How do you divide a room completely and maintain high visibility?
So here's my situation and what I'm trying to prepare for. My mom is currently sick (we think it's an infection), and last night she fell and threw up, scared me half to death. She says she's fine(ish) now, and we're waiting on test results. It got me thinking how she said I'll inherit her Siamese cat breeding business and it got me thinking a lot about it.
I'm wanting to divide what is currently a purely aesthetic room so the queens can have more room for their kittens who then won't get to hide under/in the couch (yes, inside the couch, because they tore holes in the fabric underneath it, apparently) whenever I try to show them to customers.
I want to divide my dining room from the entry way, where the front door leads into the living room, so the cats don't escape out the front door. Imagine a hallway (12 to 14 feet long) from the front door to the living room (and it's a double wide doorless doorway connecting it to the living room), but one wall of the hallway doesn't exist, and instead opens fully into the dining area. I haven't measured yet, but I'm estimating it's around 12 to 14 feet across, and 9 or 10 feet tall.
I'd like to use something budget friendly (ofc), like plexiglass, acrylic, resin, whatever. Something fully see through (or as see through as possible) so the customers can see them immediately. Proper glass will need a whole installation process and will add to the cost. Also, I'll want to add a door to this new "window wall" so the customers and I can walk in and out, and preferably have it be a sliding door, since I think this is the option that will be the least likely to pinch a kitten.
My dad suggested a garage screen door, with magnetic closing, made of fiber glass mesh, but I can already tell the cats will eventually tear it up and make it look ratty, and also slip out from under it most likely.
We can't use normal room dividers because our cats can sometimes jump from the floor to the top of the fridge, and room dividers are too flimsy. Also I'm not sure how to fasten a door to them (maybe I could just open them, but idk).
I've also half-way crossed any meshes, cages, or fencing off my option list because it looks ratty imo. Btw when I say "ratty" I mean it will make me look like some backyard breeder or someone who doesn't care about her cats. I don't want my kittens to look like inmates lol. But cages/metal bars are a last resort, because I need something, as right now my mom has them set up in what I personally consider to be cages that are far too small to keep the mother cat in 24/7 for 2 to 4 weeks. The mother cat can just about lay down once you have to put the litterbox in. (It's the vertical one with the 3 tier platforms, with wheels and a bottom tray that you can find on amazon)
I've looked all over amazon, just window (lol) shopping/browsing for ideas on what I could use, and omg. Either inflation is horrible, or I'm severely out of touch with what a "budget" option for this project would be.
I've even gone so far as to consult ChatGPT, who was not really that helpful.
A list of things I've thought about already are:
-Garage screen doors (cats will eventually scratch through and slip under)
-Sliding barn doors (for the end of the entry way that leads into the living room, instead of dividing the dining room, but this would give the kittens and queens access to the front door when people go in and out)
- Those DIY metal grid panels people use to build storage furniture (ratty looking, and kind of expensive, but is my last resort as it seems to be the cheapest option I think)
- Ordering a proper glass window wall (this would have to be properly installed into the house, which would cost too much)
- Normal room dividers (too flimsy, too short, no door option)
- Chain link fence segments (definitely ratty looking)
- Decorative metal/PVC room divider modular panels that hang from the ceiling (I can't seem to find a version that has ample visibility without giant holes the kittens could slip through)
- Just building a bigger cage (more expensive than just building a wall out of the panels, and again, it's ratty looking)
- Using clear acrylic modular panels with holes in the corners, chained/tied together to hang from the ceiling (it's an option, but I'm not sure if it's the best in terms of aesthetics & cost, and idk how to attach a door that way)
- 3D printed prefab wall panels (not see through, and idk if/how I'd fit a door on it)
- Prefab floor to ceiling windows (expensive, heavy, needs proper installation I think)
- A clear, plastic tent piece, large enough for a patio (that would also look bad, since it's shiny and most likely will get scratched up)
I may be forgetting some options that I considered already, but I'm a complete novice at construction and home improvement, so I figured you guys probably know something I don't. I need a true barrier, that is preferably as clear as possible.
Even if you think your idea isn't all that good, suggest it anyway because I might be able to springboard off of it. This includes ideas relating to stuff I've thought of already.
This is such a custom thing that I doubt you are going to find a solution that doesn't involve building it yourself (or paying someone to build it). Also, I would make peace with the idea that this is in no way typical for a house , so it's unlikely to ever feel elegant, even if it makes perfect sense for a cat breeder.
This is the top Google hit for "pet proof screen door":
https://a.co/d/eHBGGQ1
It seems to get good reviews that animals clawing doesn't tear it up.
I think screening is going to be the cheapest option by far. I would just sandwich the screening between two frames of 1x2 lumber. Bolt them together with carriage bolts, putting the smooth head on the customer-facing side. The bolts will make it easy to get a nice tight grip on the screen, and you can just unbolt them if you want to replace the screen later.
Since the panels are so tall, consider putting crossmembers a couple of feet from the top and bottom to support the screen and strengthen the panel.
Make the panels the height of the room less an inch. Install a 2x4 rail on the floor and ceiling and bolt the panels to it. Make one of the panels a door by putting hinges on one side and a latch on the other, or make a sliding door by putting a closet door sliding track on the non-customer side of the wall and making a panel wider than the opening to act as the sliding door.
Once you have everything fitted up, give it a good sanding, several coats of paint or stain, and finally a couple of coats of polyurethane. This will keep the painted surfaces looking nice. Then bolt it all up and install it.
If you think there's a chance you would ever sell the house, I would try to install it in a way that doesn't do permanent damage to the floors so that you could undo it before showing/selling the house.
Thank you for the highly detailed instructions! Yeah, I'm not sure if I'm going to sell the house or not, because I can't see myself taking care of such a big place by myself once I inherit it, and I'd be a looot more comfortable in a TinyHome <700 sqft tbh. But that would leave no room for 10+ cats. Unless I add an outdoor area to the tiny home, but that feels mean to keep them outside (besides the sire, who sprays everything he sees). I'm trying to not do too much damage to the walls, floors, and ceiling (at least nothing I can't patch up).
Maybe some open shelves like the kallax ones from Ikea with plexiglass on one side? I don't have a good idea for the door, but for the shelves you could then remove some of the panels and add carpet/scratching post/etc. to make it a little cat playground.
Something like https://ikeahackers.net/2011/01/cat-activity-centersleep-center.html or https://ikeahackers.net/2014/07/kallax-cat-scratching-furniture.html but the large units. And then just have an overhang at the top or extend the Plexiglas to the ceiling.
This is the best image of what I had in mind: http://imgur.com/gallery/f582R You could also just add a board to some of the shelves that extend out a bit farther to allow the cats to jump between levels which would lessen the need to drill holes in the big boards.
Yeah, I did end up thinking about that. I figured, after buying the plexiglass backing, that would alread be already enough if I drill holes and bind them together. I'd just need something to attach them to for the ceiling, floor and walls, which I can't imagine that would be hard. Maybe just a slim piece of wood drilled in, and then drill in the plexiglass panels. Without the bookcase, this would allow for more visibility. As for a door, maybe something like a premade clear room divider on hinges, since the plexiglass would cover over the top of it.
But... making a "cat super highway" as Jackson Galaxy says, is really tempting, and a bookshelf would be perfect for that. I already have a bookshelf, and probably a ton of stuff in my garage, too, that I might be able to rig together. It's the buying of the plexiglass that's the barrier right now.
I did find this though:
$46 - White Clear Plastic Panels,12 X 12 Inch, (x24 Panels) https://a.co/d/eaPFsfN
Or
$45 - Acrylic Sheet/Plexiglass Panel 24" x 36" x 1/8" (x2 Pieces), 3mm Thick https://a.co/d/ascGCxC
As well as this:
$15 - PVC Adhesive Under Couch Blocker for Pets 5 Pack 3.2'' Height https://a.co/d/d0yd79S
If I strung those panels together and attach the under couch blocker in alternating ways on the bottom, I wonder if that would solve the floor part of the project. I might use those under couch pieces for the ceiling and walls, too, if I don't find anything else. What do you think?
I'm not super familiar with DIY myself so I don't have any ideas atm other than fully installing something expensive. I do think your judgment on a garage screen door is sound -- most of those are relatively easy for a cat to scratch and squeeze theor way through.
I'll mull over the problem and leave ankther reply if I can think of anything new. We have some clear dividers on our balcony (to separate from the neighbors' balconies) that we barricade with plants and chicken wire bc the cats can easily get through to other people's balconies if we don't, so I can definitely empathize.
I ended up building a privacy screen for my last house, and the plexiglass was by far the most expensive part. I used regular lumber for all the framing for a few hundred dollars, and the plexiglass worked out to around $3000 shipped IIRC. Here is a pic of the final thing for reference
I bought frosted, and got a thicker variety for stability and because it's outdoors. So the price might be different if you fiddle with those options. I'll see if I can find the vendor I used and update if so.
Edit: found my receipt. It was ePlastics.com, and I ended up paying closer to $2500 for the panels shown after shipping.
It was definitely worth doing, as I ended up paying a third of what contractors were quoting me, and I could make it look exactly how I wanted. But then again I didn't need to build a door into it, so YMMV.
Thank you! I'll check them out.
Have you considered soft netting - I mean quite wide diameter netting, like a tennis net?
That can make an effective barrier that doesn't look too bad at all - unusual, for sure, but not terrible.
It's easy to install and replace if needed, and durable enough that the cats can't damage it much.
I'm not sure what you could do about a door. Maybe build a conventional door frame+ door against an existing wall and tack the net to the wooden frame?
Alternatively there is conventional pet-proof fly wire, which could be tacked to tall lightweight frames, and the frames installed in the hallway, floor to ceiling.
One frame could support a screen door in this case.