"Juls" wrote in message
...
Hey Phil,

I'm going to go to Lowes either tomorrow or Friday to get a sheet of
MDF (3/4 inch) for another project I'm doing (building a desk). The
sheet they have is 4' by 8' so I'll have a lot of MDF left over.

First, do you think MDF would be okay to use for the cat wall shelves?
I know there's a slight leak of formaldehyde, so I'll seal it before
adding the carpet. (The carpet might seal it, but I'd rather play it
double safe)

You're gonna hate me- but I would never use MDF to build something a cat
would be on constantly- and probably even sleep on. Painting and sealing
the board may reduce the urea formaldehyde outgassing to acceptable levels
for humans- but not for cats. Their olfactory bulb is much larger in area
than a human's and their body mass is much less- so, even small amounts of
formaldehyde outgassing that are acceptable for humans could produce adverse
effects in cats. May- be not- but why take the chance when other safer,
stronger and inexpensive alternatives are available. You could probably
build two columns with window bridges from one sheet of 4' x 8', 3/4" luann
for $30.

After you have the shelving up and carpeting down, you can close in the
sides and front of a few levels with 1/8" or 1/4" luann to give the cats
hidey holes. If you close in a shelf- measure from the top of the shelf to
the bottom of the shelf below, and from the front edge to the wall for the
sides. The store will cut these for you also. Just tack the pieces to the
shelves with brads.





Lowe's claimed they'll cut the whole sheet down for me if I come in
with a plan, so I thought I might as well have them cut it down to the
sizes I'll need for the shelves (and then cut some other shelves I may
use elsewhere)

What depth of shelf should I do? I'm thinking 10 to 12 inches, but
since I've never done this, I'd like to get it right. Jack is a big boy
(17 pounds) so needs to be big enough for him.



12" x 18" or 24" would be fine- 12" would give them a little more room to
curl up. 12" will also allow you cut bigger holes for the cats to climb
through. You can make the top shelves wider (14") because that's where
they'll probably hang out the most. The double-prong brackets come in 9",
11" 13" and I think 15". Just make sure you screw the uprights into the
studs- the brackets will hold 300 lbs and 3/4" luann will not sag.



I haven't exactly
figured out my plan yet, but I know they're gonna love this! I've got
their tower in the bedroom at a prime window, and I'm going to
incorporate the tower into the overall plan since they use the tower so
much.



If you really want to get creative, put a shelf around the entire room about
14" from the ceiling. The double-prong uprights come in 12" lengths.



TIA,

Juls

p.s. I do have a saw of my own, a Black and Decker Navigator (which my
friend calls my ladies' saw), but since Lowes said they'd cut it all up
for me, it will save the blade, plus cut down my risk of losing an arm.
Also, I need to fit this all into my car. The saw has a small jigsaw
attachment, so I can cut the holes myself.


You'll need a drill to make the hole for the jigsaw blade.

Send me a picture when its finished!

Phil