Sunday, November 15, 2009

Cathouse roof project - updated

This messy plastic cover over my cathouse has lasted since last fall. Needless to say, it will not survive another winter. The last good cover was lexan and lasted several years. I had to remove it when the house was sided. It is now a leanto against the shed that one or another cat sleeps in. This time I bought some clear corrugated roofing to try. I will add to this blog entry as I go along rather than start a new one. That is PuddyTat about to leave.
So far I have cut the 1 x 2s I use as supports and have them primed. I will get a coat of paint on them in a bit.
Eventually I hope to have a conservatory built to provide a vestibule of sorts and a better cathouse. The doubling of the cost of the garage and the decline of the value of my investments has forced me to put that off indefinitely. Hopefully this will last a couple of years as a new water pump, tanks and filters seem to have a higher priority.

UPDATE: The supports have their first coat of paint. I should have chosen different paint as this has to dry overnight. I have two space heaters going in the garage to help the drying process. I will turn them off later and on again early tomorrow morning. The forecast is for a significantly cooler day tomorrow. I hope they can raise the temperature high enough to paint!

I have received some flak about waiting so long to do this project. The primary reason is frustration. I have always used very heavy clear plastic shower curtains from Walmart. They are no longer available. The ones I can buy are far too thin to hold up under frigid cold and heavy snow. If I use anything other than clear material, I have a very dark kitchen. The cathouse is nestled between the back door and a bit of an el where the garage once was. I often open the kitchen window and pet the cats. They would like to come in but are too wary and only stick noses in fortunately. I can't have them in the house as I am allergic.

Anyhow I had some spare time in Pittsburgh after one of my ear appointments and wandered thru Home Depot looking for ideas as I had often done here. I was surprised that corrugated plastic was available in clear panels. That could solve the light problems and also channel the rain and snow which tend to ruin the usual flexible plastic.

After the insanity of running east, convention and concerts were over I measured the space and my car to make sure they would fit, got online to find where I could buy the panels and went shopping Friday. Will continue in a new post when the cover is assembled. Still don't know how I will prop up the open end.

2 comments:

Forsythia said...

I hope them cats appreciate what-all you're doing for them,

Anonymous said...

Thank you for being so kind to the kitties.