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A Bunny Build Blog!

capable

Mama Doe
At the suggestion of orangediva, I thought I might document the building/modifying/sprucing up of my outdoor bun accommodation! I feel I should preface this by admitting practically 0 DIY knowledge, but a morbid curiosity and willingness to give it a go. I've also attempted 4 different image-hosting sites since Photobucket gave up the ghost, and haven't got along with any of them - there will be teething issues all round, I'm afraid.

If you've seen any of my other thread, you'll know my End Goal is to bond my 3 boys (William, Jack and Henry) into a harmonious, outdoor trio. Bonding chatter will be on a separate thread, this diary is Housing-based progress only!

Brothers William and Jack currently live outside, Henry is in my spare room which I want back! I have a budget of £350 for this whole project.


First up: a very rough aerial sketch of the outdoor area I have to work with.
It is a poured concrete area, of about 12ft x 16ft, bordered by the wall of my outhouse (left), neighbours fence (top), drops down to a flowerbed (right), and my path (bottom). The area must've been laid in 2 halves, because the left half is lovely and smooth, with a slight gradient, and the right half is cracked and uneven, and so unsuitable for any runs to sit on top of. The area is south-facing, with the left side getting the most sunlight.

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I went round and round over housing options in my previous housing thread, which I won't rehash here - the decision I've made is to suit mine and the bun's needs best.

This is how the area currently looks, with William and Jack's hutches/runs side by side:

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I'm going to be joining the two runs together, adding height to them both to make them approx 3.5ft tall, and adding a playhouse as a new living space -

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If the dimensions allow, I'm also thinking of keeping the hutches attached for extra square footage. However, this is dependent on how clean they can be scrubbed so as to minimise bond-drama. The hutches also need a LOT of TLC, and I'm doubtful of my skills to fix them properly. Either way, I'm envisioning something like this -

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So; I ordered the playhouse yesterday, which will take-up to 10 days for delivery. I also took advantage of the 3 for 2 offer that Homebase have on Cuprinol at the mo and bought the paint I wanted :lol: Of course it'll take a while to get to that point!

Next tasks to do:
  • repair a roof panel on Jack's run - needs to be replaced with new mesh
  • deep clean both William & Jack's runs and dry thoroughly
  • paint both runs
  • buy mesh for playhouse windows
  • buy flooring for playhouse
  • think about playhouse interior - more on this later

Well, that's what I've got so far! I'll be updating this regularly, and I promise to get pics of the buns in question too!

p.s. I also give orangediva permission to use any of the text/photos I post on this diary thread for her blog! :wave:
 
This is really exciting! I’ll be following your thread avidly (as anyone planning a project is likely to do as well!) and will be delighted to use it on my site - just what I’m looking for - so thanks so much for giving me permission :thumb:

Looking forward also to piccies of the boys who will be moving in to this 4 star property!!
 
Have you got any plans for an inner mesh door for the playhouse at all? I'm starting to think of designs for my own set up this year and that's one of the things I'm stuck on; need easy access so which way to get it to open, stop hooligans from escaping and also be secure enough to just have the mesh door as a main door if the weather is too hot.
 
Have you got any plans for an inner mesh door for the playhouse at all? I'm starting to think of designs for my own set up this year and that's one of the things I'm stuck on; need easy access so which way to get it to open, stop hooligans from escaping and also be secure enough to just have the mesh door as a main door if the weather is too hot.

I think a secure inner mesh door is a really good idea, I’m having one on my shed conversion and on the MPH bothies I have on order - I’ve had bunnies living in a shed before and they can get pretty hot in really warm weather. My MPH sheds have a fixed step over barrier to stop bunnies escaping but I haven’t ordered on that on my shed conversion which might be a mistake.
 
Thanks for the encouragement everyone!

After buying the playhouse, paint, and some hardware, I have just over £100 left of my budget. I'll be picking up some more supplies on Sunday, and hopefully starting to clean and prep the runs/hutches, if the weather holds!
 
Fingers crossed the weather holds for you. What paint did you go for? Probably not the most important question but I do love a good colour scheme!
 
I am excited about the colour scheme! I went for Cuprinol’s Seagrass and Country Cream - I already have a planter and some pots in Seagrass, (it’s a lovely, summery, unobtrusive colour). With Country Cream accents and interiors, it should look very smart!
 
Lovely colours, very smart indeed 8)

I love Cuprinol! My shed/hutches/runs/garden pots etc are a combination of Willow and Somerset Green with Pink Honeysuckle for a splash of, well, extreme pinkness! I have a small tester pot of Fresh Rosemary as I fancy a change on the new bunny sheds.

Looking forward to seeing it as it comes along, capable 8)
 
I'll try and make my Facebook albums public so you can get an idea of what I did with my playhouse (which will also be going to orangediva's blog!) and shows off my somewhat-lacking DIY skills with regard to the anti-egress gate XD I've posted a picture of that here for now:

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And some other indoor ideas:

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I love the idea: lots of areas is great! Your garden is similar in shape to mine, where the bunnies are, and it's a really good idea. My biggest problem is stopping the playhouse overheating! Here's our setup: the fence is similar to where yours is and on the left of the photo, but the fence itself faces southwest so our North is about 100° clockwise compared to yours.

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The weather has been good the past couple of days, and I've made a lot of progress!

Sunday:
I decided to tackle Jack's housing first, as it's the (slightly) newer of the two.

My littlest boy being a patient angel in the Cube of Neglect (puppy pen) while I strip apart his house!

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The hutch got emptied, and the run scrubbed clean. I wish I'd taken a before and after, it was astounding. The wood was already dry, so I removed any loose dirt with a dry floor scrubbing brush. Next I used a metal cleaning pad with several fresh buckets of boiling water and bleach to scrub off the indiscriminate layer of 'garden gunge', and lastly a clean cloth with hot water and white vinegar to wipe off any left over muck. Turns out, wood takes FOREVER to dry, so I started painting the hutch and rotated the run so it all got sunlight.

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A freshly painted hutch! Seagrass on the outside, with a Country Cream interior! I also had to fix the warping wood of the back panel, tighten up the floor, and fill in some gaps to make it watertight again.

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This run is the 'Rose Run' from Pets at Home. After a couple of winters outside, the covered portion of the roof was totally rotten - it's plywood, and set into the frame, so all the rainwater collects...smart, P@H. It was so warped that I was actually able to pull it out with my fingers.

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I bought a piece of mesh from Homebase, clipped it to size, and stapled it to the underside of the roof - much better!

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And all finished!

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Mostly 'soft', decorative work, nothing that required too much thinking or DIY for a nice, gentle start!

Capable's top tips so far:
  • you will run out of masking tape - buy extra
  • you probably don't need as much paint as you think you might - the hutch and run took approx 500ml, and both have two coats
  • ...on a similar note - everything will take 1 more coat than you think
  • DO ALL OF THIS WHEN YOU FIRST GET YOUR HUTCH/RUN/SHED/WHATEVER. I know it's long, dull work, and really you shouldn't have to treat/fill/waterproof brand-new things, but you DO, so DO IT.
  • stay hydrated
  • the 'all-purpose filler' from Tescos is awful, you'll have to cut the tube right open to use it
  • masking tape comes in 2 flavours - either it falls off at a sparrow's f*rt, or it is essentially super glue
  • this is long work, so make a good, neighbour-friendly playlist to get you through
  • attempt to keep the cat out of the paint. You won't succeed, but you should at least try
  • at some point, you will accidentally paint a little spider into the wood. You will feel bad about this, and that's ok, but if you start to get teary then stop and have a snack - your blood sugar is low

Today's task was a completely different beast...
 
Very interesting both of you and, slightly selfishly, totally what I was hoping for for the old blog - better than tbh 8)

Loving that Seagrass as well :love:
 
Keletkezes - I like your inner door solution! I'd been pondering over that myself.

Orangediva - thank you! I'm having a whale of a time, both with the project, and with writing up - thanks for poking me into doing it :lol:

My playhouse arrives this morning!! Between 10 and 12. I'm hoping it comes early, so I don't have to wait in the house for 2 hours, eating into my painting time.

Yesterday was supposed to pour, but we got lucky. It was a...challenging day, project-wise, but I'll be making another photo post later on to tell you all about it! I'm trying to use every dry, not-quite-so-cloudy minute that the days give before it starts to rain again!
 
Keletkezes - I like your inner door solution! I'd been pondering over that myself.

Orangediva - thank you! I'm having a whale of a time, both with the project, and with writing up - thanks for poking me into doing it :lol:

My playhouse arrives this morning!! Between 10 and 12. I'm hoping it comes early, so I don't have to wait in the house for 2 hours, eating into my painting time.

Yesterday was supposed to pour, but we got lucky. It was a...challenging day, project-wise, but I'll be making another photo post later on to tell you all about it! I'm trying to use every dry, not-quite-so-cloudy minute that the days give before it starts to rain again!

You are doing brilliantly, very familiar with the dodging showers thing - my son was going to lay a slab path to one of my runs for me today but it was an absolute swamp out there so we’ve had to leave it.

As you’ve very kindly agreed to it, your diary entry is going to be my first guest blog post, hope that’s still ok :thumb:
 
No problem: mine's a warped nightmare door but it works (my cutting skills are poor and one bit of wood was already bent I swear). Good luck!

Thankyou for the top tips: I can't say how many times I've painted bugs into paint, poor things, but the recommendations are awesome. I only left the outside of the playhouse to do so that should be OK (ha, she says!) but it could do with moving away from the border which has grown so much I can't squeeze down the side :roll: It's my run that's the PITA because it arrived 'ready-painted' because I didn't stipulate I wanted a bare finish (and Dad thought he was helping :D). ETA: I love the thing about maskibng tape: I would recommend getting the superglue type and de-sticky0ing on a fleecy top :thumb: Also the filler I used was fantastic: my playhouse had a rotten corner so I used some treatment and then a filler and they're still going strong. Treatment was Ronseal Wet Rot Wood Hardener which was excellent and the filler was Ronseal High performance Wood Filler which might be a PITA to use for beginners but if you're used to using two-part stuff and not worried about the absolute mess you'll make of the finish (which can be dealt with once dry as well) it's excellent value for the tenner you'll pay. I've still got loads left. Recommend investing in some relatively expensive plastic knives, like the ones you have for parties, as I found thenm the best spreaders. Not the white plastic ones.

Staples: what did you use? I tried out the nail/staple gun my mum bought me and that was really effective on the chickenwire we've put across the gap in the gate, but I dunno how well it'll cope with the better wood on the run...
 
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Loving the tips :thumb: my top tip is wear gloves before you snip the roll of weldmesh open, to avoid it springing open and gashing your hand like I did!
 
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