Hi,

I need to install a cat flap in my kitchen wall. It is a single skin brick
wall (1930s red brick) with plasterboard and insulation behind.

How easy is it to cut the hole out for this? I have some long masony drills
etc, but am unsure as to how much you knock out. i.e. can you drill holes
in a line through the brick to create the hole of the required size or do
you have to knock out the surrounding bricks and fill in around it
afterwards?

Apols for sounding like a novice, but have never had to do this before.

TIA

Will Owen

Cheers
"." wrote in message
...
Will Owen wrote:
Hi,

I need to install a cat flap in my kitchen wall. It is a single skin
brick wall (1930s red brick) with plasterboard and insulation behind.

How easy is it to cut the hole out for this? I have some long masony
drills etc, but am unsure as to how much you knock out. i.e. can you
drill holes in a line through the brick to create the hole of the
required size or do you have to knock out the surrounding bricks and
fill in around it afterwards?

Apols for sounding like a novice, but have never had to do this
before.

TIA

Will Owen

apply template, drill a series of holes to suit, knock out the hole
with a 2" bolster chisel or SDS chisel, fit catflap inner, infil voids
with either mortar (hassle) or builders foam, fit catflap.

make sure you've bought a magnetic catflap or every cat in the
'hood will be wazzing up your sofa and stealing tiddles food.

Will Owen wrote:
Hi,

I need to install a cat flap in my kitchen wall. It is a single skin
brick wall (1930s red brick) with plasterboard and insulation behind.

How easy is it to cut the hole out for this? I have some long masony
drills etc, but am unsure as to how much you knock out. i.e. can you
drill holes in a line through the brick to create the hole of the
required size or do you have to knock out the surrounding bricks and
fill in around it afterwards?

Apols for sounding like a novice, but have never had to do this
before.

TIA

Will Owen

apply template, drill a series of holes to suit, knock out the hole
with a 2" bolster chisel or SDS chisel, fit catflap inner, infil voids
with either mortar (hassle) or builders foam, fit catflap.

make sure you've bought a magnetic catflap or every cat in the
'hood will be wazzing up your sofa and stealing tiddles food.

.. wrote:

make sure you've bought a magnetic catflap

Heh!

--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

On Thu, 07 Sep 2006 10:40:18 GMT, "." wrote:

|Will Owen wrote:
| Hi,
|
| I need to install a cat flap in my kitchen wall. It is a single skin
| brick wall (1930s red brick) with plasterboard and insulation behind.
|
| How easy is it to cut the hole out for this? I have some long masony
| drills etc, but am unsure as to how much you knock out. i.e. can you
| drill holes in a line through the brick to create the hole of the
| required size or do you have to knock out the surrounding bricks and
| fill in around it afterwards?
|
| Apols for sounding like a novice, but have never had to do this
| before.
|
| TIA
|
| Will Owen
|
|apply template, drill a series of holes to suit, knock out the hole
|with a 2" bolster chisel or SDS chisel, fit catflap inner, infil voids
|with either mortar (hassle) or builders foam, fit catflap.
|
|make sure you've bought a magnetic catflap or every cat in the
|'hood will be wazzing up your sofa and stealing tiddles food.

The ?electronic? Staywell ones with different coloured keys are IMO better.
--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk Google Groups is IME the *worst*
method of accessing usenet. GG subscribers would be well advised get a
newsreader, say Agent, and a newsserver, say news.individual.net. These
will allow them: to see only *new* posts, a killfile, and other goodies.

Stitch drill the opening as you first mentioned the knock out with a hammer and bolster ( if you dont have a hammer drill with rotary stop which allows you to chisel it out easily).

The cat flap surround should cover the raggedy edges of the hole in the brickwork, but make it as neat as possible and try and drill the holes close together, otherwise you may find you self making good the brickwork that was supposed to stay intact!

Owain wrote:
Will Owen wrote:
I need to install a cat flap in my kitchen wall. It is a single skin
brick wall (1930s red brick) with plasterboard and insulation behind.
How easy is it to cut the hole out for this? I have some long masony
drills etc, but am unsure as to how much you knock out. i.e. can you
drill holes in a line through the brick to create the hole of the
required size or do you have to knock out the surrounding bricks and
fill in around it afterwards?

You drill holes along the line you require, but not touching, then
'join-the-dots' with the chisel.

Owain

Make sure that the flap you buy will actually fit a wall - most are
designed for doors and have fittings for that; quite thin doors at
that.

Rob

On Thu, 7 Sep 2006 11:34:19 UTC, Owain
wrote:

. wrote:
make sure you've bought a magnetic catflap or every cat in the
'hood will be wazzing up your sofa and stealing tiddles food.

Won't make any difference if every other cat also has a magnetic collar.

However, cats are very territorial, so if the neighbourhood moggies come
in either Tiddles or his owner are being a bit of a wuss.

Our cat only ever let one other in, and that was terminally ill.

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
Avenue Supplies, http://avenuesupplies.co.uk

In message .com,
robgraham writes

Owain wrote:
Will Owen wrote:
I need to install a cat flap in my kitchen wall. It is a single skin
brick wall (1930s red brick) with plasterboard and insulation behind.
How easy is it to cut the hole out for this? I have some long masony
drills etc, but am unsure as to how much you knock out. i.e. can you
drill holes in a line through the brick to create the hole of the
required size or do you have to knock out the surrounding bricks and
fill in around it afterwards?

You drill holes along the line you require, but not touching, then
'join-the-dots' with the chisel.

Owain

Make sure that the flap you buy will actually fit a wall - most are
designed for doors and have fittings for that; quite thin doors at
that.

Yeah, and unless you use one that has a big enough inner liner- or more
likely you can get extension 'rings' for it. to line the hole.

I used an earthenware square liner from builder merchants (used for
lining for airbricks I guess?) I fixed the catflap to a slightly larger
square of 9 or 12 mm ply and then fixed that to the wall. Much easier
than trying to fix the catflap to the brick directly near the edge of
the hole.

I had meant to take off the ply (WBP) and varnish it. But never did, it
was still perfectly fine 7 years later when we moved.
--
Chris French

robgraham wrote:

Make sure that the flap you buy will actually fit a wall - most are
designed for doors and have fittings for that; quite thin doors at
that.

Rob

I've done this in my kitchen as I didn't want to hack holes in the
kitchen door. This goes through a double skin wall. This lets them out
into the utility area then there is another cat flap in the outer door,
having taken out one pane of glass.
The cat flap in the kitchen is quite a simple one and the more
elaborate one to keep the stray moggies out is the outer cat flap.

Kevin

On Thu, 7 Sep 2006 15:00:34 UTC, "Kev" wrote:

I've done this in my kitchen as I didn't want to hack holes in the
kitchen door. This goes through a double skin wall. This lets them out
into the utility area then there is another cat flap in the outer door,
having taken out one pane of glass.
The cat flap in the kitchen is quite a simple one and the more
elaborate one to keep the stray moggies out is the outer cat flap.

I would recommend Pet Mate as a brand, when it comes to cat flaps. They
are brilliant at customer service, sending replacement parts sometimes
FOC, or really very cheaply.

(this doesn't imply that the flaps are badly made, but that we had a
large (18lb) energetic cat who went through a locked flap at high speed
when spooked by a big dog; he also broke the occasional latch, or lost
his magnetic key).

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
Avenue Supplies, http://avenuesupplies.co.uk

Will Owen wrote:
Hi,

I need to install a cat flap in my kitchen wall. It is a single skin brick
wall (1930s red brick) with plasterboard and insulation behind.

How easy is it to cut the hole out for this? I have some long masony drills
etc, but am unsure as to how much you knock out. i.e. can you drill holes
in a line through the brick to create the hole of the required size or do
you have to knock out the surrounding bricks and fill in around it
afterwards?

Apols for sounding like a novice, but have never had to do this before.


FWIIW I've put fixed several Staywell flaps designed for doors onto
brickwalls. Each time I hacked out the birckwork approximately true
(drill through with a masonry drill -preferably SDS- then use a bolster
to join up the holes: messy but quicker ways need more sophistacated
SDS drills & other tools). Then I instal a timber liner ex 22mm
(actual) PSE timber and screw the staywell flap to that. Fixing a flap
on oboth sides of the opening gives makes it almost draught proof.

In article ,
"Bob Eager" writes:
On Thu, 7 Sep 2006 11:34:19 UTC, Owain
wrote:

. wrote:
make sure you've bought a magnetic catflap or every cat in the
'hood will be wazzing up your sofa and stealing tiddles food.

I made one very many years ago, before you could buy them.
Trouble was, cat would arrive back home with a selection
of nuts, bolts, and other ironwork stuck to it. I gave up
on it.

Won't make any difference if every other cat also has a magnetic collar.

However, cats are very territorial, so if the neighbourhood moggies come
in either Tiddles or his owner are being a bit of a wuss.

Our cat only ever let one other in, and that was terminally ill.

That happened to my cat at the end of its life. Someone else's
cat found it rather unwell, and took it home. The owners, not
knowing whose it was but realising it was ill, took it to the
vet. We found it a day later through a pet tracing charity, but
sadly it died a few days after that, aged nearly 22.

--
Andrew Gabriel

Will Owen wrote:

Hi,

I need to install a cat flap in my kitchen wall. It is a single skin brick
wall (1930s red brick) with plasterboard and insulation behind.

How easy is it to cut the hole out for this? I have some long masony drills
etc, but am unsure as to how much you knock out. i.e. can you drill holes
in a line through the brick to create the hole of the required size or do
you have to knock out the surrounding bricks and fill in around it
afterwards?

Apols for sounding like a novice, but have never had to do this before.

TIA

Will Owen

Your wall is liable to be soft brick and knackered lime mortar, and if
4" not scoring much on stability either. So go gently with the
chiselling. Wont be a prob as soft bricks are very soft.

Re larger walls with dual catflaps, creating a tunnel, this works fine
with some cats, but a lot will simply refuse to enter a small closed
tunnel.


NT

On 7 Sep 2006 15:11:43 -0700, wrote:

Re larger walls with dual catflaps, creating a tunnel, this works fine
with some cats, but a lot will simply refuse to enter a small closed
tunnel.

It also sounds dangerous for the cat, if the flaps jam for some reason
with a puddy-tat in the middle.

--
Frank Erskine

Frank Erskine wrote:
On 7 Sep 2006 15:11:43 -0700, wrote:

Re larger walls with dual catflaps, creating a tunnel, this works
fine with some cats, but a lot will simply refuse to enter a small
closed tunnel.

it will if it knows it's dinner is on the other side and it'll soon get
hungry enough to overcome it's fears, if not you have no more
cat infestation. job's a good un.

It also sounds dangerous for the cat, if the flaps jam for some reason
with a puddy-tat in the middle.

hahahhaha, cats survive for weeks trapped down holes. it's a wild
animal, treat it like one and it will reward you, treat it like a baby or
a small child and it will crap in your house, moult hair all over /your/
bed, pee in your house etc, etc.

/plus/ how can a 18" long cat get stuck in a 9" tunnel LOL

In message , Frank Erskine
writes
On 7 Sep 2006 15:11:43 -0700, wrote:

Re larger walls with dual catflaps, creating a tunnel, this works fine
with some cats, but a lot will simply refuse to enter a small closed
tunnel.

It also sounds dangerous for the cat, if the flaps jam for some reason
with a puddy-tat in the middle.

I think it would let you know quickly enough

as for the small closed tunnel, you just leave both flaps open for a few
days (as the bishop said ...) until the cat is used to just going
through unimpeded, then let the flaps down

--
geoff

.. wrote:
Frank Erskine wrote:
On 7 Sep 2006 15:11:43 -0700, wrote:

Re larger walls with dual catflaps, creating a tunnel, this works
fine with some cats, but a lot will simply refuse to enter a small
closed tunnel.

it will if it knows it's dinner is on the other side and it'll soon get
hungry enough to overcome it's fears,

wrong


It also sounds dangerous for the cat, if the flaps jam for some reason
with a puddy-tat in the middle.

Yes, though I cant imagine how both would get stuck at the same time.


it's a wild
animal, treat it like one and it will reward you, treat it like a baby or
a small child and it will crap in your house, moult hair all over /your/
bed, pee in your house etc, etc.

I can understand why cats have done that to you.


NT

wrote:
. wrote:
Frank Erskine wrote:
On 7 Sep 2006 15:11:43 -0700, wrote:

Re larger walls with dual catflaps, creating a tunnel, this works
fine with some cats, but a lot will simply refuse to enter a small
closed tunnel.

it will if it knows it's dinner is on the other side and it'll soon
get hungry enough to overcome it's fears,

wrong

ergo dead cat or it buggers off to another sap who'll take it in.

It also sounds dangerous for the cat, if the flaps jam for some
reason with a puddy-tat in the middle.

Yes, though I cant imagine how both would get stuck at the same time.


it's a wild
animal, treat it like one and it will reward you, treat it like a
baby or a small child and it will crap in your house, moult hair all
over /your/ bed, pee in your house etc, etc.

I can understand why cats have done that to you.


NT

and I know why YOU might me predisposed to say that, do you ?

no ?

http://www.livescience.com/othernews...i_culture.html

A parasitic microbe commonly found in cats might have helped shape
entire human cultures by manipulating the personalities of infected
individuals, according to a new study.

Infection by a Toxoplasma gondii could make some individuals more
prone to some forms of neuroticism and could lead to differences
among cultures if enough people are infected, says Kevin Lafferty,
a U.S. Geological Survey scientist at the University of California,
Santa Barbara.

In a survey of different countries, Lafferty found that people living
in those with higher rates of T. gondii infection scored higher on
average for neuroticism, defined as an emotional or mental
disorder characterized by high levels of anxiety, insecurity
or depression.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0804085444.htm

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en...Search&met a=

etc, etc. clue yourself in, all you BRANE are belong to CAT LOL

In message , raden
writes
In message , Frank Erskine
writes
On 7 Sep 2006 15:11:43 -0700, wrote:

Re larger walls with dual catflaps, creating a tunnel, this works fine
with some cats, but a lot will simply refuse to enter a small closed
tunnel.

It also sounds dangerous for the cat, if the flaps jam for some reason
with a puddy-tat in the middle.

I think it would let you know quickly enough

as for the small closed tunnel, you just leave both flaps open for a
few days (as the bishop said ...) until the cat is used to just going
through unimpeded, then let the flaps down

For ours, one of our cats refused to go through the catflap/tunnel, even
with much enticing etc. I

In the end I stuffed it through the tunnel and through the flap - it
wasn't impressed, but it did learn how to use it after that :-)
--
Chris French

On Thu, 07 Sep 2006 22:40:22 GMT, raden wrote:

In message , Frank Erskine
writes
On 7 Sep 2006 15:11:43 -0700, wrote:

Re larger walls with dual catflaps, creating a tunnel, this works fine
with some cats, but a lot will simply refuse to enter a small closed
tunnel.

It also sounds dangerous for the cat, if the flaps jam for some reason
with a puddy-tat in the middle.

I think it would let you know quickly enough

Yes - if you're about at the time.

I'm just thinking risk-assessment style...

--
Frank Erskine

.. wrote:

etc, etc. clue yourself in, all you BRANE are belong to CAT LOL

ha, correct but for entirely the wrong reasons.

NT

raden wrote:

as for the small closed tunnel, you just leave both flaps open for a few
days (as the bishop said ...) until the cat is used to just going
through unimpeded, then let the flaps down

works with many, but not all, hence using a double flap system is a
recipe for a lot of hassle, and thus best avoided when pawsible.

NT

wrote:
but a lot will simply refuse to enter a small closed
tunnel.


NT

They do when they are hungry.

Kevin

The message
from "." contains these words:

/plus/ how can a 18" long cat get stuck in a 9" tunnel LOL

Like cats up trees. When did you last see a cat skeleton up a tree?

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

Guy King wrote:
The message
from "." contains these words:

/plus/ how can a 18" long cat get stuck in a 9" tunnel LOL

Like cats up trees. When did you last see a cat skeleton up a tree?

LOL

In article , .
wrote:


hahahhaha, cats survive for weeks trapped down holes. it's a wild
animal, treat it like one and it will reward you, treat it like a baby or
a small child and it will crap in your house, moult hair all over /your/
bed, pee in your house etc, etc.

You have a lot to learn about cats. One of the main points is that although
dogs have owners, cats have STAFF.

--
AJL Electronics (G6FGO) Ltd : Satellite and TV aerial systems
http://www.classicmicrocars.co.uk : http://www.ajlelectronics.co.uk

Hi All,

Thanks for all you help and advice. Got a magnetic flap and will aim
to fit tonight.

Am concerned about the stength of the wall as it is only single skin
and how much damage using an SDS and bolster will do in loosening the
surrounding brickwork. Am I right in worrying? its a single skin wall
that was rebuilt about 15 years ago on the end of our kitchen. The
flap will need to installed with one edge approx 4" away from the door
frame/wall edge.

A mate has also suggested using an angle grinder instead which should
penetrate nearly all of the brick depth. Is this a better alternative?

Will Owen wrote:
Hi,

I need to install a cat flap in my kitchen wall. It is a single skin brick
wall (1930s red brick) with plasterboard and insulation behind.

How easy is it to cut the hole out for this? I have some long masony drills
etc, but am unsure as to how much you knock out. i.e. can you drill holes
in a line through the brick to create the hole of the required size or do
you have to knock out the surrounding bricks and fill in around it
afterwards?

Apols for sounding like a novice, but have never had to do this before.

TIA

Will Owen

wrote:

Am concerned about the stength of the wall as it is only single skin
and how much damage using an SDS and bolster will do in loosening the
surrounding brickwork. Am I right in worrying? its a single skin wall
that was rebuilt about 15 years ago on the end of our kitchen. The
flap will need to installed with one edge approx 4" away from the door
frame/wall edge.

If you do lots of chain-drilling as advised, it should be OK, as that
will minimise the jarring. At worst you might need to make up a bit of
mortar for repointing if a brick or two comes loose,

A mate has also suggested using an angle grinder instead which should
penetrate nearly all of the brick depth. Is this a better alternative?

Trouble is that if the blade is big enought to penetrate the brick
depth, then the cuts will extend way beyond the corners of the cat flap
due to the big radius on the cutting disc (think about it). This
technique is fine for larger openings, but won't work on a piddly one
like a cat hole.

That said, iy still might be useful to cut even a shallow slot around
the periphery of where the hole will be, to define nice straight edges.

David

Will Owen wrote:
Hi,

I need to install a cat flap in my kitchen wall. It is a single skin brick
wall (1930s red brick) with plasterboard and insulation behind.

How easy is it to cut the hole out for this? I have some long masony drills
etc, but am unsure as to how much you knock out. i.e. can you drill holes
in a line through the brick to create the hole of the required size or do
you have to knock out the surrounding bricks and fill in around it
afterwards?

Apols for sounding like a novice, but have never had to do this before.

TIA

Will Owen

Thanks for all the advice. Finished it last night and all working
fine.... Used angle grinder to create a "slot" in the brickwork which
allowed me to stitch drill in a straight line and then bolster chisel
it out.

All that effort and the cat just sniffed at it and walked off! He'll
get used to it I am sure.

On 14 Sep 2006 04:07:14 -0700, wrote:

|
|Will Owen wrote:
| Hi,
|
| I need to install a cat flap in my kitchen wall. It is a single skin brick
| wall (1930s red brick) with plasterboard and insulation behind.
|
| How easy is it to cut the hole out for this? I have some long masony drills
| etc, but am unsure as to how much you knock out. i.e. can you drill holes
| in a line through the brick to create the hole of the required size or do
| you have to knock out the surrounding bricks and fill in around it
| afterwards?
|
| Apols for sounding like a novice, but have never had to do this before.
|
| TIA
|
| Will Owen
|
|Thanks for all the advice. Finished it last night and all working
|fine.... Used angle grinder to create a "slot" in the brickwork which
|allowed me to stitch drill in a straight line and then bolster chisel
|it out.
|
|All that effort and the cat just sniffed at it and walked off! He'll
|get used to it I am sure.

Shove it through a few times, then He'll get the idea.
--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk Google Groups is IME the *worst*
method of accessing usenet. GG subscribers would be well advised get a
newsreader, say Agent, and a newsserver, say news.individual.net. These
will allow them: to see only *new* posts, a killfile, and other goodies.