Made my first try at carpentry... Made a small cat house.

Will Herring · Oct 14, 2009

Being freshly out of college and unemployed has made me try to find something to do... So I built our neighbor cat a small cathouse (she hangs out on our porch all the time, anyway).

So, I spent $20 buying some wood at Home Depot (1 sheet of plywood cut into 2'x2' squares, and 3 8' 2x4s) and a can of green spraypaint. Then a bunch of leftover nails, roofing shingles and felt, paint, and blankets we had laying around to finish it off with. And about a week worth of time for building and painting.

Also, because I don't have any power tools, I did all of the work with a hand saw and a hammer and nails. Still, it worked out pretty well, and I'm pleased that it is as square as it is. This is the first carpentry project I've undertaken on my own, and I'm pretty pleased with it. What do you guys think?

hoof print · Oct 14, 2009

that's a lot smaller than all the "cat houses" I've been in...(just kidding)

Looks great!

Rusty wheel · Oct 14, 2009

Sure looks like a cat house to me. What does the cat think of it? Nice greeen/ Shoulda trimed it in yellow. rw

Will Herring · Oct 14, 2009

(quoted from post at 21:48:48 10/14/09) Sure looks like a cat house to me. What does the cat think of it? Nice greeen/ Shoulda trimed it in yellow. rw

Yeah, I tried to use leftover paint though, hence the blue trim. Though I really did want to go with Orange/Creme (AC) or Green/Yellow (JD)...

(quoted from post at 21:41:44 10/14/09) that's a lot smaller than all the "cat houses" I've been in...(just kidding)

Looks great!

Thank you!

RusselAZ · Oct 14, 2009

Where is the red light?

omahagreg · Oct 14, 2009

Looks mighty fine! Sorry to hear you are unemployed. I am 'underemployed' at the moment myself. Greg

flying belgian · Oct 14, 2009

Oh ok. I was thinking something else.

bo · Oct 14, 2009

Outstanding job! That's not plywood by the way..it's OSB, orientated strand board....either way, not bad for a first effort. Looks like the cat is not too keen on it.

Old Roy · Oct 14, 2009

Good job !! now you can appreciate how much time goes into such a simple project. The satisfaction of building , and designing it your self is the greater of the challenge to develop enough curiosity to tackle another project, then another , then another.till it consumes you into a real fun hobby.

Anonymous-0 · Oct 14, 2009

Better than anything I have ever attempted.

My Dad said I would have made a good barn carpenter because I use so many nails.

Nancy Howell · Oct 14, 2009

Cool! Good job, especially without power tools.

What does the cat think? If she hasn't been in it, you might try putting a blanket or rug that she's laid on inside.

Will Herring · Oct 14, 2009

(quoted from post at 22:04:19 10/14/09) Outstanding job! That's not plywood by the way..it's OSB, orientated strand board....either way, not bad for a first effort. Looks like the cat is not too keen on it.

For the first few hours, she wouldn't go near it. Then after awhile, she warmed up to it. She goes in and out of it all the time, now.

And yeah, it's 1/2" OSB, not plywood. My bad.

I used an entire box of 2" nails on this project, actually. This thing better not come apart, I say!

I 'warmed her up' to the cat blanket first, then stuffed it inside. I think it did the trick, really. It also helps that I put dry food in the back corner of a morning when it is raining and I'm leaving.

And yes, I do appreciate the time that goes into such projects. Such a small project took me days to finish. The sawing, nailing, planning... Then painting, re-painting, and roofing... Good grief. I wondered if I'd ever finish!

Anonymous-0 · Oct 15, 2009

My 2 cousins was gonna build a cat house once. They had it all planned and ready to go before they realized it may not be such a good idea. They didn't have all the skills to finish the project and was tight on money. They'd have to get it under roof and then run things by hand until they could hire more help... They're both truck drivers now :roll:

Dave

Anonymous-0 · Oct 15, 2009

If it took a week to do that then come to Oz, you will be excellent for a Council employee.

Anonymous-0 · Oct 15, 2009

Didja get an acorn loan to build it?

Vito · Oct 15, 2009

Nice work.

Vito

Anonymous-0 · Oct 15, 2009

Make a "rug" out of 1" strips of corrugated cardboard stood on edge and glued together. Then sprinkle generous amounts of catnip all over the "rug" so that it falls into the corrugated holes of the cardboard. Kitty won't ever leave the “Cat house”.

Vernon in Ks · Oct 15, 2009

You beat me to it Dave :>)

Fawteen · Oct 15, 2009

Naw, he's housing adult cats...

ROFLMAO!

LA in WI · Oct 15, 2009

Did ya hear about the lady who opened a cat house in a big city?

She sold 10 cats the first day.

Ken Tallman · Oct 15, 2009

Nice job on the cathouse. Just remember that we all make misstakes doing projects, but that is part of the learning curve. Keep up the good work and you will improve more and more. You justed jumped in and got your feet wet. Thats how some people learn. Remember sitting around don't teach you anything. You can learn a lot by trial and error.
Ken

greenbeanman in Kansas · Oct 15, 2009

Looks great. Glad that you proceed to build without the use of nail guns and 16 power tools. It often takes more time to set up power tools than it would to simply use hand tools for the same job if you are skilled in their use.

If you build your next cat house in Nevada you can probably be a millionaire but the time you are 30.

Happy to see you putting your skills and knowledge to use.

John S-B · Oct 15, 2009

Nice job for just using hand tools, 'course a hundred years ago that's all they had. And some guys are so skilled with them they are more artisans that carpenters. If you buy tools, get the best quality you possibly can. And that's not necessarily the most expensive.

fixerupper · Oct 15, 2009

You did a good looking job. When you think about, we really don't need power tools to do some of the building jobs we have on our platter. Power tools do help the project go quicker, but we don't learn some of the finer skills it takes to get a good fit the first time. When we use power tools, if we do it wrong it easy to throw it away and just whack off another one.

When we are doing it by hand and are trying to conserve our aching muscles we learn how to do it right the first time.Jim

Doug in IL · Oct 15, 2009

I think you did a real good job! I see bigger projects on the way.

Will Herring · Oct 16, 2009

Thank you for all the compliments, everybody!

I have decided that while I am in employment limbo, I should try and do stuff to keep busy and build my other skills... What project to do next, though...

(quoted from post at 06:14:07 10/15/09) Didja get an acorn loan to build it?

Haha, no, they don't have any offices around here - we're too nnalert for 'em.

(quoted from post at 07:20:57 10/15/09) Make a "rug" out of 1" strips of corrugated cardboard stood on edge and glued together. Then sprinkle generous amounts of catnip all over the "rug" so that it falls into the corrugated holes of the cardboard. Kitty won't ever leave the “Cat house”.

This is a good idea. I need to find some catnip. Does Wal-Mart sell it?

Made my first try at carpentry... Made a small cat house.

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