Benefits of this enclosure:
Flexible design that is completely customizeable to fit your space
Can be put on almost any surface
Permanent, yet able to be dismantled & moved (great for renters!)
Can be built by one person, even those with little experience with tools
Light enough for one person to slide, or 2 people to pick up and move, yet windproof and heavy enough that your kitties cant crawl underneath
Drawbacks:
Height should be limited to 4 to 5 panels tall (app. 56"-70")
Limited ability to add steps and levels to enclosure sides
No human-sized door (crawl-through access panel only)
For this project, youll need the following tools and materials:
A mallet
A pair of pliers OR a pair of gloves
Wire cutters/dikes/diagonal pliers (all terms for the same tool)
...and thats it.
About 6 boxes of wire cube storage
1 bag of 1000 7" or 8" cable ties
For smaller projects, 3 bags of 100 ties each might do, but after that youre not saving money by buying the smaller bags. Besides, cable ties - like duct tape - have an infinte number of uses. Having leftovers is a great thing.
Directions
There are no directions, but I have many tips for you.
Access: Determine how your cats are going to come and go into their new outdoor playhouse before putting it together. If you need a panel with a cat door in it for a door or window, that will cost you more than the enclosure itself (we had to buy and install an all-weather panel to fit against our sliding-glass door).
Design: The 14-inch square panels are strong, and so are the connectors, but I wouldnt advise building an enclosure thats more than 4 or 5 panels high, and your cats wont need something that tall, anyway. The one I built has several sections to it, but the only section thats more than 4 high is one on the end to accomodate a tree limb for climbing, and that section is only 2 panels square.
Construction: Your mallet will come in handy for tapping the panels into the connectors securely, squaring up sections that need it, and is pretty much mandatory for removing connectors from groups of panels that have already been joined. The nice thing about these materials is that youre free to experiment and make mistakes: if you dont like what youve done, just cut the tie wraps, pull it apart and start over.
The Access Panel: You have to have a way in yourself to add goodies for your cats to lay on and play with, and to get them out when you need to and they dont wanna (although luring them in with a treat is easier!) This is solved by making a 4-panel section be removeable.