Looking to get a heavy duty dog crate for your dog? Not happy with the choices you’ve seen to buy? Selection of heavy duty crates is sparse. Plus they can be pretty expensive.
If you want options to save some money and build an awesome piece of furniture that works for your dog and makes your place look great you’ve come to the right place.
We’ll show you a slew of heavy duty dog crate designs. Then we’ll give you full instructions on how to build one. Plus we’ll throw in a collection of videos showing you step by step what to do.
Table of Contents
How To Make And Build Heavy Duty DIY Dog Crate
- Choose a design and hunt down videos, plans or instructions. We’ve included a bunch of design plans and videos below.
- Gather needed materials. See each specific plan for what you need to buy. Most can be built with items from Home Depot or local hardware stores.
- Prep needed tools. Again, check the plans. At a minimum you’ll need
- Measuring tape
- Pencil
- Table saw or hand saw
- Drill with drill bits to start screw holes. In some designs you’ll need a hole saw drill bit but that isn’t needed for most.
- Screwdriver attachments for your drill
- Rust removing equipment – Use a metal brush drill bit on a drill press or hand held drill. Use this to remove rust from rebar if you design calls for rebar.
- Sanding equipment
- Hand and eye protection
- Follow plans and instructions below for your specific design.
- Remove rust from metal pieces
- Paint metal pieces
- Cut wood to length
- Attach pieces per plan designs
- Sand
- Paint or stain
The Top Designs and Youtube Videos
Difficulty Level
Easy to Medium
This gorgeous design uses a combination of pocket holes and rebar to fit 2x4s together. The top is a simple wood panel from Craft Master. While the pocket holes and the rebar work are a bit challenging, the overall design is based off simply 2×4 construction. Plus having a ready made wood panel for the roof saves time cutting, planing, and gluing a table top together.
Difficulty Level
Medium to Hard
This design is gorgeous as well but requires more advanced carpentry skills. If you build it as designed you’ll need a decent amount of equipment included planing equipment, table saws, sanding gear, and multiple drills for square holes and pocket holes.
You’ll also need to glue and form your own table top.
The design cheats a bit and uses plywood for the floor but it’s designed to mainly hide that feature.
Further down we show a method of using plywood for the roof then adding decorative wood slats to give it a better appearance without advanced carpentry skills required.
Difficulty Level
Medium to Hard
This is another medium plus carpentry project. Like the previous design this one requires you to be comfortable gluing and planing your own table top. We prefer the plywood with wood slat veneer method but to each their own.
What’s nice about this design is the simplicity of materials. It uses 10 pieces of rebar and a handful of 1x8s and 2x8s. Of course, the creator cuts those lengthwise into smaller pieces so some table saw work is required.
The creator also uses dowels to fill in the pocket holes at each joint. Pocket hole work and gluing joints is also required.
Difficulty Level
Easy to Medium
I love this design. It takes your existing dog crate then builds a decorative frame and table top around it. Then they add wheels so you can move it around easily.
While the concept is easy the methods used to build this require medium carpentry skills.
You could easily combine this idea with the method in the first video and build the same thing with 2x4s and premade wood panels to make this an easy job.
Difficulty Level
Medium
This design uses similar pocket hole and rebar methods to create the side bars. Some rust removal, painting, and staining is required.
Knowledge and tools of making pocket holes to attach the rebar is required.
Wall and door work requires gluing panels together and sanding them flat.
Difficulty Level
Easy
This design uses metal fencing pieces to build the bars of the crate. Depending on your skill with sizing and cutting metal fencing this could be an easy to medium task to build. The design uses plywood for the floor which is easier to acquire and put together than gluing 1x4s together as in the other examples.
The frame is made of 1x4s and the roof is also made of plywood. Most pieces are attached via screws without pocket holes.
Decorative wooden slats are attached on top of the plywood roof to give it a better look.
Difficulty Level
Medium
This is an excellent design for taller dogs like Great Danes. It’s not too difficult to put together. The solid panel walls are made of thin plywood that’s inset into frame pieces.
Again rebar is prepped and attached via pocket holes into the frame.
The roof is also made of plywood so gluing your own top panel isn’t required.
Difficulty Level
Medium to Hard
This model is only hard because of the detail. With 4 drawers this piece doubles truly as furniture for the room.
Because of the 4 drawers, inset rebar, and smooth polished top a good amount of work is required.
Choose this model if you want something large for multiple small dogs or if you want the extra drawers for storage.
You could make this a simpler job by taking out the drawers and using a simpler 2×4 frame as in the first design above.
Difficulty Level
Medium
This last design is great for adding extra comfort and security for your dog. Why? Solid walls help it feel more like a cozy cave to block distracting sights and sounds.
Wood dowels are used for the bars so these might not be the best for dogs that love to chew. Some pocket hole work is required to put them together.
The side panels and roof are made of plywood.
My name is Ken and I’m one of the staff writers at Petloverguy.com. I’ve cared for pets most of my life starting with hamsters, turtles, and snakes. Then moving up to parakeets, guinea pigs, and even ducks.
I currently live with two yorkies and a chihuahua mix.
