I am trying to locate plans to enable me to build an outdoor freestanding cat house. Have Queen and three 6 week old kittens. Recently purchased the Stacey from Somerzby's however kittens need more space and want to add enclosure to this.
TIA
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @103596. It's fantastic to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about building a free-standing cat house.
How large do you want this additional enclosure to be? If you can provide a sketch including dimensions, I'd be more than happy to design something for you and provide renderings to assist your build. As for plans, I'm unsure if you'd find any that specifically deal with extending your current enclosure. However, it does appear that you could extend it relatively easily.You might get inspiration from these previous projects shared on Workshop:
Please let me know if you have any questions.Mitchell
so I’ve built a few with my first few built from galvanized 10mm mesh and colorblind sheeting 8m by 3m with peak around 1.6 I’ve also got 2 4 metre ones
My question the mesh and my construction are great however there coat is as absurd a date strong CC
I’ve also got my cat net outdoor space for the ones inside currently only my kings out with that space was partial roofed too ran some polycarbonate corrugated sheets from eave to fence and below that’s the cat net eave to fence and I installed second fence from house to fence which is fine still good the covered bit now removed was redundant anyway as they have free access inside
Cat net is good but not for my standalone cages and the previous standalone builds were probably grand or so in mesh on the 4 metre ones plus tel screws every inch impenetrable
my question I’m building 2more standalone yards these ones 6m long and I putting beside each other with mini houses at rear I can’t justify the strength and costs of first ones with what would be ideals hard plastic like 6to 10mm thick or something that’s not going to fail timbers no good as hold germs and I have to regularly disinfect and clean with gernie
Anything thats durable like my cages 6 years in and they are good for another 10 or so pretty much should outlive me but won’t be the cost of a decent second hand car so needing a material for say 40 square metres
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @MINILION MAINE COON. It's a pleasure to have you join us and many thanks for your question on building a cat enclosure.
For enclosures of that size (6m runs), they really need to be self-supporting, which means there’s a minimum level of structural framing required regardless of what you clad them with. That’s usually where a big portion of the cost sits, and unfortunately, it’s not something you can reduce too much without compromising strength and longevity.
In terms of materials, hard plastics in the 6–10mm range (like HDPE or similar) sound like a good idea on paper, but they’re actually quite expensive, often more so than a full metal frame with mesh. They can also require more support than you’d expect to stop bowing over those spans, which adds further cost.
Realistically, mesh is still one of the most cost-effective and durable options for this kind of build. If you’re looking to bring costs down, a few things you could consider:
For hygiene, galvanised mesh and steel framing actually hold up very well to regular cleaning and disinfecting, especially compared to timber. One other option is to use https://www.bunnings.com.au/rapid-122-x-106-x-73-5cm-cat-enclosure-with-tunnel_p0035778 . Also, though it might be at the upper end of the budget, we also have these https://www.bunnings.com.au/rapid-1-8-x-3-x-3m-2-in-1-galvanised-steel-animal-enclosure_p0758264 .
In short, there isn’t really a cheaper “solid panel” alternative that will outperform mesh at that scale. Most options end up costing more once you factor in thickness and support. A slightly simplified version of your original builds is probably the best balance between cost, durability, and practicality.
I'd encourage you to check out some of the previous cat enclosure discussions on the community for ideas:
I'll also tag some of our members that have submitted projects, such as @TheSaltyreefer and @Kenzi.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mitchell
