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Showing posts from February, 2016

DIY Catio

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A short video showing the finished catio Materials used: Fibreglass insect screen, avail in several widths by the metre from most hardware stores staples (galvanised for outdoor use) timber mouldings (a couple of different shapes to stretch and hide the edges) - come in 2.4m lengths, get treated timber if poss for outdoor use I also used the flat mouldings, and insect screen to build my own door - adding corner reinforcers, and construction glue to help reinforce without using diagonal pieces.  Finally, because of the width of the original doorway, I picked up a piece of fencing trellis (the bit that is meant to be a decorative topper) from trademe to create a door jamb to hang the screen door on.  It needed cleaning up, painting (solagard), and one end needed to be cut to fit the height. 

Catio Part Two

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I've nearly finished the front catio project . I say nearly, because I rarely complete anything to my total satisfaction, and am always tinkering with things. If you're out there thinking, "I can't build stuff", "I don't know anything about DIY", so I need to get a builder or handy person in to do this stuff, and can't afford it. Stop right there.  I'm pretty happy with the end result, but if I built a second one there are a bunch of mistakes I hope I wouldn't make again. But I look around my professionally built house, and see lots of mistakes.  So anyone can have a go at building great stuff for their cats. Importantly, while we have to build knowing that cats can climb, jump, and scratch, they don't generally require the sort of strength required to build for dogs or larger animals.  Things can be quite light-weight, and therefore easy to lift, or cut with hand tools.  The downside of smaller, thinner construction is that you d

Creating a catio

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Extending the current range of the cats area, and activities, while keeping them safe is always at the back of my mind.  In the hot summer months, the cat enclosure became a bit of an issue.  Because my fencing only included the back yard, I couldn't open the ranch-slider that is my front door, and let the breeze through the whole house. So this summer I am changing that; I'm enclosing the front verandah. I only usually have a 'sort-of' plan, when I begin.  Enclosing the main area of the verandah is pretty simple, and there were quite a few options to do it. But the actual entrance would require a proper door, or gate to let people in, and out in a reasonably normal fashion. I'm not a builder. I think like most DIY-ers the more you have a go, the better you get at it.  So, I now pretty much just get started, and see how things develop.  I've also decided not to be a total wimp, and face the potential ridicule of the local DIY stores.  As it turns out, most m