concrete kennel base help

[geth]

Hi people,
Im putting in a concrete base for my kennel block to sit on and I've just finished pegging and levelling the formwork. Ive got to put a damp proof membrane in, to meet kennel build guidelines. This is according to the information given by the council. I have to be compliant because my wife wants to run a little dog day care / dog sitting business and in order to do so, the kennels have got to be inspected and certificated for boarding with our local council.
Anyway, Ive got my damp proof membrane and I've got 11ton of hardcore/sub base sat on the drive ready to be laid and whacked down before laying the concrete.
My question is do i put the damp membrane down under or on top of the sub base?
Also, any tips on anything at all that might help or things you would of done differently from past experiences when building a concrete base or kennel before i commence with the sweaty work will be much appreciated.
Cheers.

 

[Kjf]

DPM on top of hardcore directly under concrete,

but blind the hardcore first with sand, it's stops the hardcore below puncturing the DPM when the weight of the concrete hits it


so

hard core
sand
DPM
CONCRETE

kjf

 

[kev.rem700]

Hi Geth I would put the hard-core down a thin layer of sand to blind the hard-core then the dpm then the concrete.

All the best Kev

Kjf bet me to it.

 

[geth]

Awesome, thanks for that chaps. Sweat will commence tomorrow!

 

[Tim.243]

Don't be tempted to add a bit more water as it will bite you in the arse when it rises to the top then you will be swimming, the dpm works both ways.

Tim.243

 

[Vulpesvulpes]

Super plasticiser and fibers in the concrete (metal or polymer) will reduce the need for water and mesh. Vibrate it prior to screeding. If you are not keen on expansion joints use Air Entrainer in the mix.

 

[willowbank]

Hi people,
Im putting in a concrete base for my kennel block to sit on and I've just finished pegging and levelling the formwork. Ive got to put a damp proof membrane in, to meet kennel build guidelines. This is according to the information given by the council. I have to be compliant because my wife wants to run a little dog day care / dog sitting business and in order to do so, the kennels have got to be inspected and certificated for boarding with our local council.
Anyway, Ive got my damp proof membrane and I've got 11ton of hardcore/sub base sat on the drive ready to be laid and whacked down before laying the concrete.
My question is do i put the damp membrane down under or on top of the sub base?
Also, any tips on anything at all that might help or things you would of done differently from past experiences when building a concrete base or kennel before i commence with the sweaty work will be much appreciated.
Cheers.

Hi, all sounds good, just pay lots of attention to the fall, make sure all the yard washing water goes directly forward from the kennels ( and not sideways into the next run) into some sort of gutter running outside the runs.

Another thing sometimes not considered is the aspect, in winter the warmth of the sun on the kennels is important, something I learnt the hard way by having to move my kennel block from under some trees because in the winter months the dogs were in the shade when kennelled and it was pretty cold for them.

Good luck with your dog sitting business,

Willowbank.

 

[paul o']

As others have said but use a wacker plate to knock the sand down into the cracks in the bricks/hard core or you will get voids in the base as it washes the sand down I would have just ordered type one crush then wacked it level then topped it off as others have stated or use celotex instead of plastic for better warmth under the slab

 

[Dan Newcombe]

Second the comment about drainage, worth its weight in gold.

Whoever put in the base for our outbuildings (bought with the house) was a half wit and none of them drain - at all! so we are stuck brushing all of the water out by hand and even then the kennels can sit a little bit damp. Generally speaking our dogs are clean so not the end fo the world but with pups and new dogs that aren't then it is a total ball ache!

Drainage above all else!

 

[sh1kar]

I also seem to recall a thread on the concrete mix to use to take account of corrosive effect of urine. May be worth a search
S

 

[paul dillon]

Hi Geth,

Please dont use fibres in the concrete on the dog runs you will always get a few poking their heads up and may well cause problems withe the dogs pads use air intrained by allmeans but if it were me I would go with A393 mesh and vibrated concrete wich will give strength to the base to build your block walls

Happy Construction Paul D

 

[geth]

thanks for your help. Ive got quite a bit of really good info and advice there. happy days.

 

[countrryboy]

Hi Geth,

Please dont use fibres in the concrete on the dog runs you will always get a few poking their heads up and may well cause problems withe the dogs pads use air intrained by allmeans but if it were me I would go with A393 mesh and vibrated concrete wich will give strength to the base to build your block walls

Happy Construction Paul D

I was going to say the exact same about the fibres.
And echo wot others have said about drainage and fall, have plenty of fall.

Must admit I wouldn't (and haven't) bothered with mesh, assuming not building it on a bog and it sounds like u will have a decent base to build off,
End of day only a dog kennel ur not driving over it so heaviest thing either going to be a 20-40kg or a human

My old kennel in some places was only 2-3" concrete on tamped soil with no dpm and lasted for years, so really everything was shoddy/bodged and it still done the job fine.


I'm just building a kennel block the now, and I split each kennel run up with a 4" block so have the runs falling 2 ways but not into the next run (I loked on boarding kennel specs/regulations to get ideas and I think for boarding kennels u have tohave runs separated, u better check ur area)

 

[Bert/Ernie]

Hope the pour goes well, seems you've got all the information you need from previous posts. I would make sure the concrete is strong as the dog urine will eat holes in the concrete if not.
Once your base is all cured after two or three weeks I use concrete hardener on my runs every year or two as it stops the urine going into the concrete too much and also beads the water so everything runs off nicely, you can get this from ever build in 5 ltr tubs.
Don't sweat too much!