Making your own hole in the door for your pet is as easy as shelling pears. A door loophole for a cat can be of absolutely any shape: round, square, rectangular, oval, curly. The work consists of the following stages:
How to make a hole for your four-legged pet in a wooden door with your own hands:
Door for cats in the door "Trixie"
A hole for a domestic cat (for the door to the toilet or between rooms)
The pet hole can be installed almost anywhere:
There is a wide variety of door openings on the market for cat products. Accessories from different manufacturers differ from each other in shape, material, size, and price. Each of them has both pros and cons. To choose the appropriate option, you need to study the features of the most popular models among consumers. Information about them is presented in the table:
If you are the owner of several purrs, then count on the most well-fed one. Add 5 cm to all parameters of the animal - this will be the size of the passage. If you don't want your sleep to be interrupted by a slamming door, don't cut a window into your bedroom door. Place such structures on the doors to the bathroom and toilet rooms.
A ready-made template, which you can buy in a store, is glued exactly in the middle of the product. Holes should be drilled in the corners of the doorway. The drill should be wider than the jigsaw. Work should be carried out wearing safety glasses and appropriate clothing.
Cat doors come in different types. Manhole is the simplest option. This is an interior solution, since it is not suitable for the role of an entrance door. This is a kind of hole through which the cat gets into the room it needs. In order not to spoil the design of the apartment, the manhole is made in an interesting and original shape. You can install special brushes. When the animal enters the room, excess hair will remain on the brush. Such a unique passage will become an ally in the fight for cleanliness.
Manufacturing materials
Wood is most often used to make such structures. Both the manhole frame and the door are made from it. Cheaper designs are made of plastic. Therefore, they are also very popular.
Rubber seals and inserts are also used for such structures. These elements prevent the doors from knocking on the frame of the manhole, and also improve the sound insulation of the structure. For independent decorative finishing of the cat passage, you can use various fabric materials.
Door
When cutting, the jigsaw must be pressed firmly against the door so that the movements are smooth, without jerking. The unnecessary fragment is deleted. The hole is treated with sandpaper.
A window differs from a manhole in the presence of a movable door. It consists of a metal or wooden frame and a movable plastic plate. Just like a manhole is not suitable for the front door, since uninvited guests, such as stray cats, can enter the house through it. If you install a sash lock, you can prevent the neighbor's cats from entering the apartment, but this process will also have to be controlled by the owners.
Interestingly, the first such door for cats was invented by Isaac Newton. According to legend, the scientist made a hole so that the cat would not interfere with his experiments with light, demanding to be let in and out of the room.
Compared to a manhole, in this case, noise insulation and protection from the penetration of unpleasant odors will be greater. Almost any animal owner can make such a window with his own hands. But such a design will still cause inconvenience at night, when the cat will “slam the door” every time.
Holding the nut in one hand and the screwdriver in the other, tighten the nut finger-tight. Repeat these steps for the other three nuts. After tightening all four nuts, make sure that the bottom edge of the door is exactly horizontal. Then tighten all nuts securely.
Drill Holes Drill a hole in each corner of the template. The positions of these holes indicate the square outline of the cat door. Mark horizontal and vertical lines directly on the door.
The diameter of the drill bit should be slightly larger than the width of your jigsaw blade so that it can be rotated in the drilled hole. Wear safety glasses when working and ensure that loose clothing and strands of hair are kept a safe distance from the tool.
Window
This design is designed for free passage of the cat and is installed directly into the entrance or interior door. It consists of glass or plastic and a metal or wooden frame.
The cat window is well insulated and will not let in odors, unlike a regular cat window. If desired, you can easily close the passage using a latch or a simple lock. It is very easy to make such a design yourself.
One of the disadvantages is the lack of noiselessness. The structure will clap or creak every time an animal passes through it. For this reason, windows are rarely installed in interior doors, since such sounds can irritate or interfere with rest.
Installing the cat door on site
Most cat owners install the door in the center of the door. To do this, mark the center of the door with a dot.
Once you've run the jigsaw along all the lines, remove the inner wood rectangle from the hole. If you haven't purchased a ready-to-use cat door, use this piece of wood to make a homemade cat door. Finishing Finish the edges of the hole with sandpaper and remove dust with a vacuum cleaner. Place the front of the door over the opening and check that the door can move freely.
Cats are all different sizes. The door must be at the correct height for your cat to get in and out. The average height of a cat door is 15 cm above floor level. This is also the average height of a cat's belly. Mark the correct height at two points to make a straight line.
By placing the front of the cat flap directly on the door, you can mark the positions of the mounting holes in the four corners.
First of all, measure the dimensions of your cat. Based on the measurements obtained, we select the appropriate width of the doorway. Remove the door from its hinges. We determine the height of the door installation. The optimal indicator is 15 cm from the floor level. To create a straight line, mark two points and draw a horizontal line.
The cat hole can be decorated with decorative elements so that it does not spoil the appearance of the door
What types of pet doors are there?
Based on the type of design, there are three types of cat devices for entering a room: a manhole, a window and a door. They all have their own distinctive features. The hole has no doors and is essentially a hole in the door through which the animal can freely pass between rooms. The disadvantages of such a system are obvious: the penetration of odors and noise, the impossibility of installation in the front door for obvious reasons.
Installing a ready-made pet door involves cutting a hole to fit the tunnel and assembling the entire structure inside it. It is noteworthy that the width of the tunnel can be adjusted by adding additional parts or cutting them. This allows you to choose the most optimal option for any thickness of door or even wall. The overhead parts are pulled together with long bolts, but can also be screwed with self-tapping screws to the surface of the door leaf.
Photo gallery
The main tools of masters and craftswomen here are imagination, design skills and small financial investments. On the Internet there are many photos and videos of homemade windows - these are just passages in the form of old frames, and cut plastic bottles, and even creative ones with carvings. There is a lot of room for imagination here; you can combine different ideas or create and invent something new.
Types of cat doors
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What materials and components may be needed:
To avoid mistakes, plan your work on arranging a cat hole and follow the plan exactly. To begin, remove the door in which you plan to install a shutter for your pet from its hinges. Place it on a flat surface.
Sometimes it may seem that your beloved cat wants to unsettle you due to its desire to move freely around the house. Now she needs to go to the balcony, now from the balcony, now into the room, now out of the room. And every now and then you have to walk behind your pet and open and close the door while caring for it. What to do in such a situation? Some owners prefer to install a cat door themselves rather than endlessly groom their pet.
Door with hinged leaf
Types of passages for pets
Homemade door
Such a door will allow the cat to independently enter and exit from one room to another whenever she wants. A quality cat door can be installed in both interior and exterior door systems. The simplest cat door can be made using wood or plastic. To ensure safety, the structure is equipped with a latch and a sash.
If you are afraid that a strange cat will enter your house, then you can purchase a special sensor that receives and transmits a signal that comes from a microchip built into the cat’s collar. This means that besides your pet, no one else will get into the house. However, before you get started, you should measure the dimensions of the cat, which will allow you to decide on the size and shape of the door.
Now cut a hole at the bottom of the door leaf, which can be from 10x10 cm to 15x15 cm. It all depends on the size of your pet. To ensure your door remains aesthetically pleasing, the base of the cat hole should be treated to form a frame. At the top of the cat hole, install swivel and swivel hinges or hinges. Now fasten the finished doors on their hinges and install the door leaf in place.
The opening part can be made of wood.
You can make a hole for a cat by purchasing and installing a special clamp, or you can do it yourself. It doesn't take long and is easy to create. It is best to make a cat hole during renovations in the room, but it is also possible after. They install tunnels for cats in the interior walls and in the walls - wherever it is more convenient.
Based on the measurements taken, you need to cut the required hole in the prepared canvas.
Rubber against noise
They are used to aesthetically hide a hole in a wall or an interior door. They are not able to close hermetically, they allow air and smell to pass through, there is no cat access restrictor to the room. There is no way to lock it in a specific position. Suitable if there are small cats in the house. It is necessary to select environmentally friendly materials, because they will come into contact with the animal’s skin. Used as decoration for plastic tunnels.
Inserts made from it are used on window-type structures when it is necessary to make it more airtight. Reduces knocking, friction, noise. Replaces door holder. It can be used to close a hole in interior walls, but it does not look aesthetically pleasing and is difficult for a cat to use. In addition to this door material, glass, metal, wood, and fabric are used.
Once a passage through the cat door has been created, some time will have to be spent teaching the animal how to use the door. A toy on a fishing line suspended from a piece of canvas will help. You need to spend up to 5 days, after which the animal will become independent and will use the tunnel whenever it wants. The size for the door is selected individually, based on the cat’s parameters.
The market is diverse and you can choose a product to suit every taste. Install cat gates in the interior or entrance door. There are these types:
Cats, of course, are smart and dexterous animals, but they also do not know how to open doors if these doors are tightly closed. And since the “cat litter” is usually located in the bathroom, a tightly closed door can lead to unpleasant consequences.
Of course, special hatches for cats that can be embedded in the door have long been invented and sold, but we are not looking for easy ways. And I don’t go to pet stores, but googling showed that such hatches for cats are relatively expensive. At the same time, two “penny” plastic plumbing hatches for gypsum boards were on hand. All that was left was to break off the lid latches so that they would open in both directions, cut out a hole in the door evenly, and glue in these hatches symmetrically.
What happened can be seen in the photo. Of course, this is not for those who have a “designer renovation”, but for an ordinary apartment it is quite suitable. No shortcomings were noticed, animals and people are happy with everything.
The pleasant purring, tenderness of cats and devotion to their home evoke love in the heart of almost every person, in return we are ready to give no less, pamper and fulfill all the purrs that come. Dogs require no less attention.
Today, stores offer cat and dog owners a huge assortment of windows, manholes and even tunnels designed for the convenience of moving pets around the apartment or from home to the street. Some of them can be ordered. But why overpay if even a beginner can handle this type of construction work with his own hands?
Assembling a wooden door with your own hands
Choice of door material
Before you make a wooden door with your own hands, you need to select the material. For these purposes, it is best to use wood species that are durable, but at the same time easy to process. These include:
| wood type | Peculiarities |
| Pine | Among the advantages we can highlight such points as:
The only thing that should be noted is that pine can dry out over time, so it is not always appropriate. |
| Alder | It is also easy to handle and lightweight. The only thing is that alder must be carefully treated with antiseptic compounds, as it is highly susceptible to decay. |
| Birch | Quite hard and dense wood with a beautiful texture. |
| Oak | It is a very strong and durable wood, however, difficult to process. In addition, oak is quite expensive. |
| Beech | Strong and durable breed, resistant to mechanical stress. The only thing when making beech doors is that this wood is susceptible to moisture. Therefore, it requires special processing. |
| Larch | It is a strong and durable material that is resistant to moisture. The only drawback of larch is its fairly high cost. |
| Maple | It has good strength and is easy to process. Other advantages of maple include resistance to moisture. |
It must be said that special impregnations allow you to change certain qualities of wood.
Therefore, the main selection criteria are usually:
- Material weight;
- Price;
- Availability.
Example drawing of a paneled structure
- , which should be sized to fit the door frame.
- . If you have a router, you should make profiles to connect the boards together using the tenon/groove principle. You can attach the boards to the chipboard using self-tapping screws and wood glue.
- .
- .
There is another technology for manufacturing a panel structure that uses insulation. To make it you will need boards 25 mm thick and at least 50 mm wide, as well as sheets of plywood.
Making an insulated door
So, a warm wooden door is made with your own hands in the following sequence:
- First, you need to make a frame from the boards, which consists of a frame and cross members in the middle. Braces can also be used to provide greater rigidity.
- Next, plywood is attached to the frame on one side.
- Then a heat insulator is placed in the frame, and the product is sheathed on the other side with sheet material.
The paneled design is much more complex in execution, since it consists of many parts. Therefore, it is better to start making it after gaining experience in making simpler products. True, after manufacturing all the elements, the paneled door is assembled like a construction set, without any difficulties.
Framed door design diagram
In structure, it resembles a window frame, as it consists of a frame (frame) and panels that fill the space of the frame.
So, the process of its manufacture is as follows:
- First of all, the frame is made, which, as a rule, consists of four parts connected to each other according to the tenon/groove principle. In addition, a horizontal stiffener is usually installed in the middle, which is attached to the vertical posts of the frame.
- At the inner end of all parts there is a groove for inserting panels.
- Then the panels are made. They can be made from a variety of materials - solid boards, MDF, chipboard, plywood, glass, etc.
- The panels are inserted into the grooves and additionally secured with decorative glazing beads.
Finished paneled door
It must be said that after the doors are manufactured, regardless of the type of their design, all necessary fittings are immediately installed. In particular, awnings, locks, etc. are cut in. In addition, the product must be varnished or painted.
Types of shutters for cats
If you are worried that the cat may get injured, the opening can be treated with a smooth, soft and pleasant-to-touch cloth, preferably with lint. At the moment of sliding in the hole, such “upholstery” will allow you to collect shedding hair from the animal.
A mortise door is a device that looks great. The product can be made of wood or plastic and can be created in many ways. As for the structure, it is equipped with individual parts and a connecting tunnel.
In order for the animal to live in comfort and not cause unnecessary trouble, for example, to be able to go for a walk on its own, owners often have the idea of building a small door in the front door. Such openings can also be constructed in ordinary doors to a room, for example, in the door to the kitchen. Animals won’t have to meow and spoil the wallpaper, and you won’t have to be distracted from your daily duties or from relaxing.
Features and purpose
Where you might need a cat door:
- Entrance door. This option is suitable for owners of private houses where cats and cats constantly go outside. And they need a cat flap in the door.
- Interior door. This could be the door to the bathtub or toilet, if there is a tray there and the animal does not go outside.
- Balcony door. In warmer days, cats love to bask in the sun. But during the daytime it gets too hot there. And in order to be able to escape from there, it is better to think through the hole in advance.
- Storerooms, cabinets. They often set up a place for pets to eat in a closed space so that it is not visible. Do the same with the tray. To do this, create a place for your pet in one of the lower kitchen cabinets or hallways. There you can install a door for the quiet entry of the animal.
The main function that such a door should easily cope with is the free movement of the cat inside or outside the house. To do this, you need to provide a number of characteristics:
- suitable size;
- easy opening and closing;
- sufficient tightness;
- aesthetic appearance.
In order for the animal to like this design and use it easily without scratching the door with its claws, it needs to be taught to it at a young age. To prevent the kitten from being afraid to go through the hole with the door, you can first remove it and let the animal through an empty passage or a passage with a curtain. When the kitten feels confident, put the flap back in place.
