DIY Truck’s Place (Outdoor Rabbit Hutch)
From John,
Had a lot of fun building this hutch for our new family member Truck. I’d consider myself a novice-to-intermediate woodworker and found the plans straightforward enough to take some liberties in making a few mods:
• higher legs, for storage underneath
• a reinforced screen door frame, to ensure that 1) the screen stayed put with inevitable stress from kids pushing on it 2) no barbs were exposed on its edges (pictured)
• a slat *door* instead of fixed slats on the right side, fastened with a slide lock on the interior side
• a detachable ramp w/ ridges • a slide-in/slide-out interior wall for easier cleaning
• a hinged roof with a continuous hinge along the back and lid support hinge to keep it open when it’s up Since the hutch is in a sheltered area, I blew off the shingles and will consider coming back to that later.
If I could do it over, I would opt for a high-quality ply cut to size for the back, front door, and sides instead of the slatboard sides. Slats were a lot of unnecessary cutting and nailing imo. Links to some of the hardware used:
I would guess that with additional materials and hardware, the total budget for the project was b’wn $225-$250 excluding the paint and paint supplies I had on hand. I’d be embarrassed to say how much time I enjoyed making, painting, and accessorizing. That said, it was a great way to pass away the quarantine/unemployment and it’s good enough looking to share our outdoor living space.