# xl dog house for goats - but has a wood floor



## SillyChicken (Feb 11, 2013)

Hi gang,
I got a huge 6Lx4Dx3.5H, insulated dog house that I want to use for the 3 goats... but I'm concerned about the wood floor rotting out from the urine..  would it be safe for the goats to put sheet vinyl on the floor.  I was thinking of finding the "low" spot in the floor and installing a floor drain to help get rid of any excess liquid.








I have a metal panel with perforations that I'm going to install for a door to secure them at night.  Otherwise I don't need to do too much to it, other than stain the outside red, paint the inside white and the vinyl flooring.    I thought it was a good deal @ $250 and he delivered it to my house from well over an hour away!

I also want to give this thing a name, any ideas?

(my farms name is f eckin farms)


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## Fluffygal (Feb 11, 2013)

Vinal floor may be too slippery. They need some traction. You could us one of those rubber mats for horse stalls cut to fit.
Ofcourse once you add shavings or hay for bedding over the floor that will give them traction and shavings will help absorb urine up. 

Maybe some of the more creative handy folk will offer more ideas. Nice rustic dog house. Could call it The Goat Shack.


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## WhiteMountainsRanch (Feb 11, 2013)

*Haha that thing is awesome! I'd love it! 

I think for the flooring I would just paint/ seal it and then put down pine shavings and then straw on top so that I could rake it out once or month or whenever necessary. *


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## SillyChicken (Feb 11, 2013)

I was thinking vnyl would be slipery too... a rubber mat or even a rubber backed entry rug may work.  

Thanks


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## Suburbanfarmer (Feb 11, 2013)

My goats are in a converted shed with a wood floor. I sealed the floor and then got stall mats cut to fit. They had the rubber mats on a roll at my local feed store and I got the super thin ones so that I could move them myself. I put stall dry under the mats around the edges to catch any liquid that might seep down. So far it is working well. 

I love the dog house! You should put a boardwalk on it and paint it to look like an old western building. 
-K


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## SillyChicken (Feb 13, 2013)

Suburbanfarmer said:
			
		

> My goats are in a converted shed with a wood floor. I sealed the floor and then got stall mats cut to fit. They had the rubber mats on a roll at my local feed store and I got the super thin ones so that I could move them myself. I put stall dry under the mats around the edges to catch any liquid that might seep down. So far it is working well.
> 
> I love the dog house! You should put a boardwalk on it and paint it to look like an old western building.
> -K


Thanks for the info, what did you seal the floor with?

Western theme... thats a great idea!


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## Mamaboid (Feb 13, 2013)

All of our goat pens have wooden floors.  We put down a heavy layer of bedding (we use the same hay we feed because it is much cheaper here than straw), clean fairly often normally and more often if it is wet outside, and when we clean them we let them open several hours and dry out before starting over.  We have not had any weakness or rotting at all in the two years we have had them so far.


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## Suburbanfarmer (Feb 13, 2013)

SillyChicken said:
			
		

> Suburbanfarmer said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The stuff I sealed it with was terrible and wouldn't recommend it. It was thin and still the wood looks wet when it gets wet. I wanted something that would bead the water and not let it in at all. If I get a chance this summer I'm going to kick the goats out and reseal it with something better. I'm going to ask at the hardware store. Sorry I couldn't be more help with that.  The stall mats are really helping, though, and I'm not really worried about my floor in the mean time for the few months before I can seal it. 
-K


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## Shelly May (Feb 13, 2013)

Most barns are dirt floor, maybe with straw on floor? Why not just cut the flooring out??? It is great tho, looks like you can move it around if needed also.


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## Celeste (Feb 13, 2013)

I liked the idea of the drain - you could use the stuff they spray truck beds with - that stuff will hold up to about anything.  If you wanted to go with just a hardy paint, you can add playground sand to the paint to provide a non-slip surface.


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## WhiteMountainsRanch (Feb 13, 2013)

*I've used Thompson's water sealant, made for decks. Worked great! *


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## SillyChicken (Feb 14, 2013)

I can't cut the floor out due to structural concerns, plus I want to be able to move it and or use for other things.
Thanks for all the suggestions!


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## SillyChicken (Mar 11, 2013)

Just found an awesome, heavy duty commercial grade, vinyl flooring remnant.   It has a rough slip resistant texture that I think will work perfectly for the goat house!


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## Mamaboid (Mar 11, 2013)




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