Lance Harding
Waterproof Outdoor Cat House Benefits
Is a waterproof outdoor cat house worth the money?
Today, many outdoor cat enclosures are built for cats. They are cheap and affordable to construct. However, while building a cheap catio may be convenient to the pocket book, it has downfalls. In this case, a sustainable waterproof outdoor cat house is out of the question. Why? Because a high quality, strong and secure cat house is never cheap. Some exceed $10,000. But is it worth the money? Yes! Here is why a water resistant catio beats an ordinary cat house outside:
Roofing
By going the extra dollar to add a roof to a cat enclosure will do several things:
- Protect cats from weather: Whether it’s a shingle roof or metal roof, a cat can stay in an outdoor cat house longer. Therefore, more time for a cat in a cat enclosure means money well spent on the owners behalf.
- Prevents Moisture Build Up: Roofing is where water should be collected, not running inside a newly built cat house. Roofing is a great way to keep snow from falling inside and an important tool for guiding water away from an enclosure.
- Longer Lasting: Instead of moisture piling up on freshly purchased lumber and sitting there for long periods of time, a roof does all the dirty work. It’s not the support beams job to collect the water, if they have to carry on this work, they are likely to degrade faster than a support beam that is protected.
Galvanized Cat Fencing
- No Weather Corrosion: Rain or snow, galvanized cat netting can take any kind of weather. It never rusts.
- Durability: This cat screen is strong enough to last up to 20 years. For more check out an article comparing galvanized to vinyl coating fences.
Pressure Treated Lumber
- Moisture Resistant: Pressure treated lumber is created by a series of chemicals. One of these chemicals is copper based, therefore it contains a natural biocide. In turn, pressure treated lumber becomes resistant to all types of bacteria that grows after moisture build up.
- Fungal and Insect Resistant: Since pressure treated wood is injected with chemicals like alkaline copper quaternary or copper azole it becomes fungal resistant. Borate is added into the chemical compound to prevent insects from boring holes into the wood.
- Fire Resistant: During the chemical injection process, fire retardants are applied.
- Durability: Lasting up to 40 years.
Raising Outdoor Cat Enclosure off Ground
A cat house may be sheltered from the top if a roof is installed, however it’s important not to forget the ground moisture. If a catio is quickly put together with a simple design, it’s likely to be placed on the ground. However, ground moisture is likely to degrade an outdoor cat house so raising the enclosure off the ground is a great solution for this issue. For example, the cottage outdoor cat enclosure is built for this purpose. Also known as a portable catio, since it’s not bolted into anything, cat enclosure floats above the ground to prevent ground contact.
Building a Drainage System
A draining system is a trench that is built around a structure in order to guide moisture in a specific direction. Even though it takes a little effort, a drainage system will properly guide any ground water away from an outdoor cat pen.
Interested in building out door catio enclosed for my 2 kitties.
But want it attached to house . With a cat door.
Is this something you can help with?
Hi Nancy,
Please reach out to us through our contact page. Make sure to fill our our catio form and we will give you a call!