, bore a hole inside the door outline.
- Place the blade of a jigsaw into the hole, and then cut the outline.
Step 5: Assemble the base
Before you glue the box together, dry-fit the panels at each corner to make sure they’ll assemble smoothly. Use 180-grit sandpaper to knock down any tight spots. Once all the joints mesh, brush a thin coat of glue onto the mating surfaces, one corner at a time. Make sure the frame is square, and use bar clamps to cinch it together while you nail.
- Apply wood glue to the front and back edges of the side panels.
- Position the sides between the front and back panels.
- Using a nailer, drive 1½-inch nails through the front and back panels and into the edges of the side panels.
Pro Tip: The glue is the main ingredient in the whole assembly—it’s what holds everything solidly and tightly together. The nails, in this case about inch-and-a-half nails with small heads, are really just there to hold the two pieces stuck together until the glue sets.
Step 6: Attach the roof
- Apply wood glue to the top edges of the assembled base.
- Position the roof panels.
- Drive 1½-inch nails through the roof panels and into the front and back panels.
Step 7: Add the chimney
- Cut the chimney pieces to size. (Tip: this can be done by marking the lines and cutting the pieces with a circular saw, or using a miter saw set 50-degrees to match the angle of the roofline.)
- Apply wood glue between the pieces, and then nail them together with 1½-inch nails. Center the chimney on the left roof panel.
- Outline the chimney on the roof.
- Apply wood glue to the underside of the chimney.
- Position the chimney, and then nail through the base of the chimney and into the roof.
When building a show-worthy doghouse for a charity auction, the This Old House team notched and glued the twin chimneys in place rather than nailing them, specifically to avoid exposed nail holes in the roof. They also used sanded caulk to fill gaps between decorative bricks for a real-life mortar look and feel.
Tools:
Materials:
- 3/4″ x 4′ x 4′ Sanded Plywood
- Painter’s Tape
- 1 1/2″ Nails
