Like most of us I have a couple of sawhorses.  They work, and are available when needed.  And I also have my wife's cats that stay outside.  She of course wants two cat houses, and I would like two sawhorses that can stay outside without issue.  So rather than take up twice the space I want BOTH in one unit.  Crazy I know but hey why not?

 

Don't have a drawing, okay look I spilled coffee on the napkin before I took a picture.  So best I can do is show a few pictures of what I have so far.

 

 This is the closest I could find to what I want in a sawhorse.

 

 

Next I need two cat houses that can be mounted a minimum of 7 inches above the ground and 6 inches below the upper bar of my saw horse.  These measurements were based on a cat lounging under or on top without issue.  The height will be 32 inches top to bottom.  What was left was 15 inches so that was my height for the houses.

 

Build is straightforward.  Using some left over 3/4 ply I made sides, the frame is made of 3/4 boards and 1 1/2 inch cross pieces.

 

 

Started out with a smaller hole and a rounded top.  Wife informed me that is not big enough for her to get her arm inside to tuck the little guys in every night.  Okay so I scrapped that and made a 10 inch square hole then glued in some 1/4 thick 3/4 boards to protect the plywood.  Made a jig to guide the router then finished up the corners with old school and chisel.  @steven newman I sometimes use a chisel.  

 

 

So my house looks like this when put together.  

 

 

 

Got my 1 st coat of poly on the insides tonight and stained the floor Dark Walnut, we have classy cats!!  Hardwood floors and such.

 

 

 

Made this jig to cut the leg assemblies in next few days.  Did a dry fit with some scrap and it came out right.

 

 

So this is as close to a dry fit as I can show at the moment.  Mounted one leg to check the angle.  Legs will be bolted to the house at the top and bottom where the framing is for the house.

 

 

 

 

 

Think the fumes from the varnish will keep the cats away? Just thinking out loud....it will off gas for months (if it's oil based).

2 hours ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

will

Good point. This is in pieces so I have two ways to get past this. 1st is a few days in sun to cure well. Then after assembly a few days with some charcoal inside usually eliminates the odor.

 

Notice I said usually.

No paint on mine. The outside will have roof flashing on the exterior and insulation sandwitched on all the flat surfaces. And for the location, the wrought iron table will not be used for eating in cold weather so that is where the box will sit.....cause it will stay drier with the over head roof..     Amazing how two different minds work for same results...building a hot cat house!

If I'm reading this right it is a 2 in 1 project?

Yes. The saw horse legs will be attached to the frame of the house at top and bottom with bolts and nuts. At the top of the frame a notch for the 2x4 bar to rest in. Attached with nuts and bolts.

Edited October 18, 20196 yr by Woodbutcherbynight

9 hours ago, Smallpatch said:

The outside will have roof flashing on the exterior

I had something else in mind but seeing your solution I am going to use same method.  It's simple and more than adequate. 

 

When they sleep on the top in summer I can  say I have a cat on a hot tin roof!  

On 10/18/2019 at 12:41 PM, BillyJack said:

If I'm reading this right it is a 2 in 1 project?

Finally got far enough along to show some progress pictures.  Interior of houses is finished in 3 coats of Helmsman Clear gloss, had some given to me so it got used.  Outside is not ready yet have some trim to glue on and such.  Be a few more days before I get that far.

 

Today's progress:

 

First house assembled and leg assemblies attached to each side with a couple of screws for the moment.  These get changed to some bolts later.  Needed to get the angle for the legs so some assembly was required.

 

 

Got the angle for the feet cut and assembled both units.

 

 

Cut out the notch at the top of one unit and test fitted the 2x4 quick to check the height again.  Have not decided how wide the top rail will be.  The boxes are 30 inches wide, with 2 leg assemblies comes to 33  1/2 inches.  Might go 36 inches and call it a day, might make it flush.  Have some time to decide the paint work alone is 4-5 days.

 

 

 

 

I made my sawhorses at about 50" wide.  They accomodate full sheets of plywood with room to spare for 2x's or in their present location plywood and an outfeed roller for the table saw.  When I was doing auto body the extra width allowed me to "park" cars on them.  I also made them the approximate height of the truck bed to be able to use the tail gate as a 3rd support when needed.

 

Week was tough, only 3 nights to get any work done.  But today got a good dent in it.

 

This is the inside all finished up and purdy!!!

 

 

Did not get fancy with the legs, sanded the rougher parts down but no 220 or anything insane.  Some stain to get it darker, these were 2x4 studs so not the greatest wood but it will be outside.

 

 

Got the 2nd house details all sanded down and ready for paint, this one will be yellow.  It is upside down, had to make the bottom for it and dry fit.

 

 

 

Cat condominium

Catty shack???

1 hour ago, Gene Howe said:

Catty shack???

Had 4 of them supervising me this evening as I trouble shot a small 3.3 cu refrigerator.  It quit sometime recently.  Compressor was HOT.  Did some tests and found a $5 start relay will fix it.  little small thing, like the size of my thumb.  Seems they go bad a lot I found 1,000 vendors offering them.  Beats a new 3.3 cu frig from the borg for $150.  

Getting down to the final assembly.  Got a lot painted or poly applied as needed today.  Cut strips of tin for the trim and the roof.  Maybe Friday I can put them all together??

 

Competed assemblies.  Bit fancy for a cat house, yup even stained and put Urethane on the saw horse portion.  My wife liked the rustic look this gave on the mock up, and this does protect the wood as it will be outside all the time.  This way they are always ready to use, none of this mess of going to get them and put them away.

 

On 10/21/2019 at 8:08 AM, Cal said:

I also made them the approximate height of the truck bed to be able to use the tail gate as a 3rd support when needed.

Thanks for this tip, I did set the final height to the same as the tailgate of my truck when dropped down.

 

On 10/18/2019 at 11:42 AM, Smallpatch said:

The outside will have roof flashing on the exterior

I was going to go this route as well.  But as chance would have it someone gave me a roll of sheet roofing.

 

 

Thanks for the suggestions, the project came out better for those ideas, and made me consider other things more carefully as well.

 

Not quite the Master Builds @steven newman seems to kick out every few days.  But hey gotta start somewhere.  

Cats moved in yet?

9 minutes ago, steven newman said:

Cats moved in yet?

Yes, I had them outside and before I was done taking pictures this one showed up 1st.  Just checked, still camped out.

 

This one gets the "above & beyond" award Gunny!  Turned out real nice.

Do the roofs have some pitch to let the water roll off.

Nice paint job and assembly just curious.

4 hours ago, Michael Thuman said:

Do the roofs have some pitch to let the water roll off.

Yes they do but not much.  3/4 of an inch fall over 19 inches.  Just enough to let water roll off and not pool up, but not enough that if I set something down it just rolls off.

 

4 hours ago, Michael Thuman said:

Nice paint job and assembly just curious.

Thanks!!