How to attach netting for cat enclosure on deck?

[Clairebbbear]

I need advice on the best method for attaching netting to the ceiling/frame of our deck.

We are building a cat enclosure by netting off part of the deck. In the photo below, the  part that will be netted off is from the timber post on the right of the herb garden to the right hand wall, and from that same  post to the left frame of the window to the right of the fridge.

So the netted section will be kind of triangular.

We have already bought netting and the company we bought it from recommended using wire rope to clip the netting to. The wire rope is held in place with eyelets that screw into the various surfaces. The eyelets can easily be screwed onto the window frame, walls and post as these are all timber. But I’m not sure how to attach it to the top surfaces.

The ceiling of the deck is plasterboard and only about 5mm thick. I don’t know if it will be sturdy enough to drill eyelets into or that this will support the weight of the netting (or any cats that might climb up it). For the section on the front of the deck, we can either attach the eyelets to the plasterboard ceiling or to the hollow metal/Colorbond frame that runs under the gutter. I have the same concerns about sturdiness, don’t know what fasteners to use (the screw eyelets are not suitable) and don’t really want to drill into that frame anyway.

So I’m thinking about getting treated pine framing timber and running it across the ceiling from the post to each wall and using heavy duty brackets to hold the timber up. This would create a frame to attach the netting to using the eyelets and wire rope. We have already done this for the base of the enclosure by using treated pine framing timber to connect the post to each wall - the netting will be attached to this frame rather than the deck.

However, I don’t know if a bracket on each end of the framing timber would be string enough to support the weight of the timber and the netting. One of the timber pieces would need to be 3.6 metres long and the other 2.5 metres. 

What method is best to attach the netting or are there any other options?

[Akanksha]

Hello @Clairebbbear,

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community! We're delighted to have you join us and trust you'll find loads of useful advice and inspiring ideas for your home improvement and garden projects.

Many thanks for your question. I'm sure our resident Bunnings D.I.Y. expert @EricL will be able to assist you when he's back online later today. Let me also tag our ever-helpful members @Chrissie35, @Shannon and @Dave-1 to see if they have any thoughts in the meantime.

Akanksha

[Dave-1]

Good Morning @Clairebbbear 

I like your weay of thinking! And really you have pretty much gpone the smae path as myself.

You are concerned about the top part being fixed from the post to the wall, There should be a beam from the post to the wall behind the plasterboard. You could buy/borrow a stud finder to check or tap with your knuckle along the plasterboard. You should hear a change in tone as you approach the timber beam. Then using a "fine" drill you could drill up to see if you hit teh timber.

I also like your timber strip across the top and bottom. This would probarly be least impacting to overall looks. Also you could find teh timber beams and screw it to them meaning much less overall holes are needed. I dont think a bracket at either end would eb enough, they would help but you would need at least one or two in the middlish.

Your cats will love you!

Dave

[Clairebbbear]

We have a stud finder so I will do that for the wall. However we are kind of relying on there being a timber post behind the left frame of the window or just to the left of it. I don’t know what our chances are of that. 

However we could attach a bracket to the actual window frame and sit the framing timber on top of that. The frame is only 5-10 cm from the ceiling so wouldn’t leave a big gap.

Re having a support post in the middle - I’m sure we’ll need one for the 3.6m length ceiling beam, but what about the 2.6m one?

[Dave-1]

Morning @Clairebbbear 

If I have what you are proposing right in my mind then its going to be a few straight cuts of timber then screwed/bolted to the wall, ceiling and floor.

Id even go the rout of attaching the pine strip verticaly to the post so you dont have so many holes in your post later. So thats two lots of 4 strips and then you can do your eyelets to hold your netting. 

I am thinking of something like these zenith 10 8 x 075mm treated pine countersunk head screws 50 pack to go through the timber strip into the wall/post/ceiling 

Dave

[EricL]

Hello @Clairebbbear 

Thanks for sharing your question about your cat enclosure. It's great that you've received excellent advice from @Dave-1. Have you considered building an independent frame that fits into the space so that you'll not have to depend too much on anchoring it the house surface? I've drawn up a basic frame below, please let me know if its applicable to your needs.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[Jason]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Clairebbbear. We are looking forward to seeing how you can build a cat enclosure for your furry friends.

Just thought I'd add that these are our two most popular cat projects on Workshop:

• Indoor to outdoor cat tower by @Shannon 

• Cat enclosure by @Chrissie35 

I hope they give you some inspiration. 

Jason