Introduction: Dog Wash Station

My wife is a dog groomer and she was tired of working out of our garage and wanted her own building. We decided to purchase her a building and we were in luck, a closed hair salon building was for sale. She needed a wash basin for different size dogs. The ones for sale were over $1,500 dollars so I decided to build one for her. I decided to draw up some plans in Autocad so I know how much wood I was going to need. The distance from the floor to the sub-panel was going to be 3 feet. This was a good distance for her and the dogs. The water drain was to the left of the station so I needed to run the plumbing from the drain of the basin the the wall. The total cost of this project was around $400 dollars and this wash station has already paid for itself. The first thing I did was purchased the shower basin at Lowes and it is 36" x 48". This was a good size because it can hold and fit up to a Great Dane. Everything that was drawn in the plans are based of the basin.

Step 1: Bottom Support

This is the bottom support. It is squared and ready for the sub-panel to be put on the top but that little boys is in the way but he is making sure the wood is good and straight. I had pre-cut all the wood needed. The studs are regular studs and not pretreated wood. That would add a lot of weight to the structure. I did not use nails because of the weigh that was going to be transferring when the dogs would move so I used screws that were 3 1/4" long.

Step 2: Sub-panel, Walls and Basin Installation.

The sub-panel was installed. It is a 3/4" plywood. The side walls were screwed and bolted with 5/8" bolts, lock nut and fender washers. Before I did any drilling or screwing, I wanted to make sure everything was going to fit. So I decided to do a dry fit. Everything fit perfectly. With all the walls installed I dry fitted the basin again and drew on the sub-panel where my drain was going to be. I cut the drain hole out, cleaned the sub-panel then reinstalled the basin. Before I put the basin in, I used window and door expanding foam on the sub-panel to help secure the basin to the panel. Just stay away from the drain hole up to 3" around. There is no drilling required for the basin. The basin comes with clips to help secure it the the studs.

Step 3: Drywall Installation.

The drywall sheets comes in 4x8 so I need to cut them to size. I know that the walls were a little shy of 4 feet so I just cut the sheets in half. I then held it in place while I drew a line from the studs so I know where to cut to drywall. After all the drywalls were cut I then screwed them in placed to the suds. These drywalls are for a wet area and are mold resistant. The water proofing was then installed and also comes in 4x8 sheets. I did the exact same thing as the drywall and secured them with glue that is designed for this application. After 24 hours of drying, I then used chaulking to seal the seams where they joined together.

Step 4: Installing the Water and Plumbing.

My wife did not want the water outlet inside the basin because of the animals so I decided to put it on the outside and run the nozzle from the top to keep it out of the way of the animals. The height of the basin compared to the drain port in the wall was perfect. As you can see there is an angle for the drain. After the drain was installed I did a wet run and I found no leaks. In the first picture you can see how my wife decorated it. I hope this helps or entertain others and I am always up for improvements, comments or suggestions.

Before and After Contest

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Before and After Contest