I had decided that the only places I could have a series of exits for the cat were the bedroom and the conservatory. Both had outsides you could saw a hole into. It isn't ideal, as that is where I sleep, but the alternative would be cutting holes either in brick or in glass. That just didn't attract me! And if my sleeping and the cat getting in and out are really incompatible, then I can just move into the other bedroom. I am a posher, I can choose! And I had decided that I would just recycle the catflap that had been put in the kitchen door.
One Sunday I sat down and got to work. It was a doddle to remove the flap. The next task was to close the hole! I had decided I would just screw some old bits of skirting board over it. And so I did.
I also wanted to improve the thermal insulation. And make things look better on the other side! And what I did was glue some insulation material into the hole, cover it with something pretty, and then screw the frame-like bit of wood over the top that had held the original catflap in position. (The person who had installed this had sawn a hole in the door that was way too big, so had had to attach the flap to a smaller piece of wood with a hole in that had in turn been placed in the hole in the door.) And I was actually quite chuffed with the result! In hindsight, I wished I had done this on the inside rather than the outside, but I can't be asked to swap things around. It will stay like this! The only thing I intend to still do is paint the skirting board pieces in cheerful colours.
So I now have fewer cat flaps then I had before, but I still think I have made progress. And I have learned from the mistakes of my predecessor and I will make sure I won't cut a hole in the door that is bigger then the outer perimeter of the entire catflap! And in the process, I gained a kitchen door that is less badly insulated than it was before!
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| The inside of the door now |
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| Finished! |
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