Building a wooden cat house can feel like a daunting task but fear not because our step by step guide on how to make a wooden outdoor cat house for kitten shelter will help you finish like a pro!
What you will need:
• Side panels – 2 pcs. 0.75 inch plywood
• Back and front panels – 2 pcs. 0.5 inch plywood
• Overhang – 1 pc. 0.5 inch plywood (optional)
• Insulation – 1 inch foam board
• Wooden strips for the bottom portion – 2 pcs.
• Plexiglass – 1-2 pcs. (depending on the number of windows)
• Paintbrush
• Paint
• Wood glue
• Screws
• Drill
• Saw
Assembly:
With a table saw (or regular saw) cut the panels to the size that you desire. For more accurate sizing, we recommend measuring your cat. ext, take your hand drill and make a hole on all the four corners of each panel. Use screws to put the pieces together. You may also apply wood glue in between the panels to add stability. This also prevents the plywood from splitting.
Once the screws are in place and the wood glue has dried, measure and cut the insulation foam to desired size. Take the insulation and attach it to the inner portion of the panels with glue. Insulation foam is recommended versus styrofoam because cats have a tendency to scratch the walls. This material lasts longer and does not disintegrate like styrofoam. Be careful not to attach the top portion of the insulation just yet since this will go on later.
Once the insulation is secured, screw on the top portion of the shelter. We recommend using screws to affix the top portion of the shelter so that you can easily take them out when you need to clean the insides.
Make sure that the front entrance is large enough to fit your cat without him having to struggle. Note that it should also be wide enough to provide ample ventilation into the shelter. If its too small, it can get cramped and moist on the inside which can lead to mold or mildew formation.
For the roof, you can also consider adding an overhang for better protection. This os especially important on rainy days. For this, you will have to adjust the size of the top panel so that its longer than the bottom panel. Another option is to add another piece of plywood if you’ve already cut the top panel. You can simply glue it on as an extension.
Congratulations! We’re halfway done on how to make a wooden outdoor cat house for kitten shelter.
For the windows, attach the plexiglass using glue or affix it with screws. Just be careful to do this slowly so as to prevent the glass from cracking. Once you’re done with this, you can now attach the pieces of wood on the base of the shelter. This would give the shelter a bit of height to avoid it from coming into contact with the ground.
Allow the glue to dry then sand the entire house. After this, you can begin painting. You can do 3 to 4 coats depending how you want the house to look.
Now that you know how to make a wooden outdoor cat house for kitten shelter, you can start drafting your sketches.
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