What timber would be best for a cat enclosure that will be outside?

fionafog

Wanting to build a cat enclosure off a solid brick wall. It will be on a solid concrete driveway. 
so needing advice on what materials would be required.

The enclosure would be 6 to 7 meters in length, 3 to 4 metres wide, and height at least 2 meters. Something like the image below. 

MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @fionafog. It's wonderful to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about building a catio.

You could build the entire structure using 90 x 45mm H3 treated pine, which will hold up well outdoors. For the horizontal sections, 42 x 42mm pine would be sufficient. One challenge you'll run into is that 90 x 45mm timber can't span the full 3m width without bowing under its own weight. To prevent this, you could run an additional 90 x 45mm beam along the length and support it with a couple of 88mm posts.

I've created the rendering below to illustrate the design. It uses 11 lengths of 90 x 45mm at 2000mm, four at 6000mm, and nine at 3000mm. For the horizontal timber, you'll need around 13 metres. You can join everything using Zenith 8 - 10 x 100mm Treated Pine Countersunk Head Screws, which will provide a strong and secure connection.

The rear top beam must be bolted to your wall, and sturdy wire used for the mesh. A door can be added to the catio by creating a frame for it.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell