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Step 2: Raising the Roof

Picture of Raising the Roof

The first thing I did in this build was to remove the roof of the dog house. This served two purposes:

  1. I could give it a good cleaning before working on it
  2. I could get to the interior to insulate it much more easily than if I hadn't taken the roof off.

The house had been sitting outside for about a year before I got it and if you know even the tiniest bit about Idaho, it's that we have nasty spiders that love dark corners, and an abandoned dog house is like a magnet for these nasty little nibblers. I took the roof off and used a good stiff broom to sweep away all the cobwebs and spider eggs that had accumulated inside and gave it a thorough cleaning. I also flipped the house upside down and checked the bottom of it.

Next, I used my tape measure, ruler, Exacto knife and my straight edge to start cutting down the insulation board to size to fit inside the house. While you don't necessarily HAVE to insulate the house, it makes keeping it cool much easier and far more efficient for your AC unit. In fact, after insulating the house and putting the roof back on, I could feel a noticeable difference in temperatures between the interior of the dog house and outside of it.

As you can see from the 5th and 6th photos, Lucifur really enjoyed how much cooler the dog house already was and snagged a nap while I was working on the rest of the project.

I used the duct joint tape to tape down all my insulation. This stuff is sticky enough and strong enough that I felt comfortable sticking it directly to the wood of the dog house. In addition, I cut my foam pieces just slightly bigger than measured so I could really wedge them into place and use pressure to help keep them secured. If you're concerned about your foam pieces not staying secure, liquid nails works well to keep them glued down where you want them.