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Kennel Flooring Ideas
So what is the best kennel flooring? This is a question we get asked a lot and its difficult one to answer but let me try to explain.
Getting a good kennel floor is so important as it needs to be practical and easy to clean, dogs are often filthy and you need to have the right surface to make life as easy as you can. A floor that is difficult to clean, leaks or is porous will frustrate you no end making your daily cleaning job so much harder.
What makes good kennel flooring?
Hygienic
Anti slip
Easily cleaned
Waterproof
Durable
Firstly a kennel floor needs to be hygienic, all kennels should be cleaned daily and the cleaning agents need to be able to kill the germs and harmful bacteria. This means that the ideal surface is one continuous floor with as few joints as possible.
Your choice of floor needs to perform well with so much traffic movements each and every day. Particularly when wet the flooring needs to be anti-slip so dogs don’t fall and it needs an amount of grip to prevent injury. If you have too much grip this will mean that its extremely difficult to clean and makes this chore so much longer which will really frustrate you.
Time is money especially if you have a large multi bay kennel to get through each day. Ideally you need to be able to get into the difficult areas with a floor that drains well and dries quickly after cleaning.
Your chosen floor needs to be impervious so when you’re cleaning, making sure that no liquid soaks in otherwise your kennels will smell very quickly. If dogs urinate on a floor that absorbs liquid this will be unpleasant for the dogs, kennel hands and visitors. Anyone visiting any kennel forms an opinion within the first 3 seconds based on their sense of smell.
Whatever kennel flooring you choose it has to be strong and durable, hopefully you will choose your surface based on longevity and performance. Some flooring will work better for you than others but it’s a balance between cost and lifespan.
Whether you have an individual kennel or a large kennel block you will want it to be a success so the principle are the same, we see so many people making decisions which they often regret that will cost them more to remedy.
Kennel Flooring Options
For a commercial kennel the flooring you decide to go for is even more critical as the daily traffic is going to be heavy and intensive due to the amount of dogs moving in and out numerous times every day. The kennel environment is a harsh one and choosing the wrong flooring will have a serious impact and can be costly to amend.
Concrete Bases
These are perhaps the most common one in use throughout the industry. This is the foundation for your kennel, so it is critical to get this right whilst planning a kennel build. A good composition of materials using the right strength mix and additives is essential, as is the groundwork and base preparation.
I have seen kennels literally pulled apart from the forces of a base moving underneath, so your whole investment can be ruined by not following the right process. Fortunately, we offer free advice on how to put down a concrete base successfully for your kennel project.
Ideally your base should be power floated and this is time critical so if the mix is too strong and it goes off too quickly this will be a major obstacle and if its too slow to cure then the power floating job might have to be done in darkness with floodlights.
We do advise on all aspects of groundwork and how to avoid the pitfalls, if you follow this it should mean that you have a long term non-porous base with all the falls and drains installed correctly. A good quality concrete base is the most serviceable option for a commercial dog kennel.
Sadly so many customers get this wrong which then means that you have to look at ways to overcome this which adds further cost.
Tiled Floors
These are expensive to buy and lay, perhaps the most important is to choose a tile with the correct amount of grip, get this wrong and your flooring will be a danger. The grout is the most important element to a tiled kennel floor, overtime all grout will crack and fail. This results in liquids and urine getting under a tile and then you will have unpleasant long-term smells to deal with. Our opinion would be to avoid a tiled floor at all costs.
Resin Paints
Many customers don’t like the look of natural concrete, so they like to spice up their kennel environment to make it look friendlier. Preparation is so important here as the conditions have to be completely dry to be a success.
I have been in so many kennels that have tried to do this and the majority regret this decision as the paint tends to wear and flake making the whole area look shabby.
Resin Screed
This is applied with a trowel to a depth of 9mm thick, they come in a variety of colours and they also can come with different amounts of grip. A resin floor is expensive and should cost around £15 per meter but this provides an excellent flooring for boarding kennel. Sometimes pricing increases if you want the curved corners installing and it depends on the complexity of your kennel layout.
Raised Kennel Floors
A raised floor helps to lift the dogs up from the cold, damp and draughts. It’s a good choice for lots of reasons but you do need to be careful about your choice of floor coverings. We manufacture a range of raised thermal kennels which are a great way to provide a kennel without going to a lot of costs associated with groundworks and concrete bases.
Waterproof Floors
Phenolic board is a waterproof product that comes in a range of thicknesses, it performs well as it is has good antislip qualities and is easily cleaned. This is a compressed material so it has good levels of durability. Obviously, you will need to consider sheet size and have as few joins as possible.
Recycled Plastic Flooring
This is a relatively new flooring and for some it represents a good eco friendly option. Again, this is available in different thicknesses but it performs really well in the long term.
If you have dogs that dig it has it incredibly tough and resistant so an ideal solution for a busy kennel environment. This is easy to clean and hygienic so could be a good choice particularly in a smaller kennel.
Rubber Matting
There are lots of options of rubber matting some better than others of course. It can be a little time consuming to have to keep taking these up to clean under, also we wouldn’t advise these for dogs that chew. They are inexpensive to buy and make a good short-term solution for smaller dog kennels.
Conclusion
Whatever the size of your kennel you can see there are a lot of choices to be made and many pitfalls to navigate your way through. If you would like any free kennel advice, then please contact us as we would be happy to assist you on sales@easyanimal.co.uk
