I am currently in the process of building a small kennel to house approx. 10 dogs. It now has a cement floor ( I wish we would have put a dye in the cement when it was poured but it is too late now) and I am deciding what type of flooring will be my best option for wear and tear and odor control.

Has anyone used a 2 part epoxy on cement flooring? (Quick-Krete or Rustoleum) I am concerned that dog nails will scratch and remove the paint. If it is sealed will it still absorb the smell of urine?

In my grooming room I have the tile on the floor that they use in schools. That is a nightmare. I made the mistake of using mop and glo on it because I wanted to keep it shiny. Well, instead it has built up on the floor and I cannot remove the dirt and stains. I also made the mistake of choosing a light beige color, so it really shows the dirt. Today I am going to try to use a floor stripper on it to see if I can remove the dirt and wax build-up, then reseal/re-wax it.

I don't want to make the same mistakes with my kennel floor. Does anyone have any suggestions or comments on what to use?

Lisa are we speaking of the interior part of the kennel runs or the outside? or both? Is this a kennel that will have new dogs rotating in and out every day or a kennel that houses the same dogs?

Much of this will depend on maintenance practices you are using.

Sorry about those school room floors. I've groomed on those before and they can be a pain in the neck to keep clean. Sometimes you just can't, and you must keep them waxed to keep the tiles from being ruined. It's a pain in the neck. Depending on how big your grooming area is I'd scrap them sooner rather than later because you'll constantly be fighting them to keep them clean and they don't tend to handle moisture well. Plain old tile is my preferred flooring at this point.

As far as being able to see the dirt. You want to be able to see it easily. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to keep something clean but having the colors fight against you.

Hi Melissa,

This afternoon I used Armstrong Floor stripper on my grooming room floor and it came out beautiful.I let the stripper soak for about 5 minutes then scubbed it with a brush. The floor looks brand new. I will still need to coat it with several coats of wax. I am thrilled it was so easy, but still a pain in the butt.

The kennel will house different dogs so they will always be rotating in and out.I am talking about the interior of the kennel runs. The outside I am not sure yet if I will use pea gravel or just keep it grass.

Hi Lisa,

My suggestion for the inside of kennel runs is concrete, tile, stone, or painted concrete depending on what your business model/clientele is. Yes the dog nails will chip and wear your gear but, it's part of boarding. Sanitation and looks is what you're after. If you're running a luxury cottage the look will be different than if you're running a plain old economy dog boarding place.

Pea Gravel is a minimum for outside, the problem is with pea gravel that the dogs in my opinion don't stay clean enough and you'll always have it getting packed indoors. Personally I would not do grass because of maintenance and mud outside unless it's the fake stuff they use for soccer. http://www.easyturf.com/pet-grass/dog-grass. it's expensive but you can build a really nice drainage system under it and it stays looking nice with little maintenance.

I personally would call around to various boarding places in your area and set up mock tours. They should give them all the time. Take note of their designs, how their place smells, and what areas are showing wear and tear. Dogs chew things no one ever thinks of especially when they're stressed.

 Quote: lisa harrison

Hi Melissa,

This afternoon I used Armstrong Floor stripper on my grooming room floor and it came out beautiful.I let the stripper soak for about 5 minutes then scrubbed it with a brush. The floor looks brand new. I will still need to coat it with several coats of wax. I am thrilled it was so easy, but still a pain in the butt.

The kennel will house different dogs so they will always be rotating in and out.I am talking about the interior of the kennel runs. The outside I am not sure yet if I will use pea gravel or just keep it grass.

Hi there Lisa,

I was in the flooring business for quite a few years and I may be able to shed some light on your situation. In my experience, it's best for a business with high traffic, as yours will hopefully be, to let a professional handle the floors. They have the right equipment and products to really take care of your floor. They should use a commercial grade wax, which has more solids in it than the Armstrong products you have available. They usually work rather reasonably, as it will take them about 1/10 the time to properly strip and wax your floor.

If you do decide to handle it yourself, I would suggest going to ACE Hardware, if you have one in your area, and getting their commercial wax. It is really good stuff.

If you are looking for a durable finish for your concrete runs, I would suggest the new epoxy garage floor finishes. Rustoleum has a good one. InsulX also makes a great commercial floor paint that is used in factories that is incredibly durable. The key to any finish lasting on a concrete floor is surface preparation. You should wash it very well, rinse it even better, and follow that up with an etch using muriatic acid. Then another good rinse and dry before applying your finish.

If you decide to change the floor inside because you don't like the 12x12 vinyl tile, I would suggest inlaid vinyl or an unglazed ceramic or quarry tile, like they use on the floors in McDonalds' kitchens. Something you may also consider is having a flooring professional come out to your location and show you some options. Most good retailers and installers will do this for free.

My family raised Saint Bernards when I was young, and our outdoor runs were all #4 limestone. It's big enough to discourage digging, to big to get into paws and track, but not so big as to be hard to walk on. It also doesn't roll around like pea gravel or river rock, so the dog's feet won't sink in with every step. The poo is easy to clean up too. If you do decide to go with limestone, spray it down with a hose every day for a few days to get rid of the dust. After that, it's a pretty clean substrate.

I wish you the best of luck with your business!

David

 Quote: David Winners

My family raised Saint Bernards when I was young, and our outdoor runs were all #4 limestone.

David,
I did a quick google search to try to figure this out for myself, but didn't come up with anything. What is the approx. size/diameter of #4 limestone? I was thinking of using pea gravel in my outdoor runs, but this sounds like a better idea (if I can get it here).

I used washed pea gravel in mine.

Do you like how the pea gravel worked out, Anne? I was thinking of doing something like putting down a layer of fabric, covering it with some type of mesh (to prevent the dogs from digging into the fabric and ripping it up) and then putting a few inches of gravel on top of that. I was a little concerned about the pea gravel getting kicked out - did it tend to stay put in your kennel?

 Quote: konnie hein

 Quote: david winners

My family raised Saint Bernards when I was young, and our outdoor runs were all #4 limestone.

David,
I did a quick google search to try to figure this out for myself, but didn't come up with anything. What is the approx. size/diameter of #4 limestone? I was thinking of using pea gravel in my outdoor runs, but this sounds like a better idea (if I can get it here).

#4 limestone is 1-1/2" to 2" in diameter. We used limestone because it is not round like pea gravel, so it doesn't shift around as much.

http://www.tilconct.com/stone.htm

This company has 15 locations in Connecticut. We used 3-1/2" of stone with 80 mil plastic underneath to keep it from sinking into the ground over time. We also poured a concrete curb, just like they use along the street, to contain the gravel. For a nice look, you can add color to the curb if you wish. Think of your lawn as the street and your gravel as the sidewalk.

Edited to add: We put the flat side of the curb towards the grass in the lawn surrounding the runs, even with ground level, so when you were mowing, you could just put the wheel of the mower up on the flat part of the curb. This keeps you from having to trim around chain-link fence with your weed whacker. I hope I'm explaining this clearly If you need further clarification I will try. I'm a real picture guy myself and find it hard to explain things without visual aids.

David

Edited by David Winners (09/01/2009 02:52 AM)
Edit reason: clarification.

Thanks for the additional info, David! My husband used to do infrastructure construction for the town, so maybe I can convince him to build a curb for me. I was hoping to avoid concrete (otherwise I would have just poured concrete for the runs), but it sounds better than anything else I could come up with.